Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/698

 688 CANAL NAME. 3 S * Jl Width in feet at Burface. Width In feet at bottom. Xumher of locks. II i = s = . fll J- =( e K It 8tf 120 80 5 200x45 9 44% $2,C8T.532 Wclland 28 1 ? 2T 150x26X 10}< 880 7,688,289 lljf 120 80 9 200x44 9 82X 1,611,424 lUtf 150 100 T 2!'Ox5S 9 48 1,988,152 3i 90 50 1 200x45 9 4 4 90 60 2 200x45 9 11X -< 1,820,655 t The Galops Tg 90 50 S 200 x 45 9 15% 1 [ The Caledonian canal, the greatest work of its kind in Britain, passes through the centre of the Highlands from Moray frith on the E. coast to Loch Linnhe on the west. It has a total length of 60 m., including three lakes, Ness, Oich, and Lochy, whose combined length is 37 m. The 23 m. of artificial canal is 122 ft. wide at the surface, 50 ft. at the bot- tom, and has a depth of 20 ft. The work was done by the government from designs and under the superintendence of Thomas Telford. The total cost up to 1822, when it was opened, was 905,258, which to 1839 was increased to 1,023,628, the additional expense being prin- cipally made in 1839 by covering the slopes with stone work, by which means washing of them has been prevented. Since then steam power has been used upon the canal with perfect success, vessels drawing 17 ft. of water making from 7 to 11 m. an hour without injury to the banks. From May, 1824, to May, 1825, there passed through the Caledonia canal 1,142 vessels, of which 149 were steam- ers. In 1832, 162 steamers passed through. From May, 1855, to May, 1856, there passed through 1,932 vessels, of which 412 were steamers; and in 1867-'8, from May to May, 1,848 vessels found transit, of which 609 were steamers. It will be seen from these figures that the work possesses greater engineering than commercial importance. The Crinan cana}, in Argyleshire, uniting Loch Gilp with Jura sound, was commenced in 1793 by a com- pany, but on account of financial embarrass- ments it was transferred to the barons of the exchequer in Scotland, who gave its man- agement to the commissioners of the Cale- donian canal. It is 9 m. long and 12 ft. deep, admitting vessels of 200 tons burden, and is constantly used by steamers. The North Hol- land canal, to which allusion has been made, was cut from Buiksluyt, opposite Amster- dam, to the Holder, a distance of 51 m. It is 124 ft. in breadth at the surface and 31 ft. at the bottom, with a depth sufficient for the passage of vessels drawing 1 8 ft. of water. The open sea can be reached in about two days, but in winter considerable difficulty is experienced from obstructions by ice, the removal of which is expensive. Before the construction of this canal William I. had proposed to connect Am- sterdam directly with the North sea. After- ward, the canal to the Helder proving inade- quate to the wants of commerce, the idea was revived, and a new canal is now nearly com- pleted (April, 1873), which mainly realizes the plan of King William. The first practical steps to accomplish the object were taken in 1852, but it was not till 1865 that work was actually commenced. A necessary adjunct is the harbor on the North sea, which was planned by Mr. John Hawkshaw of London, the consulting engineer of the company by which the work is prosecuted as a business enterprise. This harbor is formed by two piers, which spring from the shore at a dis- tance of 3,917 ft. apart, converging toward each other at an angle of about 77 with the base line, and extending into the sea a distance also of 3,917 ft., where they are 2,165 ft. apart. Here the walls form angles and approach each other more rapidly for a distance of 1,132 ft., making the entire length of each pier 5,049 ft., and placing the outer termini at a distance of 853 ft. from each other. After several ex- periments, one of which was to attempt to build .1 sea wall from the natural bottom, the following system of construction was adopted : A layer of basalt rock about 20 metres wider than the sea wall, which has an average width at the base of about 40 ft., is first deposited to the depth of about 4 ft., and upon this the wall is erected of blocks of concrete laid in Portland cement, and with an inclination of one seventh of the height. When completed, the canal will have a width at the surface of 176-5 ft. (including bermes, 186-5 ft.), and at the bottom a width of 89 ft:, with a depth of 23 ft. There will be a double lock at either end. The history of the present Suez canal, completed in 1869, is invested with peculiar interest. According to Strabo and Pliny, Se- sostris (Rameses II., about 1300 B. C.) con- structed a canal between the Pelusiac branch of the Nile and the Red sea ; but Dr. Brugsch, who is supported by Lenormant and Cheval- lier, believes, from an examination of sculp- tures and inscriptions at Karnak, that it was built by Sethos, the father of Rameses. This canal only served to convey water, for which purpose alone it was probably intended. Ne- cho, according to Herodotus, about 600 B. C., projected upon the same route the first ship canal of which we have any account ; but he desisted from the work on being warned by the oracle that he was constructing it for the use of the invader. It was to have led from the Nile near Bubastis, by the city of Thoum, along a natural valley to Heroopolis and thence into the lower Bitter Lakes, which are now about