ACROSS THE ANDES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 3764, 28 February 1874, Page 6 (Supplement)

ACROSS THE ANDES.

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(The Time?-)] ..•■•■ ;': ' ■ jiu ■-•!;-^ ;.,the,.New Yorlc Times' ■ has supplied.'l 6 tfiat* 'Jqiiirii'al an account, > pre- ■■' -pdretl^fter' recent''personal examination; of Mthe prdgfess-of1 the great South American; ,r Railroad over the-Andes;; It commences at oniheiPaciißo coast,' and after being ■ -, i carried 105 miles -.tbi Summit* Tunnel, which ~. is upwards of 15,000 feet abbve.tho level of the seaj 'descends,! or>.ifl to descend, 31 miles [[ .more./to f,La, Oroyai ; a|tQwnpn; the eastern '' slope, 'whence .it^may: , : be : . .continued to ' 'the head" of navigation *.on ;i the Amazon; or to the -Atlantic, coast. * : On leaving ■•-■' Callao' ;the! roada'riinV' along' the ;fertile . valley-of the":ißiraac; a 1 small mountain i stream. .After some 30 miles,1 the moun--,-tains draw.together ;• along their-sides:, are: !< seen the nuns^ot'the oldlncadays^in rows, ,'!.'.,.nf terraces.and, bare! adoba walls, marking svliare busy towqS..once stood. ~ Soon after B^ssiligStrßarliqlgme,;^ miles, from Callao, '"" -£ntY nearly 506o'feetabove,the. > sea,. the en- ' ".gineering beconieß tlifl^culfc. j ...The valley is so : :' fiarrbw'and |teep fet a retrograde is neces- • ' gary t» pb'tftiii elpvatiqnj.a'nd ;a^ there is not *jom for a, curve, the roftd take^ the Shape of a V, at the apdx; oi' Svhich is/ '&' turntable, *. . : thus allowing the engine to be'turnedround. . and backon a sidetrack to !the rear of : ihp itrain; which '> now becomes the front. Retrograding; though on an ascending scale, $W,'-ts.'ain, ■ after . travelling . some! three, miles, again comes .opposite the depOt of San '!' JJartplome, now it, is , some ; COO feet Rb'gve the station, and moves, .on along a : steap moijntain sid.6 until the bridge of the Agtia 4a Yerrugas is i'eaohed. The viaduct consists of four deck spans of the Fink type til truss,^three'ot whioh are 100 feet long, and one, thocentral span, 125 i feet inlength. '■ ;. .The spans" rest on! piers • built bt wroughtiron. columns, and • these piers are 50 feet lotffi'by. 15 feet wide on top. i There being . . ±hr£e piers, the total. length of > the viaduct L 575/fect. These, piers are the; great feature ..of I'interest, and Are, i respectively, ifs fee1;, ,*2,52. /feet, and; l^.feet, high. ' ' Each'''pier 'consists of-.> 12 ; , ( 1eg5,, which •",. in plqft'' fgrnj .'-. ■g, •'..' 'rgsitangle, . and the -! legs are cojnpQsea' pf'.a'sgr|§3'of wroughtiron '' six' !lsegrne:iit ' colurnjng in ~]e»gths :'■ <' pi 25ft.; 'connections being 'iqade tip by cast-' •i- jro'ii joint boxes, l!jjaving,-tenbns qri e^ch end i■ ■ funniug into the column; ;: The' tenons and iike faea of-tho * casting 'against which the . ; : column bears'are 'maohine-dressed :so' 4s to , ,face.= -The. columns have an exteriori dia- , nieter pf 12 inches,: and a diameter, including , Iknges, of 16 inches. The legs.of the piers; " are S§cur,ely fastened; together,by three sys- ' tenjV (4 ' brace-rods running ..transversely, ■ iongitMinfllly, and laterally, andbracedupby ■ iongi^uajnajapd transverse ii-pnshutes. These praces andsljutea'are connected at thei joints ■ by "bolts and stij^ll pins-V'. Transversely, "the" -piu'lias the/shape'pf-'art'inverted AY, two Jogs batter'- %a. Hi\i twq-'ou-j;, the 'butpr legs^ . liavirig a battop of bnb foot in twelve, and theIBRerTlegs'being •■ so inclined as to make the ■ ttbove-uienttoried' shape.;i 'There ara;three of these, W'«' »n ■ a ipier.s'eaqhbontainirig^four !iegß, 'thus making 12 legsinall, ■~ The piors,. W°ro raised within them3elvo3, tier upon ■ tier/the material being drawn by a common .-aymdlassi'1 The side spans "were, raised with. ■; |lie vsttal'! scaff6fding, but ;the-central [span, ~-.. paving bpitopilt together^on>a Staging 'a few, jfflejl above ttusdground; was lifted bodily a fljstancepf 250 feDti?;,This inbthodib said'tp ■1)6 ft:fluJQker ; and morel economical one than J any ptliPF, as a,s,ingle span at. masonry would ' have cost. tjvfee; as . muc^,; and not been so 11 safe.' From tliis yer^ugas. viacjuct the- road winds' on along the mountain side to Liirco, •{SO miles from Callao, and CCSS fejet_,highj the road working its way throiigh an infinite - anflever-charigihg variety, of scenery—wild, - ; cold, and'forbiddingI—on1—on toward the'summit. It orosaes the) ravine of Challapa; upon a . bridge, in length 324 feet, and height 120 .feet.: This bridge is of French manufacture. Beyond it tho road, passes through an ex : tohsiye 'cut; .in the . solid rook, which . opens on- tho yalloy of .the, Matucana. ; Here t e"'yallpy , narrows^^^:; until it beiaomes a gorge, and amid an intricate net- ;; Sttrk'pf preoip'ices, ravines, toppling crags, - oni'pbld, "cheerless, and rocky peaks, the 1 en§W?rs'have( threaded their way, bridging ■ *unneUiii&i i;arid:!delving around or through ■ - obstructions' that ! Seem ■'[ impassable, until they havo'broijgHt'the road-bed up an ascensipiiof 3000 feet in l^milesi thus reaching SauMateo.; Beyond San Matoo, the valley . of theaimac risps 1300 feet. jn four, miles . and the Falls of lafiernillo, pr Little Hill, bar the furthor a3Cfint. by this route until it is pissed, thu3 forcing a dctpup. around it, tlie ravine of the Parac being ugetl to accom- ■ plish' it. Thus oil aud upward the road winds; until, ' having reached an elevation of 15,64s1 feet, it- passes' tho summit through a tunnel 3000 feet long, aud emerging on the eastern slope, winds down to ;La Oroya, on the Atlantic side of tho Cordillera. ; In this great work engineering science has smoothed down the ruggedness of nature, and man has.triumphed over matter. The tunnel cuttings reach au aggregate length of over three miles, ami there aro 30 bridges and viaducts, besides innumerable cul verbs. The road will opeh a way for the ■ products of the agricultural region lying on the eastern' Blopo of the' Aud.es to the seaboard cities of Peru, and also affords means for;the rich mineral deposits lying in the district between San Mateo i and the Summit to be davolopcdV whioh :their isolatedness has heretoforp precluded. Already trains run boyoud Lurco, Tho road-bed is in part laid up to the Summit tunneL aud on the slope ' that leads down to La Oioya. It is expected that 15 or IS months moro will suffice to complete tho road, and tho former toilsome, ■•■ dangerous, and'wearying journey of a week will be reduced to the easy jaunt of a day. Tho road is ft Governmeut enterprise, 'and belongs to the nation-of Peru, the work being performed under contract by Henry : Meigfs, the llailroad King of South America. Although ~b.ut .136 .nxilc3. long, the road has caused a groat expenditure of, labour and life, the latter-partly'from! a reckless use of ,i spirituous liquors,- aiid partlyby fevers pro vailing in a narrow belt of territory.