1009] on the Americans and the Panama Canal. 689 



the difference in the width being dne principally to curves in the pro- 

 posed route. 



At Bas Obispo begins the channel through the Continental 

 Divide. In this section through the hilly region, and for a distance 

 of 8 '11 miles, the Canal will be 300 feet wide, the surface of the 

 water being on the same level as the lake. The Canal in this portion 

 goes through what is called the Culebra Cut. 



At Pedro Miguel, on the Pacific side of the Divide, vessels will 

 be lowered in one flight of twin locks from the 85-foot level to a small 

 lake 55 feet above sea-level. A channel 0*97 mile in length and 

 500 feet wide will convey ships to Miraflores, where twin locks of two 

 flights, and of identical dimensions with those at Gatun and Pedro 

 Miguel, will bring ships to sea-level in the Pacific Ocean. The Canal, 

 8 '31 miles in length from Miraflores to deep water in Panama Bay, 

 will have a channel 500 feet wide and 45 feet deep at mean tide. 



Up to May 1, 1909, 73,124,8-1:9 cubic yards of soil had been re- 

 moved. There remained 101,541,746 cubic yards to be excavated 

 before the completion of the Canal 



Where the land will be submerged by the proposed lake, the 

 work is simple enough, and as the line of the Canal follows in a 

 general direction the course of the Chagres River, the work consists 

 mainly in levelling down any irregularities of the bed that rise above 

 the 40-foot level of this region. The Canal line is already cleared of 

 vegetation. Preparations are made for an anchorage basin imme- 

 diately south of the Gatun Dam. 



Considering the gigantic nature of the undertaking, the diffi- 

 culties of construction are comparatively small. No difficult problem 

 faces the engineers, except, perhaps, the construction of the Gatun 

 Dam. The other portion of the work — except for the quantity of it 

 and the time and patience required to accomplish it by excavation in 

 the dry, or by dredging in the wet — presents no obstacle. The exca- 

 vation is easy, as the soil is comparatively soft. The rock when ex- 

 posed to the air disintegrates quickly. 



The Gatun Dam has been the source of much speculation, and 

 is, perhaps, the chief point of interest at present in the Canal zone. 



It is true enough that, if the construction of the dam were to 

 prove defective, if the calculations of the engineers were in any way 

 erroneous, the disaster which might result would have no parallel 

 in history, unless, perhaps, Noah's Deluge. Should the Gatun Dam 

 give way after navigation had been established across the Isthmus, 

 just imagine what would happen in the artificial lake and canal. 

 Some vessels would be swept away on to the lowlands at the foot 

 of the dam ; others would remain high and dry, resting at various 

 angles against the walls of the Culebra Cut or on the dried lake 

 bottom. We will not refer to the fate of the inhabitants of Colon 

 and Cristobal towns, some of whom are already beginning to feel 

 anxious now that they see the dam go up instead of coming down. 



