THE TYPE OF THE PANAMA CANAL 431 



entitled "An act to provide for tlie coni=i: ruction of a canal connecting the 

 waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans," approved June 28, 1902. 



It lias already l)('eii stated tliat the iiiinoiity of the 1)oard of engi- 

 neers recommended thnt the locks ))e made !*o feet wide with a usable 

 length of 900 feet. The canal commission determined that larger locks 

 would be desirable and fixed the width at 100 and the usable length 

 at 1,000 feet. This action did not, however, satisfy the U. S. Navy. 

 The question of still larger locks was agitated and resulted in action 

 by the naval authorities upon whose suggestion it was finally decided 

 to increase the width of the locks to 110 feet. The depth of water in 

 the locks is to be about 41.5 feet; this will be the depth in fresh water 

 which will be equivalent to 40 feet in salt water. 



Since the final and specific approval of the lock-canal plan by Con- 

 gress all the work on the isthmus has Ijeen directed to the rapid con- 

 struction of this type of canal. Before juesenting a few of the salient 

 facts relating to the progress which has been made, a brief review will 

 be given of the opinion expressed by some of the experts whose views 

 were considered in reaching the conclusion that unrler all the circum- 

 stances it was best to build a lock canal. 



It should be stated in this connection that the earlier conclusion of 

 the Comite Technique, which was an advisory body to the New French 

 Canal Company, favoring a lock canal, can be given hut little weight, 

 as an influence upon the later conclusion, because the advice of that 

 committee was given to a private company operating under a conces- 

 sion with a time limit, and it was compelled to give paramount weight 

 to the financial aspect. A canal had to be built under restrictions of 

 time and cost, and it was to be made a profitable venture. It is not sur- 

 prising, therefore, that under the new conditions, one of the members 

 of that committee, Mr. Hunter, is found in 1905, as already stated, 

 among those who advocate the sea-level canal. 



Mr. John F. AYallace, a past ])resident of the American Society 

 of Civil Engineers, who was called from the jDosition of chief engineer 

 and manager of the Illinois Central Eailroad to the position of chief 

 engineer of the commission of 1904 and was later made a member of 

 the commission of 1905, in addressing the board of consulting engineers 

 pointed out : 



That the most desirable transportation routes are straight and level. 

 Variation from the ideal may become necessary to overcome obstacles of a 

 physical, financial or other nature. The plan usually selected is the one in 

 which the sum obtained by adding the interest on cost of con^ruction to the 

 annual cost of maintenance and operation is a minimum. In the case of the 

 canal the feature of future development should not be overlooked and any 

 variation from the ideal of a straight or sea-level canal should only be made 

 after the most mature and careful consideration and for the gravest of reasons. 

 Minor deflections from a straight line are comparatively immaterial as com- 

 pared witli variations of levels. 



