Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1915-08-20
DIGGING OF DITCH THAT WILL
RECLAIM HUNDREDS OF ACRES
NOW PROCEEDING STEADILY
WILL TAKE AT LEAST 40 DAYS
Niqht and Day Shifts are Employed
to Expedite the Work.-Huge
Excavator PropeIls Itself
Through the Swamp

The huge excavating machine that
is being employed for the digging
of the Bruno Lake Drain began
ditching in earnest Monday, al
ter several days delay owing to var
ious troubles with machinery The
excavator is. owned by the ROOD
Construction Company, of Grand
Rapids. and is a self-prOpelling ma
chine. 1t is supplied with ordinary
small car wheels that run on a
track thirty feet in length. Each
rail is supported on a surface OF
Joined timbers having an eight inch
thickness and a width of four rect
Beneath the timbers is a cross layer
of loose planking that acts as
support for the several tons OF
weight when the eXcavator is work
ing over soft ground. On one occasion
the machine passed over floating
bog without becoming mired
When the engine reaches the end
of the track a friction wheel raises
the body of the machine upon
pair of auxiliary skids, or shoes,
one on each side of the dredger
These shoes are similar to sled run
ners but have a wider bottom sur
face and are ten feet in length.
They take the weight Of the ma
chine from the track while the frlc-
ton wheel advances the track form
ahead of the eXcavatOr through the
medium of a steel cable, one end OF
which is connected to the rear OF
the track form and the other end
to a drum, attached to the friction
wheel, around which the cable is
wound as the track is advanced.
When an obstacle, such as large
boulder or stump is found in the
path of the machine the auxiliary
skids are brought into play and
raise the engine until the tracks are
turned at an angle sufficient to pass
the object. A reasonably narrow
turn can be made by the machine in
this manner
The dipper, Or shovel, swings
from the end of a 32-foot boom at
the rear of the machine, and is un-
like the ordinary steam shovel in
that it digs in toward the engine
instead of away from it. When the
dipper is loaded the boom swings tC
the edge of the ditch and the for
mer is emptied. The dipper has a
capacity of a cubic yards and dur
ing the past five days has been dig
ging on an average of 800 cubic
yards of ditch each day.
According to the estimate of the
foreman, r.. B. Hanson, no less than
forty days will be consumed doing
the four miles of ditching necessary
for the completion of the job TWO
lateral bitches will be dug from the
main canal, one to Corbett lake and
one to the swamp west of the main
ditch. The latter will have a width
of Is feet and an average depth OF
feet.
Both a night and day shift is be-
ing worked through the length OF
the job, each shift employing four
men, two working on the engine
and dipper and two on the outside
one on each side of the eXcavator
A five horse power gasoline engine
with an electric generator attach
ment furnishes the light for the
night shift. The principal work OF
the outside men is the shifting OF
the planks from the rear to the
front of the machine as it advances
and the removing of such small OBJ
stacles as might impede the progress
of the machine. In some instances
when the underground of bushes ant
small trees is particularly dense tn
entire crew brush out a passage TO
the eXcavator.
Four skilled men, besides the fore
man, are employed on the machine
two working on the night shift an
two on the day shift Each shift
alos employs two extra men, nc
regular employees of the Construt
tion company, for the outside WORK
The regular employees are supple
with two tents for sleeping quarter
and third tent for the commissary