The Sunday Oregonian., June 18, 1916, SECTION FIVE, Page 2, Image 60

TTTE STTXDAT OHEGOXTAN, PORTLAND, .TTJXE 18, 1916. ' "
GAS IS BELIEVED TO BE CAUSE OF PANAMA CANAL SLIDES
' " "
Ex-Senator Kearns, of Utah, Concludes From Experiences in Klines That Similar Trouble on Larger Scale Is in Qui.
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Vx-enatar Thomis Kearnfl, of Utah, re
cently visited the Panama Canal in com
pany with hla enriner, by invitation of a
high Government official. On hia return,
he was requested unofficially to put into
writing his conclusions as to the cause of
the so-called slides at the canal. His state
ment of the- situation is given herewith.
ONE of the most important ques
tions. If not the most important.
In the minds of the American
people today. Is Will the great water
way, the Isthmian canal, prove a suc
cess, or Is it a failure?" It means
verythlnRT to u, not only from a com
mercial standpoint, but from a pro
tective standpoint, for it makes it pos
eible for Uncle Sam's great fleet to
pass from the waters of the Atlantic
into the Pacific upon a few hours' no
tice, and so saves the expense of main
taining two great fleets instead of one.
On account of the unfortunate pres
ent conditions In Europe, and the In
sistent demand of . the majority of
Americans for "Preparedness," many of
our people are asking: "Are we going
to be able to keep the great isthmian
canal open or will it continue to fill
up?" There are grave reasons for ask
ing this question, for. since it was. first
opened to navigation on August 14.
1914, it has been closed and out of
commission virtually two-thirds of the
time.
Many great minds are asking the
question: "If this canal condition con
tinues, should we abandon it altogether
and construct a sea-level canal at Nic
aragua?" To my mind this would not
help the situation. If similar condi
tions are encountered in Nicaragua at
ea level, we should have there a harder
problem to solve than the present Pan
ama lock canal. There would not be
the same opportunity to remove the
cause.
Jn my opinion, the problem can be
rolved: the canal will be a success and
the movements of the earth that are at
present filling up the Culebra cut can
be overcome.
After close personal investigation and
careful study, in company with my
engineer, who has been in my employ
for 26 years and who has solved many
similar problems, though smaller, of
course, I am fully convinced that sub
tcrranean gases coming from below
are causing the trouble not soft ma
terial underlying the hillsides, nor ttve
weight of the banks, as is maintained
by most of the eminent engineers and
critics who have ventured to give their
oDlnion.
, Arrows show upward pressure, of
gases carrying mud and rocks from
below through fault or dyke. cross"
ims canal
wvnmar rvrw urwa0 r m r'
v ovrra or cur ssffi-!'0itZ
.Mtjre
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C SCO tOO -3O0 OQ i09 tOO 00 j OOO SOO 00O 00
Ticvkz 8. Ideal cron section to Illustrate c&nalw&rd deformation movements.
lZy7t? of ZtZuE'tZ v3?&cY 3c?&? Cf?5 C&S1ol
former" Z. c5". Se.J2dior Tv.omca-rSx&'aT-n-t.
als, of the Panama Canal Zone, was
quoted as saying that work had begun
on the removal of from 6,000.000 to 8.-
000.000 cubic yards of rock and earth
from the banks of the great Culebra
cut. This work is now well under way,
and close to 1.000.000 cubic yards a
month are being removed. At this rate
the work should be completed some
time in the Fall.
The purpose of the removal of this
Immense amount of material from the
banks of the great cut is to cause a
definite and complete cessation of the
annoying, so-called slides that have so
interfered with the operation of the
canal as to cause a growing doubt in
the minds of the American people of
the real efficiency of the canal which
has cost the Government, up to the
present day. close to 500,000,000.
This method of working for the so
lution of the so-c&lled slide problem
tbora to! lha ajmcayal X soulx ftveui
engineer who has studied the matter,
and .the American people fervently hope
that the engineers are correct.
At the risk of the disapproval or
many eminent engineers who are fa
miliar with the conditions, I disagree
with those who believe that, when the
8.000,000 cubic yards of material men
tioned are removed from the banks,
and he weight taken off. the question
Is solved.
It will make but little, if any, dif
ference in the filling of the Culebra
cut from the bottom, and I venture the
prediction now, that after the banks
are so lowered and the amount of dirt
above mentioned has been removed, and
the dredges have finished their work
and have been taken from the cut,
there will be a repetition of the filling
from the bottom and sides within 90
days. Islands of mud and eruptive rock
will aeain begin to appear above the
lAUxXaod of the waxar just as they, ap
peared when they so effectively closed
the canal some months ago.
Let us suppose for a minute that I
am correct in thia prediction. What is
then to be done? Must the canal, which
involved so much labor and expense,
and which means so much, not only to
the American ' Deonle. but to the con
venience of the world, be abandoned
as useless? Surely it would seem that
the greatest engineers that America
has produced would have exhausted
their talents in their efforts to stop the
so-called slides that they "will have
failed in their theory. In my humble
judgment, the situation would not be
SO serious as one might fear.
Limited Area Affeeted.
It is a fact that the Army engineers
have accepted the theory of the earth's
"sliding by its own weight" into the
canal and are proceeding in accordance
with this theory, and, until such time
as the 8,000,030 cubic yards have been
removed and the banks cut down to
where the weight has been taken off.
it would be useless to suggest any
other remedy. Those estimates were
made about February 1 of this year.
and the work should be well toward
completion by October 1. -1 sincerely
hope that the engineers are correct in
this theory and that the problem will
be solved so that the canal may remain
open after that date.
Of course, this proviso was made
with that certain condition that It
would solve the present difficulty, but.
if the two highest points within the
area, of movements, known as Gold
Hill and Contractor's Hill (which were
one and the same hill before the chan
nel was cut through), should develop
a movement Into the canal, it would
add to the difficulty. There- would
then be many additional million cubic
yards to be moved.
However, in my Judgment, from ob
servation and the nature of the rock
in those particular hills, they will not
experience any such trouble from those
points. The movements are all within
a space of about 2500 feet, or about
half a mile, and my firm belief Is that
the trouble Is all caused by subter
ranean gasee formed in the earth,
which, when permitted to escape
through certain channels or breaks in
the earth, carry with them eruptive
material, sometimes for a long dis
tance, i
Sly conclusion Is based on somewhat
peculiar personal experiences with sim
ilar earth movements encountered in
mining operations, and my opinion is
not formed all from theory. It is
based mostly on practice and exper
ience. Are there gases confined in
subterranean channels that have burst
through the earth's crust at the Culebra
Cut and produced earth waves which
have caused such havoc at that point
in the canal? In my judgment, it la
possible to trace this zone to disturb
ance and then, to tap the gas chamber
beneath the rocky rim and so relieve
the pressure at that point.
As far as my investigation has gone
and from the knowledge I can gather,
neither the French government nor our
own Government thought it worth while
to determine the character of the rock
and sub.oil through which the canal
was constructed.
A little more than 400 years ago
Balboa climbed the mountain range at
the Isthmus of Panama and beheld the
great Pacific Ocean. Almost imme
diately the idea of constructing te
waterway across the Isthmus of Pana
ma was conceived. Since that time
every generation has looked into the
feasibility of a canal at Panama, but
from Balboa to Goethals no one ever
made a comprehensive test of the for
mations below the surface, either by
boring or shaft-sinkin-. which should
have been made at least 600 feet be
neath the water level, that they might
know what foundation the canal bed
would rest upon.
When a business block, a railroad
or a great bridge is to be constructed,
the first thing that the owner or con
tractor does is to learn all about the
ground on which It Is to stand. The
contractor, as well as the owner, de
sires to know the character of the soil
or rock, 'that he may determine the
cost of excavation, and he also must
know that he has a firm foundation on
which his building or bridge is to rest.
Yet. building contractors In New
Tork and other cities spend more
money In determining the nature of
the ground beneath a prospective sky
scraper than did the Government of the
United States In determining the char
acter of the soil or rock beneath the
channel of the Panama Canal.
Gum ' Blamed for Tronble.
If corporations or private Individuals
prosecuted their work In this manner
there would be more failures than
there, now juro. p arson all yrl IfeioJi that
the first $1,000,000 should have beea
spent oa a thorough test of the forma
tion, at least to a depth of BOO feet
below the channel, the same to mark
the first page of the great under
taking, and I firmly believe that a sim
ilar test, in a lesser degree, say to a
depth of BOO feet, will yet have to be
made in and across that particular sec
tion of the Culebra Cut.
That is, of coursew providing the
present theory of the engineers fall
and the removal of the weight from the
banks fails to remedy conditions at
the canal. Time and the expense now
being Incurred should prove to the pub
lic that subterranean pressures and
gases are, to a large degree, causin
,the trouble. This should be determined
witnin a snort space ok umo, say uv
first of the coming year.
To a practical geologist, a great
break In the formation at the place of
the greatest disturbance is visible,
crossing the canal itself almost at right
angles. This break should be carefully
tested and followed and absolutely lo
cated at Its source, which may be some
five or six. miles away, and there re
lieved of Its constantly accumulating
gas pressure which is now forcing its
way and carrying with It great quanti
ties of eruptive material to the place
of least resistance namely. Into the
bottom of the canal at the Culebra Cut.
A trained, experienced and practical
mining engineer, who has encountered
such difficulties on a smaller scale,
should be able to follow the rock signs
so potent with meaning to the trained
eye. which would enable him to follow
the course of this fault plane with cer
tainty. Drilling along the course of
this fault, I believe, would establish the
fact that this break in the earth's
crust is filled with porphyry, eruptive
mate-rial and soft clay, similar to that
found in other sections of the country
where eruptions of this kind are not
lConclude4 aa face
Columa &
A
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