The Republic of Panama 



69 



A Market Scene in Panama 



porous sand and gravel, of which large 

 portions of the substrata beneath the 

 river bed are composed. 



As the top of this dam would have 

 an elevation of 100 feet above the sea, 

 and as the highest water in Lake Bohio 

 would be 8 feet lower than that eleva- 

 tion, no water would ever overflow this 

 clam, but the surplus of flood waters of 

 the Chagres River would be discharged 

 over a masonry spillway about 3 miles 

 from the dam. The spillway weir would 

 be of masonry and about 2,000 feet long. 

 Its location is in a notch or depression 

 in the riclsfe between the headwaters of 



a small tributary of the Chagres called 

 the Gigante and the valley of the Cha- 

 gres River. The crest of this 2,000- 

 foot-long overflow would be 85 feet 

 above sea level. It is estimated that 

 with the greatest flood possible in the 

 Chagres River the depth of water on 

 the overflow weir would not be greater 

 than 7 feet. During a great flood, 

 therefore, the river would discharge 

 into this lake, and its waters would ac- 

 cumulate there until deep enough to 

 run over the masonry spillway. With 

 the flood in a rising stage, the amount 

 flowing over the spillway would increase 



