Some Engineering Problems Of The Panama Canal In Their Relation To Geology And Topography

COST OF CONSTRUCTION. 81 EXCAVATION AND CONSTRUCTION. Data on the amount of ground moved and on the different costs of moving it are given in the table following. A few hundred thousand cubic yards, over and above that shown in the table, was excavated for building and other foundations at a cost of $1 to more than $2 per cubic yard. Data on canal excavation, May 4, 1904, to June 30, 1914- ATLANTIC DIVISION. Item. Material excavated. Cost. Dry excavation: Cubic yards. Cents. Prism . 2,181,998 0.6746 Gatun Spillway 1,544,202 4,660,055 .7131 Gatun Locks. .6776 Hydraulic excavation: Prism 29,605 .3942 Dredging: .2325 Prism 39,032,400 38,425 1,756,977 Gatun Dam .5216 Gatun Locks .3198 CENTRAL DIVISION. Dry excavation 110,261,883 0.7800 Dredging 3,993,532 .5280 Hydraulic excavation 1,441,729 .2179 PACIFIC DIVISION. Dry excavation: Prism 4,819,969 0.7287 Ppdrn Migup.l T,ocks 1,133,280 242,399 .9136 Afiraflørps East Dani 1.3518 Miraflores Locks 2,222,582 . 9302 Dredging: Prism . . 40,122,287 . 2582 Miraflores Locks... . 309,647 .4598 Inner basin 3,698,781 .1754 Hydraulic excavation: Prism 1,549,904 332,703 .7233 Af irafl ores I^ocks .5870 SOME SIGNIFICANT FACTS. In order to visualize to some extent the meaning of the vast figures of yardage, etc., that have been presented, it may be well to sum- marize here some statements taken from an article by Gaillard.“ If all the material excavated from the canal wore loaded on flat cars, and if these cars were coupled together into one train, that train would be long enough to encircle the earth four times. The excavation work done on the Isthmus is equivalent to the excavation necessary to dig a canal 55 feet wide on. top, 10 feet deep, and with natural slopes, from the Pacific coast clear across the I ni ted States to Boston. If a Gaillard, D. D., Culebra Cut and the problems of the slides: Sei. Am., vol. 107, Nov. 9,1912, pp. 391,405. 97348°—Bull. 86—15----6