Waterways and Water Transport in Different Countries by J. Stephen Jeans

dredging machines, constructed on the most approved principles, were delivered to the company. These machines were capable of removing 5500 cubic metres of soil in ten hours. They were each of 300 horse-power, and were constructed by the firm of Messrs. Sâtre and Demange, of Lyons. They cost 550,000 fr. each. As regards the system of excavating the rock, M. Gerster’s plan was to sink vertical shafts to the level of the canal, by means of machines constructed for the purpose, for which cartridges of dynamite were to be employed at distances of 2 to 3 metres from each other, which were to be exploded simultaneously. The execution of this enterprise was confided to the Société des Ponts et Travaux en Fer (ancienne maison Joret et Cie), in conjunction with L’Association des Constructeurs. These two companies engaged to undertake the cutting of the canal for the sum of 24,600,000 fr., under forfeit if it is not completed within the prescribed time. The annexed general and sectional diagrams (p. 351) explain the method by which it was proposed to carry out the execution of the enterprise. The Isthmus of Corinth Canal Company was compelled, in consequence of unforeseen delays in their works, to obtain in 1887 an extension of three years for their completion. The canal was to have been opened in