The St. Charles herald., 1922-10-14
Move 100000 Yards Of Dirt at
Rio de Janeiro to Make
Room for Suburb.
TO ADD IS BLOCKS TO CITY
Hioh-powered Pumps Wash Dirt Down
Through Fumes to the Sea-
Mountain Now Disappearing
Has Interesting History.


New York.-Rio de Janerio Is to
have a new suburb and to make room
for it 100000 cubic yards Of dirt are
to be catapulted into the sea. Modern
science has once more made lana
where there was open sea; sliced OH
a rock-ribbed, rOck-girded hill that d
city may have better ventilation anu
sanitation. Since 1867, according TO the
Literary Digest, the remains OF inc
founder of Rio de Janeiro, Estacio oe
Sa, have rested on this hill, SO that
it is regarded by the devout as nothing
short of VANDALISM. But despite the
opposition of the church, comDlneu
counsel of medical and housing eN-
perts has prevailed, and In less than
1S months 65 blocks of good business
property and 2O-block public park
will stretch along the new sea wall
built to keep this most recent SUD-
urb from slipping into the ocean,
SAYS the New York Times In an
article on the subject:
"Although this addition to Rio de
Janeiro Is often called suDurD' IL
should be designated an an
mex. for it lies not far from the cen
ter of the city and close to Vermelna
beach. where the exposition Is pe'Ag
held. To continue the work on the
new fill-in, begun in the early part OF d
this year, big pumps which carry on
the dirt will have to operate over the
tons of some of the exposition build
ings.
Work Of Eight Years to Take TWO
"For protection against fire 1t mas
been proposed to make connections
with the discharge lines at convenient
points. According to engineers an!
building could be flooded In ten MIN
utes. In this way the machinery whicf
is throwing sea water against the dir
and rock on the hilltop, washing l
down through fumes to the sea, VIII
serve a double purpose.
"Years ago the work OF removln,
this hill was started by native con
q tractors who used mule-drawn carts t.
carry the dirt and stone to the SCI
wall. In estimating the cost OF tni
work II was found that it would D.
something like Is cents cubic var
and would taken eight years. Wit
the high-powered pumps now installe
Il will not cost more than 70 cents
cubic yard and will take less tina
two years.
.sThe material to be moved Is 10 pc
cent rock and IS per cent dirt. In
Q rock will be removed by steam shower
q and the dirt by three pumps. One 9
Q these pumps will take care OF lou
hydraulic giants, each with 3a-inc
. stream at the nozzle. Twelve OF thes
i giants will shoot the earth from II
IS ton Of the fill to the film. A sea wa
three miles long and about half mi
t, wide has been constructed to recel'
u the debris.
.Close to the new land being mad
II along the water fropt will stand ii
It permanent United States emDass
IT building now under construction by
70 New York firm"
n Became One Of the Stones.
IT The mountain now disappearing III
ID an interesting history, we are tol
II The writer says OF It:
'e I'm the year 1855 Frenchman a
IN rived with a band Of Huguenots
the Bay of Rio de Janeiro, and ne
in this landlocked bay the first Pr
ne estant service in the Americas w
at cold to have been held by tte
N wandering sailors. To expel the
IL Frenchmen, the Portuguese govern
Of ar Bahia sent his nephew. Estacio
to Sa. to found a settlement on Guam
bora bay. In 1867 Sa was killed by t
p French. The little village he found
lls was then moved to the top OF the n
le- where the Church Sac Sebastiao W
tn begun in the year Of Estacio de 81