Discoveries and Inventions of the Nineteenth Century

The several undertakings described in our chapter on Ship Canals are now all completed and in active operation, and but for financial mis-management and dishonest speculations, the same might probably have been said of another great project, the name of which was on everyone’s lips a short time ago, but in which public interest has lately waned; perhaps from a mistaken impression that the construction itself is involved in a common ruin with the fortunes of so many of its promoters, or that the scheme was frustrated by some unforeseen and insurmountable engineering difficulties. These assumptions have so little justification that it is quite probable that Lesseps’ last great project may yet be completed under more favourable auspices, and the Panama Canal unite the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The Panama Canal Company still exists, and possesses not only a very large part of the work almost quite finished, but 273all the extensive plant in perfect condition for resuming operations. The original scheme provided for a tidal water-way between the two oceans, without the intervention of a single lock. The canal was to be nearly 47 miles in length, 100 feet wide at the surface of the water, 72 feet wide at the bottom, and 29 feet deep. The entrances are at Colon on the Atlantic side, and at Panama on the Pacific. The latter is the eastern extremity, and the western one is on the Atlantic side, owing to the configuration of the isthmus which curves round the Panama Gulf that opens to the south. A railway crosses the isthmus between the points already named, and the route of the canal is laid down almost parallel with this railway, from which it is nowhere far distant. For the first 20 miles from the Atlantic side the land is only at a very moderate elevation above the sea-level, say 25 or 30 feet, but the next 11 miles is more hilly, the elevations reaching at some points 150 to 170 feet, but these are only for short distances. A few miles farther on, they rise still higher, until at Culebra the highest point is met with, about 323 feet above the sea-level, and a cut of this depth, 1,000 feet long, would be required. Through this highest part it has been proposed to drive a tunnel, but the total extent of the deep cutting at this part of the canal would be nearly 2 miles in length. This would no doubt be a work of the most formidable magnitude, for it has been calculated that no less than 24,000,000 cubic yards of material, consisting for the most part of solid rock, would have to be removed. It is not supposed, however, to offer any great difficulty in an engineering point of view. Doubtless it would be costly, and would take some time to accomplish. Another heavy piece of work would consist in constructions for controlling a mountain torrent called the Rio Chagres, through the valley of which the canal passes. This stream is very variable in the quantity of water it discharges, rising in the rainy season 45 feet above its ordinary level, and sending down forty times as much water as it does in the dry season. Mr. Saabye, an American engineer, who examined unofficially the works of the Panama Canal in 1894, considers that about one half of the total excavation has already been done, and one half of the total length of the canal almost finished, and remaining in comparatively good condition. At both ends, including 15 miles on the Atlantic side, there is water 18 to 24 feet deep. “Besides the work already done, the Canal Company has on hand, distributed at both terminals, and at convenient points along the canal route, an immense stock of machinery, tools, dredges, barges, steamers, tug-boats, and materials for continued construction. At Panama, La Boca, and Colon, as well as along the canal, are numerous buildings—large and small—for offices, workshops, storehouses, and warehouses, and for lodging and boarding the men who were employed on the work. The finished work, as well as all the machinery, tools, materials, buildings, etc., are well taken care of and looked after. The Canal Company employs one hundred uniformed policemen, besides numerous watchmen, machinists, and others, whose sole duty consists in watching the canal and looking after needed repairs of plant and care of materials. In fact, the work and the whole plant is in such a condition, so far as I could ascertain, that renewed construction could be taken up and carried to a finish at any time it is desired to do so, after the Company’s finances will permit.” An enormous amount of money has already been expended on the Panama Canal, and much of it lavishly and unnecessarily. A reorganised 274company may probably be able to form such estimates of the probable cost of completing the work under careful and efficient management, that financial confidence in it maybe restored. The canal not only already possesses the requisite plant, but the route has the special advantages of assistance in transport from the railway everywhere at but a short distance from it, and fine commodious harbours for its ocean mouths. If it were finished as originally designed, vessels could pass through it with one tide, say in about six hours. It is understood that before the Panama enterprise is again proceeded with, the Company think that a sum of about £25,000 should be expended in a complete survey and re-study of all the conditions, and the results submitted to the most eminent engineers. A rival scheme for carrying a ship canal across the isthmus that divides the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans is that known as the Nicaragua Canal, as the proposed route is to cross Lake Nicaragua, an extensive sheet of water situated some 400 or 500 miles north-west of the Panama Canal. The lake is 110 miles long and 45 miles broad, and is on its western side separated from the Pacific by a strip of land only 12 miles wide, having at one point an elevation not exceeding 154 feet, which is probably the lowest on the isthmus. The lake drains into the Caribbean Sea on the east, by the San Juan river, a fine wide stream, 120 miles in length, which is navigable for river boats from the Caribbean Sea up to the lake, except near its upper part, where some rapids at certain times prevent the passage of the boats. This canal project first took definite form in 1850, when a survey was made and routes reported on. The scheme attracted some attention in the United States, and in 1872, and again in 1885, further surveys and estimates were made at the instance of the States Government. The earlier schemes provided for the rise and fall between sea and lake-–108 feet, a considerable number of locks—eleven on each side, making the total length from sea to sea 181 miles. The report of the latter advocated the canalization of the San Juan by a very bold measure, namely, the construction of an immense dam, by which the waters were to be retained in the valley for many miles at the level of the lake. A company was formed to promote the project, and again in 1890 there were more surveys and estimates made. This company actually expended a considerable sum of money in attempting to improve the harbour at Greytown, which would have formed the eastern terminus, but had become silted up. But it was found afterwards that it would be better to recommend the formation of an artificial harbour at another point, by constructing two long piers running out into the sea, although this change would involve the abandonment of a few hundred yards of canal already excavated by the company near Greytown. The company has also laid down about 12 miles of railway along the proposed route, with wooden and iron sheds as workshops, offices, etc., and, moreover, had dredges and other appliances at work. At this stage it was proposed that the United States Government should guarantee the bonds of the Nicaragua Canal Company to the extent of more than twenty million pounds sterling. By an Act of Congress passed in March, 1895, a commission of engineers was appointed for the purpose of ascertaining the feasibility, permanence, and cost of construction and completion of the Nicaragua Canal by the route contemplated. The report of this commission is an elaborate and exhaustive review of the whole scheme based upon a personal examination of the route, and on the plans, surveys, and estimates made for the company, whose records, however, are stated in the 275report to be deficient in the supply of many important data. The Canal Company’s project provided for the improvement of Greytown harbour, as already stated, and from that place the canal was to proceed westward at the sea-level to the range of high ground on the eastern side of the isthmus, which elevation was to be ascended by three locks of unusual depth, and a deep cut more than 3 miles in length, through rock to a maximum depth of 324 feet. After passing this enormous cut, the route provides for a series of deep basins, in which the water is confined by numerous dams or embankments, the canal excavations being confined to short sections through higher ground separating these basins. The total length of these embankments will be about 6 miles, and their heights will vary from a few feet to more than seventy. About 31 miles from Greytown the canal reaches the San Juan river, which, however, by means of an enormous dam across the valley at a place called Ochoa, 69 miles below the point at which it receives the waters of Lake Nicaragua, is there practically converted into an arm of the lake. This dam, which would raise the water of the river 60 feet above its present level, and would, of course, flood the valley back to the lake, is the most notable feature of the project. Its maximum height would be about 105 feet, and the weirs on its crest, to discharge the surplus water, would require a total length of nearly a quarter of a mile. Twenty-three smaller embankments would also be needed for retaining the waters; the river would have to be deepened in the upper part, and a channel dredged out in the soft mud of the lake for 14 miles beyond the river. The big Ochoa dam is said to have no precedent in engineering construction, on account of its great height and the enormous volume of the waters it is intended to retain. No doubt its construction and safe maintenance are within the range of engineering skill, when a thoroughly exhaustive survey of the site has been made, and the necessary funds are forthcoming. From the western shore of the lake its level would also be extended by another great dam crossing the valleys of the Tola and the Rio Grande, with a length of 2,000 feet and a height of 90 feet. The canal would then be carried to the sea-level by a series of locks. The length of the canal from sea to sea would be 170 miles, but of this only 40 miles of channel would require to be excavated. The total cost of the work, as estimated by the Nicaragua Canal Company, would be about fifteen million pounds sterling, but the State Commission of Engineers thinks about double that amount would be a safer calculation, and taking into account the imperfection of the data, even this might be exceeded in certain contingencies. The Government of the United States has been urged to expend a few thousand pounds on another engineering commission, to make complete surveys, and consider all the practical problems involved, including the final selection of a route. 276 Fig. 138.—Britannia Bridge, Menai Straits.