Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

THE SUEZ CANAL. 243 M. de Lesseps betook himself to the wilder- ness, and dwelt there for four years, making observations and borings all Surveying along the course of the future the „ x Canal. Sixty camels were Route. J needed to carry die fresh water, stores, and equip- ment of the little party. For months at a time they were completely cut off from the outside world, tramping the lone- ly desert, quietly but painstakingly- carrying out their surveys. One of the first things M. de Lesseps ascer- tained was the fact that the level of the two seas was the same, and that there would be no danger of an inun- dation. A sojourn of a whole year on the shores of Lake Menzaleh satisfied him that a secure harbour could be constructed there. Patient watching and repeated sci- entific experiments proved that the sand of the desert MAP OF THE SUEZ CANAL. did not accumulate, as was commonly believed; and borings made at nineteen separate points between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean showed the soil of the isthmus to be firm and fixed, and therefore not liable to become slimy, as the opponents to the undertaking had predicted. In short, M. de Lesseps, in the course of this preliminary investigation, reached two conclusions, afterwards confirmed by the celebrated British engineer, Sir John Hawkshaw, C.E.—namely, (1) that no insur- mountable engineering difficulties would be met in the construction of the Canal; and (2), that no obstacles of an insurmountable char- acter would prevent the constructed Canal being kept open for navigation. In the isthmus there are a number of lakes, and M. de Lesseps boldly decided to run his Canal through them or into them—a plan which was finally followed, as will be seen in the map show- . Lakes, ing the course of the channel. Before the Canal was cut, however, many of them were virtually dried-up depressions, which have now become lake^ of considerable areas. In all, the Canal passes through five —Lake Menzaleh, Lake Ballah, Lake Timsah, and the Great and Small Bitter Lakes. The Canal track in these lakes has an aggregate length of 27 miles. Excavations were re- quired, however, through Lakes Ballah and Timsah and the Small Bitter Lake, as well as along a portion of the Great Bitter Lake. The distances from Port Said to these lakes are as follows :— Nautical . miles. Port Said to north end of Lake Ballah......... 26 Port Said to south end of Lake Ballah......... 30 Port Said to north end of Lake Timsah....... 41 Port Said to south end of Lake Timsah....... 44 Port Said to north end of Bitter Lakes....... 53 Port Said to south end of Bitter Lakes....... 73 Port The total distance from Port Said to Thewfik is 88 nautical miles (100 English miles), or 160 kilometres. Port Thewfik is the Red Sea terminus and adjoins Suez. Having drawn up his plans, M. de Lesseps went to Constantinople and laid them before the Porte, who sanctioned the scheme, subject to the approval of the Euro- pean Powers. This action apparently annoyed the officials at Cairo, and in Great Britain Opposition to the Scheme.