The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1933-04-28

the name of an army engineer, Col George W.
Goethals who organized the work, solved COM
plicated engineering problems and problems Of
supply, personnel and finance and completed
the construction of the canal ahead Of the esti-
mated time.
The work was organized in three divisions
as follows: the Atlantic division under Sibert
where was built the Gatun dam, the worlds
largest earth dam, and the Gatun locks, also
the worlds largest; the Pacific division under
Williamson, which included three locks of the
size but requiring less concrete and the
Central division under Gaillard. which included
the Culebra (now Gaillard) cut the worlds
largest single excavation.
The total cost of the Panama canal was $780,
100000. The total amount of concrete placed
was 100000 cubic yards, the equivalent of
wall feet high and 8 feet wide running clear
across the continent, from New York TO San
Francisco. The total excavation work was 240,-
100000 cubic yards.
Another big job which the army engineers
did and did with their accustomed thorough
ness in connection with the American Ex-
peditionary Force in the World war. Under the
leadership of Langftt, Taylor Patrick and Jad-
win here are some of the enormous engineer
ing problems of construction and supply which
the corps was called upon to solve: the build
Ing of 967 miles of railways; the construction
of 600 miles of light railways and the operation
of 1900 more miles of the same class; the
maintenance and repair of ], $50 miles of roads;
building and operating LOT lumber mills pro-
ducing ties, poles, cord wood and over 100000
board feet Of lumber per day; erection Of 10000
barracks, equivalent to 81 miles and providing
space for $4,000 beds in hospitals of which lat
miles of wards were new construction: build
ing storage warehouses covering the equivalent
of 500 acres under roof; building wharves the
equivalent of seven miles of berthing space for
ships; making improvements and additions to
existing water supplies and sewerage, among
which was a system supplying 100000 gallons
of water per day; receiving, storing and issuing
3,250.0o0 tons of engineer supplies.
The famous epitaph of Sir Christopher Wren,
builder of ST. Paurs cathedral, might well be
paraphrased for the corps of engineers and the
visitor to the National Capital might well be
told IF you would see their monument, look
around you" The City Of Washington was laid
out by Major L'Enfant of the French engineers,
but it was surveyed by Andrew Ellicott pro-
fessor of mathematics at West Point, and the
development of the city plan was continued
thereafter by army engineers. One of them was
7. L Casey, who in 1867 found the Washington
monument 156 feet high and unfinished by civil
ians in charge He put new foundation under
the existing monument-an intricate and diff
Hcult job albeit-and finished 1t to its full height
of SIS feet But the Washington monument Ia
not the only work Of the army engineers In
Washington. The public buildings there which
they constructed include the Capitol. the Library
Of Congress, the Government Printing Office
the State. War and Navy building, the Post Of
fee building and the Lincoln memorial More
over the water supply of Washington (the Wash
ington aqueduct) was built and is now being
operated under the direction of arEay engineers.
In the vicinity of Washington three bridges
which are outstanding engineering accomplish
ments. all built by this corps. They are the
Cabin John bridge, completed In 1855, by Meigs