Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 4, 1911)
THE MORNING OREGOMAX, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4. lflll. HEM AT- lAfOll!- w. Federal Engineers: Set 1914 as Date When. Link Connecting Upper and Lower Columbia River Will.Be Completed. Federal Engineers: Set 1914 as Date When. .. -" k1111 f-onnectmS tipper ana JPT Lower Columbia River WilLBe Completed V, - -I? J 4 !L... T I III - I I T II I ' -v ijfc. .!!..-Cjtii fc;M.,,v: i r . if ir x-- ii rjw mi - 1 1 I " ' - ..'-..- .... 1 ..ill V.W1 A BOLT tt t!m th Pinusa Caki la cpnX tb OoTrnmnt Ccta t complct anothar proj- t. which, wtlla onlr plsmr n coro paxlson with tha (raat aaartakln; In tha South. wUI oartrthalaaa ba of vast tmportanca to Orafon. Waahlcgton and IJaho. Thla projact la tba Calllo Canal, on which conatructloo waa barua about als raara -. Work la sow colaa; brad thara mora rapidly than at a tlma la tha paat. and Kadrral anlnaara declare that If thara la no faJUnc oft la ilotromt.t aupport buata will ba cprat.l thruush tha flea waterway bafora tha cloaa of 1111. Tha Iniportaaca of tha Calllo Canal llaa In tha fart that It will ortrcomt tha or.ljr obstacle to transportation on tha lower stratchaa of tha Columbia IUrr. Whan It la completed rltrer boats wl.l run from Fortland to Lewis ton, on the 8na,ke IUrer. a dlatanca of 39 mlla. and to Prl.at Kaplda. on tha Columbia, a dlatanca of 10t miles. In this way rhr transportation will ba made arailable from many dlatrleta that are now practKaUjr Isolated. It la true that frstffht la now shipped br water oer the aame routea. but It la necessary to transfer from boats to tha Fortage Hailroad at Calllo and asaln back to boats at tha and of tha portage, and this lnolTa consider able expense that tha canaj wlU ot Tlate. TK IH mllvs covered by tha Celllo CaJial la undoubtedly tbe buslrat place In Orea-on today, outside of Portland. Not only la conatructlon proceeding both at the upper and lower enda of the canal, a work that employs hun dreds of men. but the Portage Kali road bas just been extended to Tha Ialls. a distance of four mites, af fording much better facilities for transferrin freight from tha portage to rltir boata or from tha Hirer to tha portage. Additional activity at Calllo) la caueed by the construction of tha Oregon Trunk (Hlll bridge across the Columbia, wblch will connect the North Bank road with tha line up tha Dea chiles Hirer Into Central Oregon. Work an tha Celllo Caaal. which ta estimated to cost a total of I4.t00.6e. was begun In l0S The previous year the state had sec axed the right of vsj. and a contract had been 1st for tha re moral of rock reefa at Three-Ulla Hop Ids. two miles above The Dallas. Thla gave g clear channel 10 feet deep and ti0 feet wide to the lower ap proach to the canal. Tbe l0i contract waa let to Smyth A Jonea for con structing the first ha.f a: I la at the up per end of the canal. Thla Included the excavation and building of tha canal entrance and lovks at Celllo. at a cost of about 1100,000. Tha Smyth It Jonea contract waa completed In March. HOT. and In 108 a contract was let to Winters. Caughren. Smith Co. for 14.400 feet additional at tbe up per end of the canal, fix thouaand feet of thla aectlon was through sand and gravel and the remainder through almost solid rock. This section will cost 1450.000. and will be ready for ac ceptance May 1 next. Tha only other contract that has been let la for the removal of 11.(00 cubic yards of solid rock near the lower entrance to the canal. Thla contract, which necessi tates the expenditure of 145.000. wtll be completed by Robert Wakefield within the next few weeka. Congress. In Hot. concluded that tba canal could ba completed sooner and more cheaply by abandoning the con tract system and placing tha work di rectly under the supervision of Gov ernment engineers. This plan la being followed now. and Ita auccess bas al ready been demonstrated. - Tha present work Is being conducted by an appropriation of ttOO.000 made by Congress In 10. and will ba con tinued by means of tbe IS00.000 appro priation In the present rivers and har bors bill. It was tha Intention of Con gress to finish the canal In Ills, but tba engineers In charge say that If they are provided with 1740.000 a year, as they bop they will be, two years wit ba cut from the estimate of Con gress. It la possible, however, that, even though tha last of tha excavation la done In 1114. tha final details may necessitate postponing tha opening un til tha following year. Whereas all contract work waa dona on the upper end of the canal, tha Oov erament baa begun Ita operatlona at tha lower end. Actual construction was begun the latter part of lost July, and since then Ita scope haa steadily Increased. The Government bas di vided the uncompleted portion of tha canal Into four sectlona Division No. 1 Includes 7000 feet from Big Eddy, up stream at the lower entrance. Tan dem locks are being constructed and about (300 feet of canal proper, all of It through solid rock. Division No. 2 joins the first section and extends two and one-half miles. The third division Includes the remaining mile and one half of unfinished canal, and the fourth division conalata of Installing the up per works at Celllo and opening tba canal antranges and approaches. Work Is now under way on divisions Nos. 1 and 2. and It Is expected that within a few weeks gangs will be ex cavating division No. 2. It will prob ably ba t,wo years before work is taken up on the-fourth division, which really consists of putting tha finishing touches on tha canal. At Big Eddy mora than 2&0 men ara now at work, and about 150 are em ployed on the second section. Head quarters have been established at Big Eddy, wbsra the small army of work men are housed and fed In sanitary buildings. There- Is a large mesa bouse, two large bunkhouses. two small bunkhouses. foremen's quarters, store bouses, machine shop, hospital and dwellings for the officers. The build ings have been constructed with an Idea of permanency, so . that those which are needed may be used by the men who wtll operate the canal after It Is completed. A smaller group of buildings haa been erected at division No. 2. and other structures of the same kind wtll go up at Division No. 2. It Is not Improbable that within the next few months 1000 men will be working on the canal. Tha principal equipment now con sists of three tinge steam shovels, five stationary derricks, two traveling der ricks, eight loeomotlvea and SU cars. Mora steam shovels have besn ordered and a glgantlo land dredge which will wels;h 130 tons and will be able to load cars ii feet above tha bottom of jffS - r -7 3 I II III . T . v r - - "H r . ir Mm V- . j I 'trfZJ I . . J' - t V" . i i r-t - . iL. rfSkiV.f tfftVYtfy -attfj.y the canal and clear of the canal sec tion. Borne idea of the proportions of the canal may bo gained from the fact that the- project necessitated the re moval of 1.200,000 cubic yards of solid rock and 1.100,000 cubic yards of sand and gravel. It also Included the plac ing of 220.000 cubic yards of concrete and 1,500,000 pounds of steel In lock gates, lock valves and other machin ery. These figures do not Include steel bridges for road crossings, lockkeep ers' quarters and plant for operating the canal. When the Oovernment took direct charge of the work, there remained 00.000 cubic yards of rock and 1.000,000 cubic yards of earth, sand and- gravel to be removed. There aleo remained 160,000 yards of concrete to be placed, and for this purpose a huge concrete mixing plant has been built. The en gineers expect to remove 300,000 yards of rock a year, and think that within two years all the earth, sand and gravel will be out of the way. In tho sand and gravel stretches concrete lin ing of canal excavation will be nec essary to prevent leakage. The canal section when completed will have a width of ( feet and a least depth of eight feet, accommodat ing any of tha boata that ply on the upper river. The tandem locks at the lower end of the canal will have a total lift of 70 feet. Klve-Mile lock, which will bo 9000 feet from the- lower en trance to the canal, will have a lift of 12 feet at low water and 18 feet at high water. There will be two othr locks, one at Ten-Mile Rapids, five miles from the lower entrance, and the other at Celllo, neither of which will be used at low water, but which will have lifts of five and 12 feet respect ively, at high water. There will be ten basins where boats can pass. There have been no Bpeclal engineer ing difficulties to overcome in the work so far. The original specifica tions are being closely followed, and It is now only a question of continu ous Federal support until the canal la done. Owing to the careful planning of the buildings, from a sanitary stand point, there haa been little sickness. Several accidents have occurred where men have been badly Injured by ex plosions, but these have been no more numerous than In similar enterprises everywhere. The risks that are con stantly faced -were illustrated, when the writer visited the canal a few weeks ago, a blast sending several boulders through the roof of the ma chine, shop, narrowly missing men em ployed there, but injuring no one. Construction of the canal is under the direction of Major Jay J. Morrow, Corps of United States Engineers, and its Immediate supervision is in the hands of Lieutenant H. II. Robert. Frederick C. Schubert, the chief engi neer, has been connected with the work since the canal was begun, and is prob ably more familiar with it than any other individual. G. Goodwin Is super intendent of the first division, and G. LawEon is superintendent of the sec ond division. T. L. Russell la superin tendent of plant and transportation. The most serious problem In con structing the canal Is to guard against drifting sand, according to Mr. Schu bert. Tbe hard winds that blow up the gorge of the Columbia constantly threaten to drive great quantities of sand into the canal. While the work is In progress this can be removed with comparative ease, but after water Is turned into the canal sand will be a constant annoyance, unless it is found possible to prevent It from drifting. Twenty-four hundred willow trees were recently set out at a place where the drifting was worst. Eventually long stretches of sand along the canal will be leveled down and planted to wil lows and sand grasses. The gorge of the Columbia along tbe eight miles of the Celllo Canal la one of the beauty spots of Oregon. Im mense bare peaks and gigantic rock cliffs rise on both sides of the river, and the Columbia flows through nar row passages in the solid rock. Celilo Falls, at the . upper end of the canal, is one of the show places of the state. Citizens of The Dalles believe that even before the canal Is completed there will be considerable tourist trav el to Celllq. Those interested in the Portage Railroad will petition the pres ent Legislature for an appropriation of 222,000 to buy a steel gasoline car to carry passengers . from The Dalles to Celilo. The ear would carry 75 peo ple and the trip would be very attract ive. It would undoubtedly be an Im portant addition to the remarkable scenic trips that Oregon offers to the tourist. Garfield B. Datson, one of the civil engineers In charge of constructing the extension of the Portage Road to The Dalles, is very enthusiastic over the Celllo Canal as an objective point for tourists. Mr. Datson expects that many hundreds of travelers will visit Celilo next Summer, even if the gasoline car , Is cot put on the Portage Road. If that equipment is added, of course the num ber of visitors would be gTeatly In-i creased. .-
