The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1913-11-25

LAWS were framed, md civil
its necessary adjuncts of courts,
police force, fire companies, cus-
toms and revense service, postef-
fiees, public works aud TREASURY.
A purchasing department was or
ganized in the United States for
the obtainment of supplies of all
kinds and descriptions. Upon ar
rival on the Isthmus, the supplies
were shipped to the various sub
divisions of the canal work for
which they were purchased or they
were placed in storehouses along
the line for issue when required.
1t was only after these various,
yet necessary, adjuncts had been
provided and the forces for their
operation were organized that the
principal work in hand the build
ing of the canal, could be pushed
forward with any hope of success.
and too much praise cannot be Civ
en- to those who conceived and es-
tablished them in a working con-
eering and Construction was divid-
ed into three construction divis-
ions. The Atlantic Division en-
braeed the engineering construc-
ton from deep water i'm the Car
ribean sea to include the Gatun
locks and dam; the Central Divis-
ion extended from Gatun to Pedro
Miguel, and the Pacific Division
from Pedro Miguel to deep water
in the Pacific ocean.
As already noted, the Americans
continued the work i'm progress by
the French in the cut commonly
known as the Culebra cut, utiIiz-
ing the French machinery until 1t
could be replaced by more modern
appliances. This was the most for
midable part af the enterprise on
account of the magnitude of the
cutting and also because of the diff
ficulties attending it due to the
excessive rainfall and to the vary
ing character of the materials en-
countered.
The French so planned the ex-
the peak of the divide and lesser
submits they could work a number
of eXcavators simultaneously at
several points, so that a succession
of benches or lodges resulted, lying
one above the other, each with the
natural surface at the point of be-
ginning. By working in the direc-
ton of the length of the cut, the
face of the bank gave the longest
cutting possible, reducing the num-
Der of times the excavator must be
hauled back. and secured a satis-
factory drainage arrangement,
since the cutting was carried UP
grade on either side of the sum
NIT.
The Americans followed the same
method, the only difference being
I'm the character of machinery used.
The greatest difficulty encoun-
tered I'm the excavation was due to
slides and breaks which caused
large masses of material to slide
or move into the excavated area,
closing off the drainage, upsetting
steam shOvels and tearing up the
tracks.
The term Slide" is applied to
the movement of the everything clay
upon smooth, sloping surfaces of
rock or other material harder than
the clay.
Breaks" occur at points where
the underlying rock is of poor
1itv fntarcnntnd hv To-
seams or seams sloping toward the
canal, and which is unable to bear
up the superimposed mass. Gener-
ally the upper surface of the brok-
EN- portion of the bank remains ap-
proximately horizontal settling
nearly vertically. The weight of
the broken portion forces up and
displaces literally the material ly-
ing directly below 1t in the bottom
or on the berms or lodges of the
canal. AS the material thus forced
up Is taken away the upper part
gradually settles and moves toward
the axis of the canal until the en-
tire broken portion is removed.
The greatest slide was mt Cuca.
TAcuu u1u SNtC tIOuohc "ncn hnc
French began cutting I'm 1884.
Though mt first confined to n
length of 500 feet measured along
the line of excavation, the slide ex-
tended to include the entire basin
south of Gold Hill. This slide was
the last obstruction to the canal
and it's removal was the opening
TINT finally makes the canal an oc-
complished fact.
There were, all told, nine slides
and breaks to be reckoned with,
and there was nothing to do but
remove all the material embraced
within their limits. There Is no
other method known to stop or pre-
vent them. No apprehension Is felt
because of the slides in the future
of the canal. They developed as
the depth of the cut increased, and
the banks slid or broke because of
the condition OF unstable equilib-
rum. When the grade was reach
ed, equilibrium was established and
the back pressure of the water re-
suits in greater stability.
Work has been in progress In
the Culebra Cut since 1880. and
during the French control 1885,
900 cubic yards were removed. Be-
tween Datum and Bias Obispo, the
northern end Of the Culebra Cut;