Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

250 ENGINEERING WONDERS OF THE WORLD. desert sands driven up by the wind. It has been found that Bengal fir trees, poplars, mulberry trees, and even the sycamore gener- ally flourish well on these plantations, thanks to artificial irrigation obtained by cutting ditches from the fresh-water canals leading from the Nile and running parallel for many miles to the maritime Canal for the use of the inhabitants. By 1900 the tonnage of vessels passing through the Canal had increased to 9,738,152 tons, and it was clear that further widening and improvement were neces- \Videning sary jn the following year Operations. J . . - an appropriation of £1,000,000 was granted for this purpose. The scheme has been pushed forward during the last five years with great activity, and it is anticipated that it will be completed by the end of 1913. The Canal will then have a section double the original size. It would be tedious to give a detailed de- scription of the work now going on at this great waterway. Suffice it to say that, quite apart from the widening scheme, a whole fleet of dredgers is continually engaged on merely keeping the channel free from sand. We get some idea of the magnitude of this task from the following figures, which represent the amount of material excavated from the Canal itself during the years 1904-6 :— 1904..................... 1,353,497 cubic yards. 1905..................... 1,760,864 „ 1906..................... 1,918,595 „ In addition to this, the dredging necessary at Port Said aggregated during the same period 1,933,348, 1,842,722, and 1,464,935 cubic yards respectively. WIDENING THE CANAL. {By courtesy of the Suez Canal Company.)