Canal Record (Volume 4 no.1-52) online

A comparison of the work in August of pre-
vious years, with the previous high record for
the rainy season, that of October, 1908, and
the high record for the dry season, that of
.March, 1910, follows:





Culebra


Chagres




Month.


Cut.


Section.


Total.




Cu. Yds.


Cu. Yds.


Cu. Yds.


August, 1907 . . .


786.866


2.900


789.766


August. 1908 . . .


1.173,800


366.810


1.540,610


August. 1909. . .


1,113.370


231,543


1,404,913


August. 1910. . .


1,377.992


234,404


1.612,396


October. 1908...


1,160,101


424,911


1,585,012


March. 1910....


1,509.728


484.846


1,994.574



Division during each of the months referred
to above was as follows:











Rio


Month.


Bohio


Gamboa


Empire


Grande




Ins.


Ins.


Ins.


Ins.


August, 1907. ..


9.10


12.69


11.24


11.41


August, 1908...


20.50


11.84


8.11


7.65


August, 1909. ..


10.01


7.03


7.20


9.12


October. 1908..


14.25


890


8.87


8.59


March. 1910. . .


6.60


3.12


1.60


1.69


August, 1910...


14.84


10.66


10.08


8.98



The August record was made with a re-
duction in transportation cost of over 811,000,
due to the fact that more cars were handled
in each train than in August of previous years.
Of the total, 147,420 cubic yards of rock and
earth were hauled from Culebra Cut to Gatun
Dam, a distance of 26 miles.

In Culebra Cut, all previous records for the
rainy season were also broken, and in only
two dry season months, March, 1909 and 1910,
has the excavation accomplished in August
been surpassed. A statement of the months
in which the excavation from the Cut has
amounted to more than 1,300,000 cubic yards,
and the rainfall at Empire, follows:



Months.


Excavation.


Rainfall at
Empire.


March. 1909


Cubic Yards.
1,434,597
1,302.901
1,323,693


Inches.
0.21


October, 1909


21.14




70


March, 1910


1.509,728 1.60


June, 1910


1,305.141 10.14


August, 1910


1.377.992 10 08









The amount of material excavated and the
amount remaining to be excavated on Sep-
tember 1, are as follows:



Excavated .
Remaining.



Culebra
Cut.



Cm. Yds.
51.826,868
32.359.856



Chagres
Section.



Total.



Cu. Yds.
9.920.9S7
3.017,307



Cu. Yds.
61,747,855
35,377.163



The rainfall at four stations in the Central



First Year of Lock Building at Pedro Miguel.

The first concrete was laid in the Pedro
Miguel Locks on September 1, 1909, one year
ago last Thursday, and in the year a total of
261,964 cubic yards had been placed, leaving
about 575,500 remaining to be laid. Concrete
operations at these locks were begun with the
small mixers now in use at Miraflores Locks.
Later, two stationary auxiliary mixers were
installed, one on the east, and the other on the
west bank, and were kept in operation until
the permanent handling plant was erected
and placed in service. All the concrete in
the south guide wall, a large section of the
floor and culverts in the west chamber, and
a part of the west side and center walls were
produced by the auxiliary mixing plant. On
July 6, 1910, the two berm cranes, each con-
taining two 2-cubic yard mixers, and three
of the four chamber cranes were placed in op-
eration, and about a week later the fourth
chamber crane was ready for service. During
the latter part of July, construction of the
east side wall was commenced, and since that



time considerable progress on the two side
walls and the center wall has been made, a
part of the west side wall being up to its per-
manent height.

The record for each of the 8-hour working
days of the week ending September 3, and
the total laid to that date, follow:



Date


Concrete
placed.


Large
stone.


Hours
worked.


No. of
mixers


Total.


August 29.
August 30.
August 31.
Sept. 1 . . .
Sept. 2 . . .
Sept. 3. . .


1,576
2,030
2,150
1,928
2,018
2.208


28
48

30
40
20


24.00
34.00
32.00
26.00
28.00
33.50


4
4
4
4
4
4


1,604
2,078
2,150
1,958
2,058
2,228


Total...
Previously


11,910


166
2,759


177.50


4


12.076
256.132












Total...


2.925


268,208



Concrete Mixers for Culebra Cut.

The work of placing concrete in the sides of
Culebra Cut will be begun as soon as mixing
plants, for which the Central Division has
placed a requisition, can be delivered from the
States. The first concrete placed will be in
retaining walls on the east side of the Cut at
both ends, Bas Obispo and Paraiso, where the
excavation has advanced far enough to permit
the construction of the walls. These walls
will be built on the berm at 95 feet above sea
level, and will keep material from sliding down
the bank into the channel of the Canal. In
the plant on requisition, two one-yard mixers
are specified, one to dump into a portable
placing tower, and the other to dump into
buckets which will be handled by crane. The
work at Paraiso and Bas Obispo will give an
opportunity to test the efficiency of the two
methods of placing concrete.

Both plants will consist of. three units — the
mixers, the placers, and the storage bins.
The mixers will be rotary, discharge by tilting
while running, equipped with automatic
water tank with a gage so set as to measure
a uniform quantity of water into each batch
of concrete, capacity 27 to 31 cubic feet per
batch, and from 30 to 35 cubic yards of con-
crete an hour, to be run by steam power, soft
coal burner.

In the portable tower plant the mixer and
tower will be mounted on a specially construc-
ted flat car, 10 or 12-foot gage, constructed
with necessary end timbers, so that couplers
can be attached to allow the hauling or push-
ing of the car along the retaining wall by a
switch engine. The mixer will be equipped
with power charging attachment, or side
loader, with frame extended so as to allow the
skip to be dropped to the ground level for a
low-feed level. The elevator will be run on a
steel tower so constructed that it can be
shipped in several parts and assembled on the
Isthmus. The mixer will discharge into a
bucket which can be raised to any height up
to 55 feet and tipped, so as to deposit the con-
crete in the wall at any point. The elevator



10



THE CANAL RECORD



Vol. IV., No. 2.



NOTES OF PROGRESS.



(Continued.)



will be operated by a hoisting engine, and
both it and the mixer will be supplied with
steam from the same boiler.

The mixing plant with side discharge, so as
to dump into a bucket to be handled by
a locomotive crane, will be mounted on a
standard Canal flat car. On one side will be a
side loader, with frame extended downward
to permit the assembling of the batch of rock,
sand and cement in the skip on the track
level. The mixer and side loader will be
operated by the same engine. The mixer
will discharge on the opposite side of the flat
car into a receiving hopper or temporary
chute, with a capacity of two batches of con-
crete. This hopper will be so attached that
it can be taken off in case it is desired to
discharge direct into the footings of the re-
taining wall through a wooden chute, to be
supplied by the Commission.

High grade material must be used in both
plants, and the equipment must be made
strong enough to stand hard, continuous
usage for three or four years. The steel must
be well cleaned by sandblast and given a coat
of red lead before shipment. The contractor
will furnish instructions for erecting the plant
and keeping the equipment in order.

The material bins for sand, rock and cement
will be constructed by the Commission. They
will be portable, built upon a Canal flat car,
and will spout the materials to the side loader
skip by which they will be conveyed to the



Ancon Crusher.

A statement of the rock crushed at Ancon
quarry during the week ending September 3
follows:



Date.



Cubic
Yards.



August 29 . .
August 30. .
August 31 . .
September 1
September 2
September 3

Total ....




2,760
2.250
2.550
2.925
2,580
2,745



Part of Relocated Line In Use.

That part of the relocated line of the Pana-
ma railroad, between the south end of Culebra
Cut and Corozal, was opened to regular traffic
on September 4, and henceforth the old line
of the railroad betwen those points will be
used principally by construction trains. New
stations have been erected on the new line at
Pedro Miguel and Miraflores. The reloca-
tion in this section is necessary because the
old line between the south end of Culebra Cut
and Miraflores Locks will be covered by water
upon the completion of the Canal, when the
surface of the lake at Miraflores will be 55
feet above sea level. The new line is practi-



cally parallel with the old. It runs on an em-
bankment through the lake territory, passes
through Miraflores ridge in a tunnel 736 feet
long, and then crosses the Canal dump be-
tween Miraflores and Corozal, joining the old
line at Corozal. It is about 4>£ miles long.
Upon the completion of the Canal, the locks
at Pedro Miguel and Miraflores, Miraflores
Lake, and part of the channel, between Mira-
flores Locks and the Pacific entrance, can be
seen from trains passing over this section of
the railroad.

Lock Work at Catun.

The construction plant at Gatun Locks was
shut down at 1.35 o'clock in the afternoon of
August 31, on account of lack of water, due to
a break in the main. Work was resumed at
the usual hour the following morning. A
statement of the concrete laid in the locks
during the week ending September 3, and the
total to that date, follows:



P. R. R. STEAM SHOVELS.





Cubic Yards.


Date.


Con-
struction
plant.


Auxil-
iary
plant.


Large
stone.


Total.


August 29

August 30

August 31

September 1 . . .
September 2 . . .
September 3 . . .


2,244
2,182
1,190
2,082
2,030
1,978


900
912
964
908
962
966


381
276
183
239
319
305 K


3,525
3,370
2.337
3.229
3,311
3.249J4


Total

Previously


11,706


5,612


1.703 y.


19,021^
674,076^














693,098













Miraflores Locks.

The two 2-cubic yard concrete mixers in
the west storage trestle at Miraflores Locks
were placed in service on Friday, September
2, and on Saturday their combined output
was 206 cubic yards, an average of over 100
cubic yards to each mixer. The record for
the six 8-hour working days of the week end-
ing September 3 at these locks, and the total
laid to date, follows:





Auxiliary Plant.


Date


J^-Cubic

yard
mixers.


M-Cubic
yard
mixer.


2-Cubic

yard
mixers.


Large
stone.


Total.


Aug. 29.
Aug. 30.
Aug. 31.
Sept. 1 .
Sept. 2 .
Sept. 3 .


207
166
123
185
217
188


55
44
56
42
11
61




12
10


274
220
179






227


94
206




322
455


Total.
Previ-
ously
reported


1,086


269


300


22

253


1,677
10,467










Grand


275


12,144













H. S. Farish, surveying officer of the Com-
mission, has been appointed surveying officer
for the Panama railroad.



STATEMENT OF CLASSIFIED EXPENDITURES TO JULY 31, 1910.





Department
of Civil Admin-
istration.


Department
of Sanitation.


Department of

Construction

and Engineering.


General Items.


Total.


Total to June 30. 1909. .
Total, fiscal year 1910. .
July, 1910


$3,427,090.29

709.351.37

58,474.88


$9,673,539.28

1.803.040.95

156,006.64


$69,622,561.42

26.300.167.05

2,216,849.78


$78,022,606.10

2.863,088.83

280.015.85


S160,745, 797.09

31,675.648.20

2.711,347.15








$4,194,916.54


$11,632,586.87


$98,139,578.25


$81,165,710.78


$195,132,792.44







High Records by 70-ton Shovels on Relocation
Work.

A statement is appended showing the exca-
vation accomplished by steam shovels on the
relocation of the Panama railroad each month
since January, 1910. All these shovels are of
the 70-ton class, and their average output is
very high for work on the Isthmus. The
August record was made in one of the wettest
months of the rainy season.



Month



January

Feb

March. .
April . . .
May. . .
June. . .
July....
August.



Output.



Aver-
age No

of
shovels



Cu. Yds.
206,334
214,411
234,571
212.097
212,135
236.689
197,069
250,341



8.24
7.91
7.31
7.15
7.88
8.00
7.44
7,04



No. of
work-
ing
days.



Output per shovel.



25
23
26
26
25
26
25
27



Per day. Per
month.



Cu. Yds.
1,002
1,179
1,234
1,140
1,077
1,138
1.060
1,318



Cu. Yds.
25,040
27,106
32,089
29,648
26,921
29,586
26,488
35,575



In the month of
records were made:


August the following




Cubic Yards.


Shovel No.


Earth.


Rock.


Total.


105 .


33.940
34.205
40.380
36,030^


4.090

13,200

3,850


38,030


110


47,405


121


44,230


123


36.030







These records are among the best ever made
on the Canal on railroad work.

The best record for one day was 2,890 cubic
yards made by shovel No. 110.



Rock Output at Porto Bello.

A statement of the work done at Porto Bello
crusher, by days, for the week ending Septem-
ber 3, follows:



Date.



August 29 . .
August 30 . .
August 31. .
September 1
September 2
September 3

Total ....



Hours
worked.



11:47
12:35
10:20
15:55
8:40
ri5:05;



74:22



Cubic
Yards.



2,077
3.045
2,641
3.749
2.055
3,705



17,272



Concrete Laying in Gatun Spillway.

The amount of concrete placed in the spill-
way of Gatun Dam in the week ending Sep-
tember 3, with the total to that date, follows:





Cubic Yards.


Date.


Concrete


Large
rock.


Total.




122
122
88
146
128
150


6
15
18
15


128




137




106




161




128




150








756


54


810




90,352












91.162











The regulations for the construction of
buildings by private persons have been sub-
mitted for revision to a committee composed of
a representative from each of the three con-
struction divisions, the Department of Civil
Administration, the Department of Sanita-
tion, and the Quartermaster's Department.



September 7, 1910.



THE CANAL RECORD



11



GARBAGE DISPOSAL.



Method of Collection and Disposal in Canal Zone,
Panama and Colon.

The disposal of the garbage that is col-
lected daily in the Canal Zone settlements
and the cities of Panama and Colon is ac-
complished in several ways. The method
used in the two Panamanian cities is to dump
it in a waste place, where it is burned, leav-
ing piles of ashes, and other refuse which serve
to build up and reclaim the land. The plan
largely obtaining in the Canal Zone towns
is to reduce the garbage as far as posssible
to char and ashes by means of incinerators.
In some of the villages the garbage is hauled
to out-of-the-way spots and there burned and
buried: and in the towns bordering on the
Chagres River, the disposition is easily made
by dumping all refuse into that stream. At
one point, Porto Bello, it is taken out to sea
and dumped.

When measures for taking care of the gar-
bage were first instituted, they were entirely
in the hands of the Department of Sanitation.
On September 1, 1908, the work was taken
over by the Quartermaster's Department,
excepting in the cities of Panama and Colon,
but the cost continues to be paid from the
appropriation for sanitation. Up to January
1, 1907, street sweeping and garbage collect-
ing in the city of Panama were handled by
the Sanitary Department forces, but on that
date according to mutual agreement the work
was turned over to the Panama Government.
Under this arrangement the Department of
Sanitation pays to the Panama Government
the sum of $10,000 annually, which, it is esti-
mated, represents about one-half of the yearly
cost of garbage collecting and street sweeping.
In Colon one-half of the cost of collecting the
garbage is borne by the Panama Govern-
ment, and bills f»r the service are presented
quarterly. The work there, and in Cristobal,
is under the supervision of the local health
office.

Garbage cans in two sizes, one 25 inches high
and 18 inches in diameter, and the other 19
inches high and 15 inches in diameter, costing
on an average about $2. 28 and SI. 49 each,
respectively, are furnished to all business
places and dwellings in Colon, and all native
houses, stores and .employes' quarters in the
Canal Zone settlements. In Panama, where
the street cleaning and garbage collecting are
in the hands of the municipal authorities, con-
tainers are provided by the city. These
cans are strongly made, the body of 22 gage
steel, and the lids and bottoms of 20 gage
steel. In addition, they are strengthened
with bands around the top and bottom.

East of Panama, forming a part of the out-
lying district of Trujillo, is a large tract of
swampy ground where all the garbage col-
lected in Panama and Ancon is dumped, the
fires in the slowly burning heaps continuing
day and night. As time passes the land is
gradually reclaimed and when a certain height
is reached the dump is extended eastwardly
into the swamp. Practically the same method
of handling prevails in Colon, as in Panama,
the site of the dumping ground, known as the
Ninth street dump, lying to the east of the
city, adjacent to the section shortly to be
filled in and improved. At this point also,
much land has been reclaimed.

All the larger towns in the Zone are pro-
vided with incinerating plants some purchased
in the States, others built on the Isthmus from



old material. The imported incinerators are
nearly all of a uniform type, but of varying
capacity, and most of them were made by the
Morse-Bulger Destructor Company of New
York City. The towns of Miraflores. Paraiso,
Culebra, Empire, Las Cascadas, Gorgona,
Tabernilla and Gatun have plants of this
type, while those at Balboa, Corozal and
Pedro Miguel have been erected on the spot
from ready-to-hand materials. The incin-
erator at Empire, installed about a year ago,
offers the best type on the Isthmus of a small,
modern plant. The original plant, which it
replaced, was the first one in use on the Isth-
mus and had a capacity of 60 cubic yards
daily, as compared with 480 cubic yards
daily, the capacity of the new outfit. It is
now doing duty at Miraflores. At the time
the Empire plant became inadequate to take
care of all the garbage, the plan was tried of
carrying it away in railroad dump cars. The
method worked successfully and shipments
were made at the rate of about one car a day
at a cost no higher than that of incineration.
The location of the dumping ground, was
between Golden Green and West Culebra,
but as the Central Division decided to stop
dumping there this plan of disposing of the
garbage had to be abandoned and the pur-
chase of a new and much larger incinerator
was made necessary.

The rapid growth of Gatun has necessi-
tated better facilities for the disposal of gar-
bage, and a new incinerator has recently been
received to replace the small one now in use.
At present some of the garbage collected in
the vicinity of the spillway is thrown into the
river.

The plant at Corozal, designed by the local
sanitary inspector, and the one at old Balboa,
are representative of the locally constructed
type. Their cost was small and they have
given excellent results. The Corozal plant
is built largely of discarded iron plates and
old French rails imbedded in concrete, with
a brick base for the smokestack. The interior
is divided into three compartments, an ash
box, a fire box and a receptacle for the garbage
which is supplied from the top by removing
a loose iron plate. The method ordinarily
employed in operating the incinerators is to
build a wood fire to assist in drying out the
garbage, which is usually in a sodden state
when first received. As fast as the garbage
dries it is raked over and made to fall into
the furnace, where it furnishes fuel to con-
tinue the process. The gas from the garbage
accumulates in another part of the furnace
and also assists in the general work of reduc-
tion. The ashes and noncombustible articles
fall into the ash box and from there are
carried away in wheelbarrows.

At Camp Elliott, there is an incinerator
operated by the camp authorities. At Bas
Obispo village, the garbage is carted away,
burned and then buried. At Gorgona, much
of the refuse was formerly disposed of by
dumping it into the Chagres River from a
platform built out into the stream. The
platform was washed away during the flood
of last year and refuse isTiow destroyed in an
incinerator. At San Pablo, Frijoles and
Bohio, the Chagres River acts as scavenger.
Bohio, the largest of the three settlements, is
provided with a chute down which the gar-
bage is thrown. At Porto Bello, the plan was
adopted of taking th^ garbage out to sea. It
is carried to a small dock on the water front



built for the purpose and there dumped into
barrels for conveyance by boat to deep water.

Garbage collections from dwellings in the
Zone are made each morning, but the hotels
require two and three collections daily. In
the larger settlements, specially built wagons,
both of the wooden and iron box types, are used
in this work. The main expense in connection
with garbage disposal is its collection and
transportation, and it has been customary to
locate dumping grounds and incinerating
plants as near a common center between the
American and native sections of the towns, as
possible, to save haulage. The refuse from
the Zone slaughter houses, which are under
the control of the Department of Public
Works, is taken care of by its own employes.

In Colon, all garbage is careuflly examined
before it is burned, and lumber, well-built
barrels or casks, bottles and other articles
having a commercial value are saved. The
money realized from this source amounts in
some months to several hundred dollars and
reverts to the Department of Construction
and Engineering. Three of the employes on
the garbage force in Colon are paid by the
Atlantic Division. In the Zone, practically
the same salvage methods are employed and
a large amount of copper wire screening has
been realized on in this way. A lot of cast-
off clothing is destroyed in the incinerators,
but owing to the distance from a market and
to the necessity of a thorough disinfection
before shipment, there would be little or
no profit in handling it. In Panama, the
task of sorting over the garbage is undertaken
by the local authorities, and the moneys de-
rived therefrom revert to the municipality.

A statement of the number of garbage cans

emptied daily in the different settlements

during the month of July, 1910, follows:

Ancon 226 Matachin.

Balboa 256

Corozal 151

Miraflores 96

Pedro Miguel 307

Paraiso 398

Culebra 739

Empire 1,571

Las Cascadas 329

Bas Obispo 224

During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1910,
there were removed from the city of Panama
6,600 cart loads of refuse, and from Colon,
Cristobal and Mount Hope, 2,434 cart loads.

Ptomaine Poisoning at Gatun.

The case of supposed ptomaine poisoning
at the European laborers' mess in Gatun on
the night of August 5 has been investigated
by the health authorities and no light has been
thrown on the probable cause of the poisoning.
Seventy-four laborers were taken ill soon after
the evening meal, and it was believed that they
had been poisoned by some bad food. Sam-
ples of the meat, soup, and wine used at the
mess were examined chemically for metallic
and organic poisons with negative results.
Traces were found of a substance that in its
general reactions resembled a ptomaine, but
when the hydrochloride of this substance was
injected into a guinea pig there was no per-
ceptible effect. A bacteriological examina-
tion was made of the drinking water used in
the mess, a sample of old and new wine, and
portions of the tea, meat and soup, but no
microorganisms of the food-poisoning group
were detected. Two patients were seen in the
hospital at Gatun who were still ill, and vom-
itus from one and a stool from the other were
examined for representatives of the food-
poisoning group, but none was found.





518
199


Mount Hope


235

86

1,338

112

479


Porto Bello


140


Total


. . 7,614



12



THE CANAL RECORD



Vol. IV., A/o. 2.



HYDRAULIC EXCAVATION.



New Plant in the Pacific Division Nearly Ready
for Service — Method of Operation.

The hydraulic and dredging machinery for
excavating the lower lock at Miraflores and a
section of the Canal prism in the valley of the
Rio Grande below the lock, a total distance of
about 9,000 feet, will be placed in operation