THE PANAMA-CANAL

Colonist, Volume LV, Issue 13801, 26 August 1913, Page 7

THE PANAMA-CANAL

' On: July Ist the'engineers in-charge of the sluice gates at tho Gatun spillway, along the : route of the- Panama Canal, closed them and, in doing so, demonstrated that tins stupendous engineering i'eat is approaching completion. For the next two or three months the Chagrcs and other rivers will pour their waters into a closed valley and gradually form Gatviu Lake, an inland sea, of nearly one hundred and seventy square miles and eightyfive feet above the mean, tide level of both oceans. .The engineers anticipate that when the lake has rison to its proper level it will help them to deal with the slides which occur in the : famous Culebra Cut. Two great dredges are being built, with a capacity for handling "1,000,000 yards of spoil a month, and it is expected that, they-will prove more than1 sufficient to keep- down any slides. Even should extensive slides occur/-a thing by no means improbable, the presence of these dredges will ensure a clearance sufficiently rapid to prevent any serious dislocation of "traffic. At one time, it was thought that the Chages river would provide the engineers with their most difficult problem, but human ingenuity has converted what looked like a foe into an assisting friend. Nature is adding the finishing touches to the construction of the Panama■.„ Canal.