The Bozeman courier., 1927-07-22

11S feet high. The SEMINAR, across the
Blue Niles is the longest masonry dam l.
in the world-9,90O feet or nearly two {
miles. It's height is 129 feet. The
longest of all is the earthen Ashd dam
in India which is 12.7O9 feet in length.
1t is only SO feet high.
Present Greatest Highway Era.
'Road construction received little |
attention from the ancients and did |
not become an important activity until |
the advent of the Romans. When the |
Roman empire died road building died |
with it, not to be galvanized into life
again Until the Eighteenth and Nine
teenth centuries. The present is the
greatest rOad-building age that the
world has seen. Each year many hun
dreds Of millions of dollars are alb
sOrbed in the construction Of high
ways, chiefly in the United States. Eu-
rope and the colonial possessions of
the great powers.
tunnel boring has had both an
cient and modern aspects. The Egyp-
tians dug tunnel entrances to temples
and tOmbs, or followed the latter bod
lily from the rock. The Greeks, as
early as 500 B. c., are said to have
constructed galleries in mines. The
Romans anticipated the modern world,
using tunnels to conduct water sup
plies, to drain lakes, and even to car
ry roads through Obstructing ridges.
Extensive tunnels were first built in
Europe, after the Roman era. In the
Seventeenth century when portions of
canals were carried through tunnels.
''The Nineteenth and Twentieth CEN
turies heightened tunnel building by the
demands Of cities for water supplies,
land for irrigation, and the needs of
railroad construction. The largest tua-
mel in the world carries the Rove
canal Of southern France for four and
one-half miles through hills. Its bore
Is y weet wide and AZ feet high. The
longest of all tunnels are Of relative
| ly small bore and are for carrying
water. Two Of the New York city wa
ter system and one In the new San
Francisco water system are approx
mately Is miles long A tunnel drain
ing a mine in SaxOny is almost exact
ly the same length. The three longest
railway tunnels In the world are in
the Alps. Loetschberg is eight miles
long; st. Gotthard, 91k and Simplon.
II 1-S.
Railway Engineering.
"a unique engineering project OF
great magnitude was the laying of the
huge conduit Of the Los Angeles wa
ter system, carrying virtually a small
river across 25O miles Of desert. Il
was completed in 1912 at a cost Of
more than $2O.OOO,O0O.
''The latest great physical invention
In the engineering field, the railway
rank upstart beside the. highway an(
the canal-has probably become in ex
tent and cost the leader among mans
structures, even surprising in mileagu
the hard-surfaced road system Of tn,
world. The first crude railway wa
built little more than a century ago
Now there are more than 250,O00 mile
Of railway in the United States ant
more than 100000 miles in other coun
tries-a total of more than 10000
miles for the world. This vast exten
Of steel roadway would wrap aroun
the world at the equator "a times. Il
build it there has been expended be
tween so and 20 billions Of dollars.
almost all railway construction II
voles the solving Of important eng
neering problems: spanning river!
filling valleys, cutting through ridge
and tunneling hills and mountains
The most difficult and outstanding Ell
gineering feats Of this sort have bee
accomplished in pushing railway
through the Alps, the Andes, and tn
Rockies. One Of the most spectacula
bits Of railway engineering was til
construction Of the railroad that goe
: to sea- the line that traverses a strin
: Of islands and spans their dividin
channels from the southern tip
> Florida to Key West, more than sever
: ! ty-fve miles offShore."