Part 3
The Department of Construction and Engineering is under the direct charge of the Chief Engineer. The general plans come from the office of the Chief Engineer and details are left to division engineers, subject to his approval. The whole idea of the organization in this department is to place and fix responsibility, leaving to each subordinate the carrying out of the particular work intrusted to his charge. The Chief Engineer is assisted by the Assistant Chief Engineer, who considers and reports upon all engineering questions submitted for final action. The Assistant Chief Engineers have charge of the designs of the locks, dams, and spillways, and the supervision of these particular parts of the work. There is also attached to the Chief Engineer an assistant who looks after mechanical forces on the Isthmus, and has supervision over the machine shops, the cost-keeping branch of the work, the apportionment of appropriations, and the preparation of the estimates. There is also an assistant engineer, who has charge of all general surveys, meteorological observations, and river hydraulics.
The Quartermaster’s Department has charge of the recruiting of labor, the care, repair, and maintenance of quarters, the collection and disposal of garbage and refuse, the issue of furniture, and the delivery of distilled water and commissary supplies to the houses of employees and the construction of all new buildings. Operating in conjunction with the purchasing department in the United States, the Quartermaster’s Department secures all supplies needed for construction and other purposes, and makes purchases of material on the Isthmus when required.
The common labor force of the Commission and Panama Railroad is more than 25,000 men, and consists of about 6,000 Spaniards, with a few Italians, the remainder being from the West Indies. The Spaniard is the best worker, although he objects to working in water. The total number on the pay rolls will average more than 30,000. Of these 5,000 are “gold men”, that is, officials, clerks and skilled laborers, all of whom are American recruited through the Washington office. In the month of September, 1909, there were approximately 44,000 employees on the Isthmus on the rolls of the Commission and the Panama Railroad. There were actually at work, on November 3, 1909, 35,311 men, 27,672 for the Commission and 7,639 for the Panama Railroad Company. The salaries and wages of these men are paid once a month.
This Quartermaster’s Department also has charge of the property records, receives semiannual returns of property from all those to whom property has been issued, and checks the returns and inventories of the storehouses with the records compiled from the original invoices.
The Subsistence Department has charge of the commissaries and the manufacturing plants which consist of an ice and cold-storage establishment, a bread, pie, and cake bakery, a coffee roasting outfit, and a laundry. These belong to the Panama Railroad Company, as, at the time they were established, money received from sales could be reapplied, whereas if operated by the Commission it would have reverted to the Treasury, necessitating reappropriation before the proceeds of the sale could be utilized. They are, however, under the management of the subsistence officer of the Commission, who has charge of the various hotels, kitchens and messes.
There are 16 hotels from Cristobal to Panama which serve meals to the American, or “gold” employees at 30 cents per meal. There are 24 messes where meals to European laborers are served, the cost per day being 40 cents; and there are 24 kitchens for meals supplied to the “silver” laborers (men paid in Panamanian currency), the cost to the laborer being 30 cents per day. There is no profit to the Commission. The commissaries and manufacturing plants are operated at a profit so as to repay the Panama Railroad Company for its outlay in six years from January 1, 1909, at 4 per cent interest.
The Subsistence Department also has charge of a large hotel at Ancon for the entertainment of the Commission’s employees at a comparatively low rate, and of transient guests at rates usually charged at first class hotels.
The Department of Civil Administration exercises supervision over the courts, which consist of three circuit and five district: the judges of the three former constitute the supreme court. The district courts take cognizance of all cases where the fine does not exceed $100 or imprisonment does not exceed 30 days. Jury trials are restricted to crimes involving the death penalty or life imprisonment.
The Sanitation Department looks after the health interests of the employees. It is subdivided into the health department, which has charge of the hospitals, supervision of health matters in Panama and Colon and of the Quarantine, and into the sanitary inspection department, which looks after the destruction of the mosquito by various methods, as grass and brush cutting, the draining of swamp areas, and by oiling unavoidable pools and stagnant streams.
To this Department also belong 11 chaplains employed by the Commission to attend the sick as well as look after the spiritual welfare of the employees.
All moneys are handled by the Disbursement Department, which pays accounts which have been previously passed upon by the Examiner of Accounts.
The Examiner of Accounts makes the examination required by law prior to the final audit of the accounts by the Auditor for the War Department. The pay rolls are prepared from time books kept by foremen, timekeepers, or field clerks, subsequently checked by the Examiner of Accounts who maintains a force of inspectors. The time inspectors visit each gang, generally daily, at unknown times to the foreman, time-keeper, or field clerk, and check the time books with the gangs of workmen; the inspectors report to the Examiner of Accounts the results of their inspection not in connection with timekeeping but all violations of the regulations of the Commission that may come under their observation.
Payments of pay rolls are made in cash, beginning on the 12th of each month and consuming four days for the entire force on the Isthmus.
The last published financial report of this Department was as follows:
_Statement of Receipts, Disbursements, and Balances Available to June 30, 1909._
_Receipts_
Appropriations by Congress $176,432,468.58 Rentals collected and returned to appropriations 264,393.76 Collections account sale government property, etc. 4,235,141.50 Balance due individuals and companies, account collections from employees 1,856.73 -------------- Total receipts 180,933,860.57
_Disbursements_
Classified expenditures 106,795,058.38 Department of civil administration $2,932,951.06 Sanitary department 8,741,715.40 Hospitals and asylums $4,656,125.99 Sanitation 4,085,589.41 Department of construction and engineering 54,832,540.14 Canal construction 48,311,622.16 Municipal improvement on Zone 4,245,913.98 Municipal improvements in Panama and Colon 2,275,004.00
Cost of plant 40,287,851.78
Rights of way and franchises 49,107,914.89 Rights acquired from the Republic of Panama 10,000,000.00 Rights acquired from New Panama Canal Company 39,107,914.89
Payment to New Panama Canal Company 40,000,000.00 Less value of French material sold or used in construction 892,085.11
Panama Railroad Company stock purchased 157,118.24 Loans to Panama Railroad Company for reequipment and redemption of bonds 4,009,596.03 Paid into United States Treasury for sale of government property, etc. 3,572,141.50 Services rendered and material sold individuals and companies 2,764,001.30 Unclassified expenditures 4,877,072.36 Material and supplies 4,813,158.37 Other unclassified items 63,913.99 Advances to laborers for their transportation 48,783.26 Bills collectible outstanding 517,585.79 -------------- Total 171,849,271.75 Less amounts included in above but unpaid on June 30 1,694,355.70 Salaries and wages unpaid on rolls to June 1, 1909 181,291.08 Pay rolls for the month of June, 1909 1,513,064.62 -------------- Net disbursements 170,154,916.05 Balances available June 30, 1909 10,778,944.52 Congressional appropriations 10,114,087.79 Miscellaneous receipts of United States funds 663,000.00 Collections from employees account individual and companies 1,856.73 -------------- Total 180,933,860.57
Note.--By an act of March 4, 1909, additional appropriations were made to continue the construction of the Isthmian Canal, during the fiscal year 1910, available for expenditures July 1, 1909, as follows:
Expenses in the United States $225,000.00 Construction and engineering 27,388,000.00 Civil administration 630,000.00 Sanitation and hospitals 1,915,000.00 Reequipment Panama Railroad 700,000.00 Relocation of Panama Railroad 1,980,000.00 Sanitation in cities of Panama and Colon 800,000.00 ------------- Total 33,638,000.00
VII. CONSTRUCTION OF THE CANAL PRISM
Excavation throughout the whole length of the canal is being carried on as much as possible in the dry as this has been found to be the cheaper method.
Upon the Atlantic Division, during the fiscal year 1908–’09, a dredging fleet consisting of one sea-going suction dredge, two 5-yard dipper dredges and three French ladder dredges worked on the section between Mindi and deep water, removing 6,039,934 cubic yards, of which 427,005 cubic yards were rock. The rock is removed by blasting. Holes averaging 15 feet apart are drilled to a depth of 50 feet below sea level, loaded with dynamite and fired. At the close of the year nearly 3 miles of the channel from deep water were completed.
The plans for breakwaters in Limon Bay were recently changed. Originally breakwaters were planned to extend nearly parallel to the axis of the channel to protect against filling by wave action. However, it was found that the northers entering between these breakwaters would lack room to dissipate and so vessels would be unprotected for a great portion of the distance to the locks. Accordingly two breakwaters have been planned which are to be so placed as not only to prevent filling but also to give shelter to shipping.
On the Culebra section of the Central Division considerable trouble has been caused by the great rainfall. To carry the rain off quickly diversion channels have been constructed at a large expense of money and labor.
Water falling in the prism is cared for by the cut itself. In the process of deepening pilot cuts are started from either end towards the summit which is now between Empire and Culebra. Drainage in either direction is by gravity through these cuts.
The total amount excavated from the canal prism in this division during the past year was 18,442,624 cubic yards, 12,291,472 cubic yards being rock. At the close of the year 43,574,954 cubic yards remained to be removed. The material is loaded on the cars by steam shovels, is hauled to the various dumps, and unloaded by a huge plow-like apparatus which is drawn from end to end of the train. Part of the spoil aided in the rebuilding of the Panama Railroad; the rock from Empire and Bas Obispo went to Gatun for the dam, and some material was hauled to Balboa on the Pacific and was there used in reclaiming ground and in building a breakwater in Panama Bay to cut off silt-bearing currents which were filling up the excavated channel. It has been built out about 2 miles by dumping from a trestle built for the purpose. One mile more remains to be built.
The slides in Culebra Cut have continued. The largest, called the Cucaracho slide, measures 2,700 feet along the cut, involving an area of 27 acres. During the year 1908–’09, 670,017 cubic yards were removed from this slide but it is estimated that 700,000 more are still in motion. Drainage seems to be ineffectual in these cases.
The original summit at Culebra Cut was 333 feet above the sea; it was lowered by the French to 157 feet and the lowest point at the summit is now 143 feet above sea level.
The lake section of the Central Division extends from Gamboa to Gatun. The Chagres River here crosses the line of the canal 23 times, forming a series of peninsulas. A portion of the channel 2,700 feet long, 500 feet wide at the bottom and 50 feet deep, was completed May 25, 1909 and the waters of the Chagres turned in. A total of 1,784,459 cubic yards were taken out, of which 1,350,308 were removed in 1908–’09. From the remainder of this division 2,625,283 cubic yards were excavated in 1908–’09.
To secure the necessary width and depth between Pedro Miguel and Miraflores on the Pacific Division 1,279,600 cubic yards of material, of which 63,600 are rock, must be excavated. The material still to be taken out between Miraflores and deep water is 13,000,900 cubic yards of loam and 1,725,000 cubic yards of rock. It has been decided to remove all rock between the locks and for 2 miles below the Miraflores locks, in the dry. This will leave 3,600,000 cubic yards of loam and 123,000 of rock to be removed by dredging and blasting.
The dredging fleet in Panama Bay for 1908–’09 consisted of one sea-going suction dredge, one 20 inch suction and pipe-line dredge, one 5 yard dipper dredge, and four French ladder dredges. They removed 8,475,931 cubic yards of material during the year. The channel is completed for about 5 miles from deep water in the Pacific.
The entire present steam-shovel equipment on the Isthmus consists of forty-eight 95-ton, forty-two 70-ton, ten 45-ton, and one 38-ton steam-shovels, or a total of one hundred and one steam-shovels.
Dry excavation for the first quarter of the fiscal year 1908–’09, (July 1 to October 1), cost 63 cents per cubic yard for direct charges and 12 cents per cubic yard for general administration, making a total of 75 cents. Dredging cost 9 cents per cubic yard for direct charges and 2 cents per cubic yard for general administration. The average cost per cubic yard for excavation was 40 cents for direct charges and 8 cents for general administration, making a total of 48 cents.
VIII. CONSTRUCTION OF THE LOCKS
_Locks_
As before stated there are to be 6 locks on the Panama Canal, 3 at Gatun, 1 at Pedro Miguel and 2 at Miraflores. All of these locks are arranged in duplicate, i.e., at any group of locks a vessel may ascend at one side of the middle wall, while another is descending at the other side. It is the intention that Pacific bound vessels use one side and Atlantic bound the other.
The middle wall is to extend 1,600 feet above the upper gates and below the lower gates as an approach wall against which vessels to be locked may lie while waiting for the gates to open. The side walls will not be as long, and will flare out at their ends. The lock chambers are to be 110 feet wide and 1,000 feet long and will pass vessels of 40 feet maximum draught in sea water. The upper lock in each flight is to be subdivided by additional gates into a 600 foot and a 400 foot lock so that water may not be needlessly wasted in passing small boats. These smaller subdivisions may be used until vessels of over 550 feet length require passage.
The lifts will average 28 feet, but will vary with changes in tide, lake level, and conditions of lockage. The diagram below shows the entire lock system at Gatun.
Near the bottom of each wall will be a large culvert for passing water from the lakes into the upper chamber, and from chamber to chamber, and then out to the canal below the locks. The intakes (See Fig. 2) will be located at “I” and outlets at “O”. The water enters and leaves the culverts through several small openings, the intakes being screened. The flow of water in the culverts is to be controlled by what is called the Stoney type of valves. These valves occur in pairs which are duplicated at each of the lifts so that if one pair is disabled the other set may be used while repairs are being made. On each side wall, at the middle gates in the upper lock there will be only one set of valves, but none in the middle wall. The flow between the culvert in the middle wall and the lock chamber is to be controlled by cylindrical valves capable of withstanding pressure on both sides. By using these valves water may be saved under certain conditions of lockage by cross-connecting the twin chambers through the middle wall.
In each chamber 11 laterals of 41 square feet cross-section will be led from the side wall culverts while at the middle culvert there will be 10 laterals having a minimum cross-section of 33 square feet. Each lateral will have five holes, each of 12 square feet area, opening up through the lock floor. The laterals leading from the middle wall culvert are to be controlled individually to provide for independent operation of the twin chambers.
The lake levels and the desired lock levels are to be maintained by large steel miter gates. At the upper and lower end of the upper chambers of all locks there will be two sets of these gates operated simultaneously so that a vessel entering the upper chamber will always have two pairs of gates between it and the lake. At the lower end of each flight, besides the regular gates there will be guard gates mitering in the opposite direction. They are intended primarily for holding back the water in the canal below, when the lock above is unwatered for repairs but may be operated during lockages purely as a safeguard.
As a protection to the gates heavy fender chains are to be stretched across the locks at critical places. They are designed by suitable retarding devices to bring a slowly moving vessel to rest before it can strike the gate. While the gates below are being opened the chains drop into recesses in the walls and across the floor.
Near the upper end of the locks and 200 feet above the uppermost gate, an emergency dam of the swing bridge type will be provided to be used in case of accident to the upper gates.
The following precautions against accident are to be observed:
First. All vessels must stop some distance from the gates.
Second. The lock operators here take the vessel in charge and control its passage through the locks.
Third. If a vessel breaks away from the operators or fails to stop at the proper place, it comes against the heavy chains stretched across the locks and is either brought to a full stop or is greatly retarded.
Fourth. In case a chain breaks, the vessel has two sets of gates to break, if at the upper level, where an accident would be most serious. Should all these barriers fail the emergency dam can be swung into place in a very short time.
The floors of the Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks will have 1 foot thickness of concrete on top of the rock as a wearing surface. At Gatun, however the rock is of a character susceptible to the weather. It has therefore been considered necessary, in constructing the floor here, to leave the rock above grade until just before the concrete is to be placed and then to scrape and wash the surface to be covered. The floor in the lower portion of the upper chamber is to be of concrete 3 feet thick. The rock here is considered thick enough to withstand the pressure from the water-bearing stratum below. Above the middle gate, however, this stratum is too thin, and a floor 13 feet thick of concrete is provided and anchored by rails set in holes and surrounded by concrete.
The main floor level will be about 2 feet below the sills, in order that small objects dropped from vessels may be passed without being struck.
The sills for the gates are designed as concrete arches in a horizontal plane, 31 feet thick throughout and of 100 feet radius at the extrados.
The filling system is designed so that, with all valves opened the chamber can be filled in 8 minutes, but to prevent possible damage to vessels in the lock the maximum rate will probably not be allowed to exceed 3 feet a minute which would correspond to less than 15 minutes for filling.
Most of the foregoing discussion is taken from the Engineering Record of February 26, 1910.
There has been much criticism of the lock sites, but the engineers now in charge seem to have perfect confidence in their work.
During the fiscal year 1908–’09 the work of excavating for the Gatun locks was continued by steam shovels and one 20-inch suction dredge. Material excavated in the dry amounted to 933,546 cubic yards, and that in the wet to 479,950 cubic yards. It was decided to construct curtain walls to stop any underflow; these will extend across the lock under the sill of the emergency dam and downstream outside the walls to the intermediate gates. As an additional precaution to making the concrete floor 13 feet thick as before mentioned a system of sumps under the floor with telltales in the walls will be built.
The plant for the construction of the locks is practically installed and ready for work, it being operated entirely by electricity.
At the Pedro Miguel locks 715,726 cubic yards were removed in 1908–’09. One lock chamber was completed to grade, but 45,000 cubic yards remain for removal in the other one.
At Miraflores work was done the past year with steam shovels and one suction dredge. The total amount excavated was 1,147,527 cubic yards which is one-half of the total estimated quantity.
IX. CONSTRUCTION OF THE DAMS