1844.-] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL 



hour by the small depth of excavation he proposes : and granting that 

 it is to be obtained, we doubt its efficacy in scooping out a channel to 

 the requisite depth, believing, as we do, that the Red Sea, once flow- 

 ing through these narrow valleys with a fall as great as in the present 

 day, was unable, in its own strength, to preserve a passage, so that art 

 was obliged to come to the aid of nature in order to preserve this pas- 

 sage for a more extended period of time than otherwise would have 

 been the case. The estimate of the French engineers, embracing both 

 branches, was £691,000. 



Captain James Vetch, R.E., proposes to open the communication 

 between the two seas by the shortest possible line : observing "that 

 the shortest line would give the greatest velocity and scouring pro- 

 perty to the stream ; and, under equal circumstances, would cost least 

 money. A straight line would also be most controllable, and with the 

 least expense ; for as soon as bends and angles are introduced to the 

 channel of a large body of running water, an action immediately and 

 inevitably commences on the banks, which would have to be provided 

 against by a heavy expenditure in strengthening them !o resist the 

 erosion of the water; but with no reasonable expense could the banks 

 be rendered secure, if the bends were considerable and numerous ; for 

 if thpy gave way in one place, the whole current might be changed 

 . and numerous breaches ensue, requiring equal expenditure of time and 

 money to repair." These objections cannot, however, apply to the 

 communication viathe chain of lakes, which are the natural boundaries 

 of the sea communication : the only points vulnerable to erosion are 

 the communications between the lakes and the lower plains towards 

 the Mediterranean. 



An important point appears not to have had due consideration, and 

 which must have weight in all plans put forward for connecting the 

 two seas. For about 3U0 days in the year the winds and breezes set 

 in towards the Red Sea ; but during the period of the Kamsetn they 

 blow towards the Mediterranean : thus vessels will be enabled to sail 

 one way and come down by the current on the other. This peculiarity 

 of the atmospheric currents favours the passage by the chain of lakes, 

 rather than by a straight narrow channel ; these fine expanses of water 

 enabling the mariner, in the passage to and fro, to avail himself of 

 every capful of wind : again, by the circuitous route, the pressure of 

 the waters of the Mediterannean upon the waters of the canal would, 

 in some measure, regulate their height and velocity. The velocity of 

 the current should be so apportioned as to enable sailing vessels to 

 bear up against it ; steam tugs might also, if necessary, be employed ; 

 tracking or warping would be of no service whatever. 



Pursuing the circuitous route by way of the lakes, the only artificial 

 excavations required are those which exist between them and also be- 

 tween them and the respective seas : in additional to the westward 

 embankments proposed by M. Linant, we are of opinion that through 

 the levels towards the Mediterranean the channel ought to be em- 

 banked on both sides, thus permitting the waters to be above the 

 plains, preserving uniformity in the currents and height of waters, and 

 protecting them on the one side from drifting sands, which, passing 

 from the desert situate on the Eastern side, may otherwise in a few 

 hours fiU up local portions of the bed ; and, on the other side, from 

 the inundations of the Nile. In some places this precaution will be 

 absolutely necessary, inasmuch as the morasses are below the level of 

 either sea. Captain Vetch, in proposing a new line directly across 

 the desert, candidly states that he has no knowledge of the nature of 

 the soil over which he proposes the canal to pass, and even to those 

 who have traversed those plains, it is very problematical whether the 

 possibility exists of forming a canal by a direct route : he errs in sup- 

 posing that the land above the head of Suez is wholly composed of 

 drift sand. Again the greatest velocity is not wanting, for not only must 

 this canal, if direct, be lined throughout, but it must also be protected 

 by high and strong enbankments, otherwise it would be in continual 

 danger of filling up in localities by sudden drifts : he proposes to con- 

 struct a basin at its issue from the Red Sea, which he, with great 

 propriety, proposes to be between three and four miles below Suez, 

 where there is already four fathom water, regulating the issue of wa- 

 ter by means of several parallel channels, constructed of masonry, and 

 each capable of taking the largest class of ships navigating the'canal, 

 and capable of being closed on occasions of necessity, the several 

 channels uniting at a little distance north of the basin; he would obtain 

 a current of i-lo miles per hour as the most likely to be elii^ctive for 

 scourage, and yet nut difficult to navigate against, 'and in these latter 

 points we fully concur : his estimate of the expence of excavation, 

 masonry, piers, basin, &c., for the direct line proposed by him, is 

 £:;, 10-2,000, reckoning the total length of the canal at 76 mdes, or 

 132,000 yuids : the total quantitv of excavation being 42,504,000 yards; 

 _ presuming the canal to be 21 ft.' deep, 9iJ ft. wide at bottom, and 'iSO ft. 

 wide at top at water line. The actual cost for excavating and em- 

 bankment must depend upon the people employed, for if Egyptians 



supplied by the Pasha of Egypt, wages are not more than 2rf. per diem, 

 if the labourers are to be brought from other places, greater expenees 

 would necessarily be incurred. 



Further particulars of plans laid down by the French engineers have 

 been so long before the public, that it is needless to notice them more 

 than by saying that they proposed to preserve the level of the water 

 in their canal at Ras el Moyeh equal to the low water level at Suez, 

 and to throw all the remainder of the fall '2G-(54 English feet on the 

 remaining distance of 30 English miles; and by so doing they con- 

 ceived that energy would be given to the current of the canal to clear 

 its bed from drift sand, and to hollow out and maintain a chanel in the 

 shallow muddy bottom of the bay, so as to alFord the requisite depth 

 of water at Tineh. 



The plan of Mr. Clarkson, who gives an extended review of the 

 history of the ancient canal, embraces the same idea as Captain Vetch, 

 in carrying the canal in a direct line from Suez to the Mediterranean 

 near Tineh ; he also considers that the descent of about five inches 

 per mile is amply sufficient to secure the commimication : he vfould 

 carry the two lateral walls of the canal into the Mediterranean sea for six 

 or seven miles into deep water; this eight miles he conceives would 

 be no large addition to the extended labour and expence; we differ 

 widely from him in this; the watery base is much deeper than he 

 imagines, and embankments to run this length into the open sea, must 

 of necessity be attended with very great expense, and require great 

 engineering skill to execute ; the Mediterranean is no fishpond in 

 stormy weather. 



Refekences.— T. Tineh ; P. Pelusmm; S. B. Lake Siibaket-Bardoil ; P. B. 

 Pelusiac branch ; T. B. Tumetic branch ; Bu. Bubates ; B. Be;heis. 



^ The several routes proposed are marked on the accompanying map. 



j^ 1. The line called by Captain Vetch the Bir Makdal line. 

 : 2. The Thaubastum line. 



3. The Ras el Moych line as proposed by bin self. 



4. The French line as marked out by M. Linai.t. 



5. The lin?s proposed by us. 

 I'l. The interior French line. 

 7. Ancient canal. 



S. Waghorn's present route. 



