308 



ENGINEERING. 



ing of the canal off Port Tewfik ; deepening of the 

 basin of Port Tewfik ; and the continuance of the 

 masonry-work. 



They at the same time suggested the advisa- 

 bility of cutting a second canal parallel to the 

 first, in anticipation of a still greater traffic. 

 This scheme was the subject of the negotiations 

 between M. de Lesseps and the British Govern- 

 ment. The section of the Suez canal is too 

 small for vessels of such dimensions as are now 

 built for the Indian and Australian trade, irre- 

 spective of the question of overcrowding and 

 blockades. The passage is too narrow and shal- 

 low to allow them to steer properly, particu- 

 larly at such a slow speed as tive knots an 

 hour, the maximum in the present canal. It 

 was on this account that the English ship-own- 

 ers, in their conferences with M. de Lesseps 

 in the latter part of the year, urged the neces- 

 sity of enlarging the section of the present 

 canal as more pressing than that of separate 

 channels for vessels going in opposite direc- 

 tions. He promised to meet their views and 

 have the plans for the improvements drawn up 

 on the basis of an enlargement of the present 

 canal, which will take precedence, and a corre- 

 spondingly larger sectional area in the pro- 

 jected parallel passage. 



Isthmus of Corinth Canal. The Isthmus of Cor- 

 inth canal, which was begun in the spring of 

 1882, and is expected to take four years, pro- 

 ceeds with greater rapidity since the intro- 

 duction, in the autumn of 1883, of gigantic 

 steam-excavators constructed in France. The 

 length of the canal is 6,342 metres. Its depth 

 and width are the same as those of the Suez 

 canal. It will save ships from the Adriatic 

 trading with Greece, Turkey, the Danube, or 

 the Black sea, as much as 185 marine miles, 

 and those from the Mediterranean and Atlan- 

 tic about half that distance. At present 5,800 

 large steamers and 300 war-vessels, besides a 

 large number of sailing-craft, sail around Cape 

 Matapan every year, enough to furnish the 

 canal, to begin with, a traffic of nearly 6,000,000 

 tons. The site of the new town of Isthrnia, at 

 the ^Egean outlet of the canal, is exceedingly 

 healthful. There was no mortality among the 

 workmen from climatic causes during the first 

 year's operations. 



Sahara Sea. M. de Lesseps, after a personal 

 examination of the route of the canal with 

 which Commandant Roudaire proposes to in- 

 undate the chott* of Tunis and Algeria, declared 

 his adhesion to the project, which he has fa- 

 vored from its inception, and aided in its pre- 

 liminary stages. The ehottn, or alkaline basins, 

 depressed below the level of the Mediterra- 

 nean, extend in an irregular chain from Gabes 

 to the town of Biskra in the desert, 300 miles 

 inland. The large lake which would be formed 

 by flooding the depressed area would be not 

 Jess than 2,000 or 3,000 square miles in extent, 

 and deep enough to float the largest vessels, 

 which could enter easily by the nearly straight 

 canal. The creation of such a landlocked sea 



would render fertile a broad belt of desert-land 

 to the north, constituting the whole interior of 

 Algeria and Tunis, where there are numerous 

 fresh-water wells, and where nothing but rain 

 is wanted to make the soil exceedingly pro- 

 ductive. The cutting would be through sand, 

 except in some places where a calcareous rock 

 is met with ; which, however, is hardly more 

 than sufficient to furnish materials for break- 

 waters, piers, and buildings. The total cost is 

 estimated by M. de Lesseps at 150,000,000 

 francs, and the time to complete it five years. 



Panama Canal. The works on the Panama 

 canal are progressing, though, from the ina- 

 .bility of M. de Lesseps to raise a new loan in 

 the spring, it is evident that the feasibility of 

 carrying out some important features of the 

 original plan is doubted. The reports of the 

 director-general, M. Dingier, on the excava- 

 tions are encouraging. Ihe quantity of earth 

 to be removed is placed at 100,000,000 cubic 

 metres, instead of 80,000,000 as previously esti- 

 mated; but the absence of the expected rock 

 excavation, and the looseness of the soil, re- 

 duce the estimated cost from 10 francs a metre 

 to about one third of that rate. Much of the 

 excavation is done 'by negro laborers, who work 

 more cheaply than the machines which were 

 brought for the purpose. M. de Lesseps esti- 

 mates the total cost at 500,000,000 francs, not 

 including the reserve fund of 100, 000, 000 francs 

 for unforeseen expenses. He asserts positively 

 that the canal will be completed within the 

 five years originally calculated, which end in 

 1888. 



The proposed high dam in the valley of the 

 Chagres is one of the most dubious features in 

 the canal plans. The reservoir at high water 

 is to cover an area of 6,750 acres, and contain 

 1,000,000,000 cubic metres of water. The di- 

 rectory has abandoned the idea of building the 

 canal without locks, and determined to make 

 a lateral canal and three locks at Panama. 



The total length of the canal from the At- 

 lantic to the islands of Naos and Flamenco, 

 where it joins the Pacific, is 74 kilometres. It 

 is divided into 12 sections, the most important 

 of which are Colon, Gorgona, Obispo, Empera- 

 dor, Culebra/ and Paraiso. On all the sections 

 30 steam-excavators, 40 locomotives, and 800 

 tip-wagons were at work in the autumn. The 

 force of laborers was then 10,000 men, which 

 number was expected to be augmented at the 

 beginning of the fine season in December to 

 15,000. About two thirds of the grand cutting 

 between Obispo and Paraiso was excavated by 

 Oct. 15th. It is expected that in 1884, when 

 all the machinery will be on the ground, the 

 excavations will proceed at the rate of 4,000,- 

 000 cubic metres a month. On Oct. 15th the 

 harbor-works at Colon were nearly completed. 

 An entire town had sprung up there, with 

 numero-us workshops and warehouses, and con- 

 necting railroads for the distribution of mate- 

 rial. The terre plein and breakwater were 

 finished. A cutting was opened at the spot 



