ANCIENT ENGINEERING.

Timaru Herald, Volume L, Issue 4825, 23 April 1890, Page 4

ANCIENT ENGINEERING.

We talk (eaye a contemporary) a great deal about the wonderful achievement! of modem times m canal building, tunnelling, and other excavations, too often forgetting or considering of little account ancient achievemenU of like character. . The earliest work of magnitude of this character of which wo have auy direot knowledge is probably ths turning of the Euphrates by Cyrus as a means of his entry to Babylon. This work was determined upon only after a two years' teige. . The great depth and width of this river are sufficient to stamp this piece of engineering work as one of vast magnitude and no little difficulty, to say nothing of the fact that its. accomplishment led to the downfall of the mightiest city of ancient, or perhaps modern, times. The ueit great foat of thio kind was acomplished by Xerxes, 480 A.0., who cut a canal across the Isthmns of Mount Athos to facilitate his conquest of Greece. Tbo work was herculean m character, especially when we consider the inefficient means for suoh work at the command of the engineers of those days. His fleet of over a thousand ships was enabled to pass through aad thereby avoid the dread dangers of the stormy promontories which had been the ruin of ao many ships before his day. Of the original Suez Oanal we can (ay but little, as we know of it only by the excavations which were found by the engineers of the present canal, which follows very nearly the course of the old one. In regard to when or by whom that great work was accomplished, history is silent. As is well-known, the city of Mexioi is situated m a deep valley, surrouHdod by mountains everywhere except at one point, where a narrow canyon furnishes a limited outlet for the immense body of water which flows into that valley, especially daring the heavy rains which sometimes almoct deluge the city and its surroundings. The great danger to health and commerce was seen and felt by the early Spanish invaders, who took possession of the ancient city and measures were taken to abate it. The first plan adopted to accomplish this work consisted of an attempt to divert the waters of one of the principal rivers from its natural channel to the outer slope of the watershed, and thus prevent their reaching the plain of the city. To effect this a channel had to be dug and a tunnel over three miles m length had to be excavated. The work was completed, but it failed to accomplish the purpose desired on account of the tunnel becoming constantly choked with debris. This trouble was remedied by converting the tunnel into an open cut. The original work was begun m 1607, but the open cut was not completed until 152 years later. During the accomplishment of the first work it is said that 470,000 natives were employed, and 50,000 perished from sickness and casualties. In the after-work of converting the tunnel into an opencut the labour was enormous. The length of the cutting was about thirteen miles, and for the distance of nearly a mile through the rocky divide the width of the opening at the top was from 270 to 360 feet, ->?id the perpendicular depth from 147 to 196 feet. For the distanco of nearly three miles the depth was from 98 to 164 feet: Humbolt visited and examined this work m 1804, and found the width of the channel at the bottom to be from 9 to 13 feet, with side slopes from 40 to 46 degrees. Such work accomplished at that age of imperfect appliances was truly wonderful and may well be compared with the Suez or any other canal work of the present day.