The Parker post., 1917-05-12

the construction of the Tamiami trail.
Lack of drainage as we'll as inaccessi-
bility makes dormant and worthless
hundreds of thousands of acres in the
Everglades, which experts claim con-
tain the most fertile soil to be found In
the world. The construction of the
Tamiami trail removes both of these
obstacles. The methods employed in
excavating for the canal and throwing
up the rock mari and other material
for the rOadbed, and depositing the un-
suitable material, such a decayed veg
etable matter and muck, on the other
side is best described in Captain Har-
veyS own words:
Furnishes Some Variety.
"Every conceivable kind, character
and condition of road building Is found
In the first ten miles north from Mar
co. Cypress strands underlaid with
bOwlder and bedrock; pine ridges of
bowlder and ridges of the hardest Of
hardpan, sand banks Of clay of several
different cclOrs, rock ridges OutcrOp-
ping on the surface; cabbage palmetto
land; scrub buttOnwOOd; prairie land
flooded in the rainy season; fiat-wOods
land, saw-grass land. marsh-grass land,
soft-blue mari and shell land; all va
rieties Of mangrOye land swamp land
tide flats; tide lands one to two feet
under water at high tide, bog lands,
mud holes muck ponds, creeks, rivers,
bayOus and channels, more cOmbina-
tions than any spot on earth to give
contractor run for his money.
"Hand labor was out of the question
and impracticable, SO it became very
serious problem as to how to handle
the proposition with the varying con-
ditiOns intermingled. A land ,-dredge
machine was decided upon and al
though it Is long ways from perfect,
it has answered the general purpose
fairly we'll. 1t is Of steel beam con-
struction, weighing some 10000
pounds. 1t has cubic yard dipper.
1t straddles the canal and runs on its
own tracks and by Its own power. The
steel rails are in four foot sections
and pinned at the ends with a flexible
steel coupling on 3-inch thick 3-by-3
oak cross ties, enabling it to run over
uneven ground The tracks are 20
feet apart. Thus canal source "a
feet wide and II feet deep can be dug
If desired. In this instance the width
of the canal in most places depends
on the amount of material desired for
the road bed. An even depth was car
ried with an idea of drainage.
How Work Is Done.
"We began cutting through the
swamp, dumping the mass Of mari,
sand, etc, to one side. This dump Is
leveled down to grade and surfaced
by hand with big heavy hoes and shOV-
els. Through Williams Island jungle,
sense of the word, mass Of trees Of
all kinds and sizes; thousands Of
switches, poles, brush, ferns, all woven
together with bamboo rattan and other
vines. Perhaps several hundred would
be chopped off at the ground before
the mass would fall, SO that 1t could
be chopped apart with brush axes.
When it is understood that the clear
Ing had to be done at the contract
price of $44 an acre. it can readily be
seen that the contractor had to run
like the devil for his money. Some
stretches could not be cleared for
three times the price.
'"The finished road bed is 18 feet
wide. 1t is 11a to l slope with 6-inch
crown and 3 feet BERN. The contract
for the island part and part of the
mainland was "A cents per cubic yard.
A contractor bidding at these prices
and under such conditions is skating
on thin ice"
In removing the big rock ledges and
rock strata wherever encountered ex-
plosives are used. AS the major por-
ton of the material to be taken out is
soft, the big bucket ON the dredge is
able to do all of the excavating down
to bed rock. When the rock bed, as
thrown up by the dredge, has stood for
80 days and so thoroughly dried and
settled, the contractors forces go over
1t with pick and shovel, leveling down
little above grade to allow for roll
ing. The subgrade will be rolled with
a roller weighing seven tons or more,
and any depressions are brought to an
even surface. After the subgrade has
been completed rock surface to the
depth Of II inches Is put on and rolled.
The rock Is then scarified, graded and
rolled. Twenty-four-inch culverts are
to be placed about every 600 feet. In
Dade county at every mile station a
2O-fOOt spur road, as turnout, will be
provided.
BACK BROKEN LIVES YEARS