THE MORNING OREGOMAX, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4. lflll.
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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
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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
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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. .-