770 



WORKS, PUBLIC. 



which the work has been carried on by the 

 introduction of dredging-raachines. One ma- 

 chine is credited with 108,000 cubic metres of 

 excavation in a single month; another with 

 88,889; another with 78,056 cubic metres 

 within a like period. They have double gangs 

 of men, and work night and day. Six 

 dredges in November, in the Port Said division 

 of the canal, raised 313,628 cubic metres; 

 three other machines, at Ras-el-Ech, raised 

 214,042 cubic metres. The last new dredge of 

 the contractors was put at work in December ; 

 and now their entire force, 60 machines, is be- 

 ing driven to its utmost capacity. Of the 

 Pacific Railroad, there is little in the construc- 

 tion, of engineering science. The work itself 

 can hardly be called at present more than a 

 construction-track, but under a well-organ- 

 ized system it has been driven forward with 

 great rapidity, and the mere laying of the 

 track has more of novelty than any other 

 branch of the construction. The following 

 extracts from the report of the Secretary of 

 the Interior will give the condition of the 

 road, November 30, 1868 : 



At the date of my last annual report, you had ac- 

 cepted 490 miles of the road and telegraph line of the 

 Union Pacific Kailroad Company, and the commis- 

 sioners were then engaged in the examination of an 

 additional section of 20 miles. Since that date, in- 

 cluding said 20 miles, 330 have been accepted. The 

 commissioners have submitted reports upon 4 addi- 

 tional sections, amounting to 100 miles. 



The commissioners' report has just been received. 

 A description of the location of the road is given. 

 The elevation at Omaha is 946 feet above tidewater, 

 and at the head of Great Salt Lake 4,315 feet. The 

 sum of the ascents going westward is 12,995 feet, and 

 the consequent sum of the descents is 9,626 feet. They 

 are of the opinion that the location of the road, as a 

 whole and in its different parts, is upon the most di- 

 rect, central, and practicable route, but that the line 

 is not in all respects well adapted to the ground, as 

 there are points where the lull capabilities of the 

 country have not been developed, and others where, 

 in its details, the location is radically wrong. This 

 has been occasioned by a desire to diminish the cost 

 of work by the introduction of more and sharper 

 curves than the circumstances require, although the 

 saving in cost was but small in comparison to the 

 permanent injury of the road. The commissioners 

 are of opinion that the line, as built, should not be 

 permanently adopted, and that economy and the 

 best interests of the road require alterations and im- 

 provements to be made. 



The road, when examined, was built 890 miles 

 from Omaha. Its construction, so far as excavations 

 and embankments were required, was remarkably 

 easy. From Omaha to a point 535 miles west there 

 are no rock excavations, and the natural surface of a 

 great portion of the intermediate country presents 

 nearly practicable grades. From the latter point to 

 the end of the track the work is less than on Eastern 

 roads of the same length, and the most difficult parts 

 are light in comparison with roads in the AUeghany 

 Mountains. There is but one tunnel. It is on the 

 bank of St. Mary's creek, 230 feet in length. 



The commissioners submit the following estimate 

 of expenditure which will be required to render the 

 first 890 miles of the road equal to a fully completed 

 first-class railroad. No allowances are made for work 

 in progress or materials and equipments ordered or 

 reported to be in transitu for delivery, or already 

 delivered, except so far as they are placed in position 



in the structures themselves $6,409,550. The cost of 

 constructing and fully equipping the road from the 

 mouth of the Weber Canon to the head of Great Salt 

 Lake $3,515,550. 



^ As the actual cost of this road is a matter of pub- 

 lic interest, I deem it proper to present, in a con- 

 densed form, the estimates submitted on the 14th 

 inst., by Jesse L. Williams. He states that the cost 

 of the road, as shown on the books of the railroad 

 company, is, of course, equivalent to the contract 

 price^ per mile. The actual cost to the contractors, 

 forming an association which embraces most of the 

 larger stockholders of the company, is shown only 

 by their private books, to which the Government 

 directors have no access. The calculations were, 

 therefore, made from the most accurate available data, 

 and the estimated cost of the first 710 miles of the 

 road was taken as the basis for computing that of the 

 whole line. Should the road, as is expected by the 

 company, form a junction with that of the California 

 company, near the northern extreme of Great Salt 

 Lake, a little west of Monument Point, its length 

 would be 1,110 miles. The cost of locating, construct- 

 ing, and completely equipping it and the telegraph 

 line, is $38,824,821, an average per mile of $34,977. 



The Government subsidy in bonds for that dis- 

 tance, at par, amounts to $29,504,000, an average per 

 mile of $26,580. The company's first mortgage 

 bonds are estimated at 92 per cent., and would yield 

 $27,143,680. The fund realized by the company 

 from these two sources amounts to $56,647,680, being 

 an average per mile of $51,034, exceeding by $16,056 

 the actual cost of constructing and fully equipping 

 the road, and yielding a profit exceeding $17,750,000. 

 The Central Pacific Eailroad Company, of Califor- 

 nia, hatfe constructed 390 miles of their road and 

 telegraph line, of which 296 were constructed and 

 accepted since my last annual report. This company 

 filed a map of the definite location of their road from 

 Huinboldt Wells, via the head of Great Salt Lake, to 

 the mouth of Weber Canon. On the 15th of May 

 last, I gave my "consent and approval" to the lo- 

 cation, as far as the head of Great Salt Lake, a dis- 

 tance of 140 miles. Subsequent surveys corrected 

 and improved the unaccepted part of the line, and on 

 the 14th ultimo they filed a map and profile from the 

 head of Great Salt Lake to Echo Summit, to which 

 location I gave my " consent and approval." 



At the date of my last annual report the Union Pacific 

 Railway Company, Eastern Division, had constructed 

 305 miles of their road and telegraph line, and 285 

 miles thereof had been accepted. Since that date 88 

 additional miles have been constructed and accepted. 

 Sixty-nine and a half miles of the road and tele- 

 graph line of the Sioux City and Pacific Eailroad 

 Company were completed, equipped, and accepted in 

 March last. About 311 miles necessary to make a 

 connection with the Union Pacific Eailroad are under 

 contract and in process of grading. 



No track has been laid by the Western Pacific 

 Eailroad Company within the past year. They, 

 however ? reported on the 15th of September last that 

 the grading of the unfinished part or the road would 

 be completed and ready for the track in a few months. 

 No portion of the Northern Pacific Eailroad has 

 been constructed. The company report that surveys 

 have not been continued during the past_ season for 

 want of a military escort to protect surveying parties. 

 The Southern Pacific Eailroad Company report 

 that they have surveyed only that portion oftheir^ 

 line lying between the towns of San Jose and Gilroy, 

 in the county of Santa Clara, a distance of thirty 

 miles. The grading is rapidly progressing. The 

 iron has been purchased and is in transitu. They 

 expect to complete this thirty miles of road by the 

 1st of April, 1869. Their capital stock is $1,800,000, 

 of which $72,000 has been actually paid in, and their 

 indebtedness $480,000. 



At the Mont Oenis Tunnel, the engineering 

 feature is the manner in which the drills are 





