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National Geographic : 1905 Oct
Contents
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE with lock 900 feet long, 60 feet wide, with 22 feet on the miter sills, was built on the north side of the river during the years 1888 to 1895. The number of vessels passing through the United States canal in 1902 was 17,588, and through the Canadian canal 4,204. In 1900 the number of vessels passing through the United States canal was 16,144, and through the Canadian canal 3,003, showing an increase of 1,200 in the number of vessels passing through the Canadian canal, and a slight decrease in the number through the United States canal, the increase in the number passing through the Cana dian canal having been due to the devel opment of the Michipicoten district. The tonnage passing through the United States canal in 1902 was: Registered tonnage, 27,408,021 tons; in 1901, 22, 222,334 tons, against 20,136,782 in the year 19oo; the freight tonnage in 1901 was 25,026,522 tons, against 23,251,539 tons in 1900. The Canadian Canal shows: Registered tonnage in 1902, 4,547,561; in 1901, 2,404,642 tons, against 2,160,490 in 1900. A marked contrast between the business of the St Marys Falls and Welland canals is found in a comparison of their figures for a term of years. The number of vessels passing through the Welland Canal in 1873 was 6,425, and in 1899, 2,202, a reduction of more than one-half in the number of vessels. The number of ves sels passing through the St Marys Falls Canal in 1873 was 2,517, and in 1902, through the American and Canadian canals, 22,659. THE CHICAGO SANITARY AND SHIP CANAL The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal connects Lake Michigan at Chicago with the Illinois River at Lockport, a distance of 34 miles. The canal was cut for the purpose of giving to the city of Chicago proper drainage facilities by reversing the movement of water, which formerly flowed into Lake Michigan through the Chicago River, and turning a current from Lake Michigan through the Chi cago River to the Illinois River at Lock port, and thence down the Illinois River to the Mississippi. The minimum depth of the canal is 22 feet, its width at the bottom 160 feet, and the width at the top from 162 to 290 feet, according to the class of material through which it is cut. The work was begun September 3, 1892, and completed and the water turned into the channel January 2, 1900. The flow of water from Lake Michigan toward the Gulf is now at the rate of 360,000 cubic feet per minute, and the channel is estimated to be capable of carrying nearly twice that amount. The total excavation in its construction in cluded 28,500,000 cubic yards of glacial drift and 12,910,000 cubic yards of solid rock, an aggregate of 41,410,000 cubic yards. In addition to this, the construc tion of a new channel for the Desplaines River became necessary in order to per mit the canal to follow the bed of that river, and the material excavated in that work amounted to 2,068,659 cubic yards, making a grand total displacement in the work of 43,478,659 cubic yards of ma terial, which, according to a statement issued by the trustees of the sanitary district of Chicago, would, if deposited in Lake Michigan in 40 feet of water, form an island one mile square with its surface 12 feet above the water line. All bridges along the canal are mova ble structures. The total cost of con struction, including interest account, aggregated $34,000,000, of which $21, 379,675 was for excavation and about $3,000,000 for rights of way and $4,000,000 for building railroad and highway bridges over the canal. The city and state authorities, by whom the canal was constructed, are now propos ing to Congress to make this canal a commercial highway in case Congress will increase the depth of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers to a depth of 14 478
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