THE PANAMA CANAL 



339 



chorage, and also an opportunity for 

 such expansion to the waves as to break 

 them up. 



A fourth change is in the dimensions 

 of the locks. As proposed by the minor- 

 ity they were 900 feet by 95 feet, usable 

 lengths and widths. These dimensions 

 were subsequently changed by the com- 

 mission *at the instigation of the Presi- 

 dent to dimensions 100 feet wide and 

 1,000 feet long. The width was again 

 increased to no feet on the recom- 

 mendation of the General Board of the 

 Navy, so as to accommodate any possi- 

 ble increase in beam of future battle- 

 ships. 



SENSATIONAL AND MISLEADING STORIES 

 ABOUT THE GATUN DAM 



The Gatun dam is to consist of two 

 piles of rock 1,200 feet apart and carried 

 up to 60 feet above mean tide. The 

 space between them and up to the re- 

 quired height is to be filled by selected 

 material deposited in place by the hy- 

 draulic process. During the construc- 

 tion of the north side of the south rock 

 pile a slip occurred in November last at 

 the crossing of the French Canal. This 

 was the fifth slip that occurred at this 

 point, the rock settling to some extent, 

 but generally slipping sidewise until the 

 angle of repose was reached. In this 

 connection it is to be noted that the silt 

 deposits in the channel had not been re- 

 moved. This slip would probably have 

 passed unnoticed, as did the former ones, 

 but for the fact that at the time a flood 

 in the Chagres River had attained such 

 proportions as to cover a portion of the 

 Panama Railroad tracks just south of 

 Gatun. A newspaper correspondent, 

 going from Colon to Panama, saw his 

 opportunity for a sensational story, and 

 attributed the flood to the dropping of 

 the Gatun dam into the subterranean 

 lake under the dam and locks, which an- 

 other faker had previously discovered, 

 and the news of the destruction of the 

 Gatun dam was cabled to the States. 



The slip did not affect the south slope 

 or side of the rock pile. It was entirely 

 local and did not in any way interfere 



with the work. It would not have oc- 

 curred had steps been taken during con- 

 struction to give the proper slope to the 

 rock pile, but economy of time and 

 money did not warrant such precaution. 

 As stated by one of the engineering pub- 

 lications, "We can state from actual per- 

 sonal examination that this incident has 

 absolutely no engineering significance." 



As a result, however, the public is 

 told that dire disaster will follow the 

 undertaking unless the present plans are 

 abandoned and the Straits of Panama 

 constructed — that is, a sea-level canal 

 across the Isthmus 500 to 600 feet wide. 

 To accomplish this, however, a lock canal 

 must be built first, and subsequently 

 widened and deepened until the ideal is 

 reached. There is no data available for 

 such a canal. With mountains instead 

 of hills to be removed estimates are, of 

 course, impossible; so the most op- 

 timistic figures, suitable alone to the 

 ideal, are offered as a bait. In any event 

 it is also claimed that Bohio should have 

 been selected for the site of the dam in 

 lieu of Gatun. 



As between Gatun and Bohio, at both 

 places the distance from the natural sur- 

 face to the rock is so great that any 

 attempt to found the dam on the last- 

 named material will be attended by enor- 

 mous expense. At Bohio the gorge in 

 its lower strata is filled with water-bear- 

 ing gravel, and to make the dam safe the 

 underflow through these strata would 

 have to be cut off by some means ex- 

 tending down 165 feet. No such strata 

 exist at Gatun, so, for this reason alone, 

 leaving out of consideration the advan- 

 tages in the control of the Chagres River 

 and to navigation by reason of the 

 greater extent of lake, Gatun offers the 

 better site. 



Both the majority and minority of the 

 Board of Consulting Engineers consid- 

 ered Gatun a suitable location for a dam ; 

 the former adopted it for the typical lock 

 canal used for comparison with the sea- 

 level canal, the latter for the 85-foot sum- 

 mit-level canal. The majority, however, 

 feared the existence of an underground 

 flow in case of the higher dam, but in- 



