THE GKEAT SIBERIAN KAILWAY. 251 



bounded by steep rocky slopes which in some places give way to over-hanging granite crags, 

 in the cuttings of which the line will have to be laid, supported for considerable distances by 

 retaining walls; in many places the slope of the line will fall into the Irkut, which, like all 

 mountain rivers, has a very strong current; here stone dikes will have to be built and the 

 foot of the slope strengthened with retaining walls laid in cement. Further up the river 

 the steepness of the windings of the Irkut increases, so that at verst 3.146 it was necessary 

 to make the line pass through a tunnel 32 sagenes long. From verst 3,163 to verst 3,166 the 

 line crosses the Zyrkyzunsk chain where it diverts the course of the river Irkut far 

 to the west and forces it to make a loop for a distance of about 30 versts; in order to 

 shorten the line by this distance of 30 versts it is proposed to build a tunnel 1,790 

 sagenes long. 



The work of boring the tunnel will take a long time as it is designed with one continuous 

 incline, so that it cannot be bored from both ends. A no less obstacle will be experienced in 

 the construction of the line further on; great difficulty is occasioned by the gorge where the 

 river Ilcha falls into the Kultushnaya, as the curves at the foot of the almost vertical rocks 

 50 sagenes high are so sharp that it is impossible to bring the line round them even with 

 curves o'f 120 sagenes radius, so that it will be necessary to lay the line along part of the 

 channel of the rapid mountain stream of the Ilcha which even forms a waterfall at this point; 

 in addition to this, springs flow out of the rocks and these will have to be led under the 

 line. Here the height of the embankment reaches 16.8 sagenes, and the height of the retain- 

 ing wall 17 sagenes, which on account of the nature of the locality must be laid in cement. 

 This mountainous character of the ground continues from where the river Kultushnaya 

 falls into lake Baikal to the Bystraya station, 3,212 versts from the town of Cheliabiusk. 

 Along the whole of the mountainous section all the cuttings will have to be made in hard 

 rocky ground, such as granite, gneiss, sandstone, and the like, and in some places the embank- 

 ments will have to be made of stone, as there is no soft soil at hand. The greatest depth 

 of the excavations in this section is 11 sagenes, and 15 sagenes at the entrance of the tunnel, 

 and the largest embankments have a height of 16 . 8 sagenes. 



From verst 3,212 the line follows the shore of lake Baikal, and although it loses its 

 mountainous character, it crosses in many places the branches of the mountain chains leading 

 to lake Baikal. In some places the track is close to the shore and in others at a little distance 

 from it; sometimes it is necessary to lay the line close to the edge of the water, partly 

 taking advantage of the rocky shoals and partly holding on to the rocks; in those places 

 where the shoals at the foot of the rocks completely cease, the batter of the road bed 

 slopes directly into the water, and in such cases requires strengthening from the destructive 

 action of the waves by means of blocks of rock or cribwork filled with stone. Finally 

 there are places along the shore of lake Baikal through which the line passes that are of a 

 marshy character, overgrown with wood. All along the shore of the lake the line will have 

 to cross numerous streams with rapid currents forming small torrents in places where stones, 

 brought down by tha current, have accumulated: all this will entail a large amount of 

 constructive work and the innumerable spring which gush out of the rocks surrounding the 

 lake will require a vast expenditure of labour to lead the water off from the road bed. 



