THE PANAMA CANAL

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2676, 24 January 1916, Page 3

THE PANAMA CANAL

MAY BE UNRELIABLE FOR YEARS

That uninterrupted . service through the Panama Cahal'must not be expected for several years was the summary of a statement issued by Professor Benjamin Le Roy Miller, Ph.D., who occupies the chair of geology in- Lehigh University. Professor Miller returned recently from a tour of several months in South and Central America, ivhere he investigated, mining conditions. >On his return trip 'he made a lengthy examination of the slides at Gallard and Culebra cuts

"When the Panama Canal was opened to traffic some months ago,", he said, "the public generally and also steamship companies that had been waiting for a long time for the event seemed ;to feel that the canal was completed, and if ever closed on account of slides the closing would be of very short duration. When the slides started a few weeks ago optimistic views were expressed, and more than one person predicted that the closing of the canal to navigation. only be a mattor.of a few weeks at most. •One authoritative report, originating in the'canal zone, stated that .the ■ canal would be clear in two weeks. Instead of that, however, the slides became much worse, and on the date set persons were walking dry-shod across, the canal from one side to the other. '

"One who has not been in the region can scarcely appreciate the extant to which the slides extend. In the Culebra cut cracks have formed more than 1300 ft, back from the canal, and all the ground intervening is gradually moving towards the cut.. Macadamised roads, constructed where the earth was supposed to be stable, have been destroyed by the movement, and scores of houseß have had to be moved to save them.

"The ground has cracked under' the old administration iuildiiig. and, as it is in line with a great cliff formed by an enormous block of earth breaking off, there is 310 doubt that this building must be removed' before vefy long in order to save it.

"When one speaks of glides, they are likely "to consider them as : due to the steep slopes of the canal .banks, and conclude that ■ they can be checked by decreasing the slopes. However, tho earth'from tho higher-points does i.ofc go into 1 tho canal directly. Instead, when the loose material is filled with water, as it is during the rainy season, great blocks from the higher-lying regions adjacent to'the oanaf settle downward almost vertically and force the underlying material into tho cut by a lateral'pressure. "The amount of material that lies now broken loose and is moving tor •wards the cut is immense, and there is no doubt that much rock, now apparently stable, will also move as. its support is withdrawn by the removal of the loose earth and rock. Before the canal can be said to be completed and .permanently .opened to. -traffic, the amount of material that must be taken out ,does hot. fall far short , of the amount already-taken, from the Culebra cut. r'• ' .

Rainy Season will Gloso It. "Transportation' -'companies' intending to use the canal should realise that they must not expect uninterrupted service for several years. During the dry season the canal may be open, but it is certain to be closed during the rainy season when the earth is soaked with water and its mo vement towards the canal facilitate. ' "When tho canal was opened,, the ■ steam shovels wero disposed of to various companies, and jnauy cariijaow bo found in mining camps in several •parts of ; South America. • 'Dredges operating in the canal were substituted for the shovels, and these are now at work on both sides of the, six slides. Some days i'bey can keep .pace'"with the inooraing material, but on other days they/lose. . ; "In view of the extent of the mathat has now started towards the cut, it seems as though steam shovels should again be employed, in order to remove more quickly the earth that in time'will enter the cut. Practically all, if not all,. of Gold Hill and. much of Zion Hill, must be removed, and to wait until the earth breaks loose and enters the cut where the dredges can attack it seems to he unwise, and unquestionably longer delays' : the completion of the project. . "If dredges alone are employed, as at present, the canal may he kept clear during the months when rainfall is' lightened, but for many years, to come the rainy season is almost certain to cause such slides as to close the canal for weeks, or even months."