. Factory and industrial management. difficulties which have to beencountered during the first twenty miles or so after leaving Greytownwhen I say that, excepting the heavy work in the Culebra sectionand the construction of the Bohio dam, the entire Panama canalmight be built more easily and at no greater cost. For many miles ofthe distance mentioned, the Nicaragua canal line passes through aflat and swampy country, where the rainfall is abnormally heavy andpractically continuous. The swamps communicate freely with therivers in the neighbourhood, the flood levels frequently rise many feetabove
. Factory and industrial management. difficulties which have to beencountered during the first twenty miles or so after leaving Greytownwhen I say that, excepting the heavy work in the Culebra sectionand the construction of the Bohio dam, the entire Panama canalmight be built more easily and at no greater cost. For many miles ofthe distance mentioned, the Nicaragua canal line passes through aflat and swampy country, where the rainfall is abnormally heavy andpractically continuous. The swamps communicate freely with therivers in the neighbourhood, the flood levels frequently rise many feetabove the level of the Caribbean Sea, and embankments will be requiredfor long distances, not only to maintain the canal from within but alsoto exclude flood waters. The soil, moreover, is often so unsuitableeven for the roughest of embankments that clay for their constructionwill have to be brought from the adjacent hills. At least two riverswill have to be diverted, and four wasteways are planned, each neces- THE ENGINEERING NICARAGUA CANAL. THE SAN JUAN RIVER CANALIZED. sarily at a considerable distance from the canal line, for the purpose ofprotecting it from floods. It is not until Lock No. 4 is reached thatthese treacherous swamps can be eluded. Westward from Lock are heavy cuttings through the Tamborcito, Tambor Grande, andSan Francisco ridges, consisting largely of hard, basaltic rock; acrossEmbankment Creek and the Machado River embankments will berequired, for which considerable excavation will be needed, so thatthey may rest on firmer material than swamp; and beyond Lock is a rough and hilly district where much deep cutting, throughrock and clay, will be encountered. The total distance from theinner end of Greytown harbour to the junction with the San Juanriver is 44 miles, and the estimated cost of constructing a canal acrossit—exclusive of the $19,258,572 allowed for the locks and their exca-vation—is $43,574,044. This sounds a large amount, but
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubj, booksubjectengineering
