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struction of the terminal structures and their approaches from the canal and in reclaiming swamp areas by hydraulic fill for the health department. The amount excavated in this miscellaneous work is included in the total output of the year of all the dredges above reported, as are also the 268,897 cubic yards of sand and gravel excavated at the gravel beds in the Chagres River for use in concrete construction throughout the canal work.

Report has heretofore been made of the dikes and groins built on the south shore of Limon Bay, west of the canal, for the prevention of bank erosion and the consequent silting of the canal in the vicinity. Further experience confirms the efficiency of these constructions.

Work of destroying water hyacinths was continued with the same plant and methods as heretofore. Two hundred forty-seven thousand five hundred and fifty-seven square yards of hyacinths were killed by arsenic spraying and 385,700 young plants were pulled and destroyed. There is no menace to canal navigation from these pests, but due vigilance is exercised to prevent their getting a start. An important part of the work of the dredging division has again been the removal of material from the sliding areas in the Culebra section of Gaillard Cut. Aside from the fact that during the year there was an easily navigable channel available, with but two interruptions of a total of 10 days, as compared with the entire closure of the canal from October, 1915, to April 15, 1916, perhaps the best indication of the improved condition is that the removal of 6,834,072 cubic yards from the Culebra slides during the year has resulted in a prism of full depth and the full width of 300 feet throughout, with increased widths of from 200 to 500 feet at the points of former maximum activity. During the year ended June 30, 1916, 11,210,141 cubic yards were removed from the same section of the canal. In July, 1916, 1,073,675 cubic yards were removed, and in June, 1917, 341,568 cubic yards. The West Culebra slide has been quiescent throughout the year, the volume between the peripheral break and the canal having settled to such an extent as to give indications of having reached a condition of stability. The East Culebra slide is still in motion, with occasional periods of increased activity and intervals of comparative rest. Each active period results in a settlement of the entire mass within the limiting break and a horizontal motion toward the center of the bowl-shaped area. Since the dredges have succeeded in excavating the east bank several hundred feet outside of the limits of the canal prism, recent movements of the mass have no longer produced upheaval of the bottom within the prism, or shoals within the canal by the flow of material from the bank, and after every movement the dredges, working outside the limits of the prism, have had no difficulty in excavating the material

before it reached the channel. The ultimate condition of stability will evidently be reached when the broken mass has settled to a surface not far from horizontal with a nearly vertical bluff at the limiting break. Accompanying the report of the resident engineer (Appendix C) is a contour map of the slides, Plate No. 23, showing their configuration on July 1, 1917, with comparative cross sections at typical points showing conditions as they existed at the beginning and at the end of the year, Plate No. 24. All told, 23,259,909 cubic yards of material have been removed by dredges from the Culebra slides (east and west), and Mr. Comber estimates that 3,600,000 cubic yards yet in motion will have to be removed. The points established last year, at the request of the Chairman of the Slide Committee of the National Academy of Sciences, on Gold, Zion, Contractors, and Purple Hills and at the bases of Gold and Contractors Hills, have been checked from time to time. No indication of movement of the points has been detected. Extension of the peripheral breaks of the east bank have occurred, so as to increase the area of the east slide by 3 acres. The amount of material involved in these extensions is relatively insignificant, and on account of the distance from the canal it is improbable that any of it will reach the prism.

Cucaracha slide has given no further trouble since the large movement that blocked the canal in August, 1916, as described in the report of last year. To reduce the chances of interruptions to traffic due to future similar movements if they occur, the material in the slide was removed for a distance of 100 feet outside the canal prism. It is believed that in the future the great slides of the canal will be of historic interest only.

For details of the work of the dredging division, reference is invited to the report of the resident engineer, Appendix C.

MECHANICAL DIVISION,

The mechanical plants continued as heretofore, with the addition of Dry Dock No. 1, at Balboa, which was turned over to this division for operation on May 15, 1916. On account of the large reduction in the amount of steam-shovel work and the resultant retirement from service of railroad rolling stock, the presence of certain naval units requiring repairs, and other causes, the activities in the field and shops show a decided tendency toward marine work. The marine work was 37.6 per cent and the railroad work 21.8 per cent of the total work of the division. The larger part of the railroad equipment. repair work was done in overhauling and repairing for shipment 15 locomotives, 100 lidgerwood flat cars, 2 unloaders, 40 Oliver dump cars, and 2 steam shovels, all transferred from the canal to the Alaskan Engineering Commission. An additional outside order,

which was still in progress at the end of the year, was the repair and preparation for shipment of 95 locomotives, retired from service on the canal and sold to A. B. Shaw, of 49 Wall Street, New York, N. Y., the terms of the contract providing that the repairs and packing for shipment be at the expense of the contractor. More than one-half of this work was completed by the end of the year, and progress is being made at the rate of 10 locomotives per month.

Other construction and repair work included 15,000 linear feet of steel cylinders for the foundations of Pier No. 6, at Cristobal; 2,000 feet of penstock piping for the enlargement of the hydroelectric station at Gatun; construction of two 65-foot dispatch boats for the dredging division and of two 85-foot supply boats for the marine division; the manufacture of four electric towing locomotives for the locks; extensive overhauls of the tugs Bohio and Gatun; repairs to the steamships Lautero, Themis, and Nicaraguan; and the overhaul of the four Hamburg-American Line ships in Colon Harbor that were seized after the declaration of war. At the Balboa dry dock there were docked for the canal 34 pieces of floating equipment; for the War and Navy Departments, 15 vessels, with a total tonnage of 94,180; and for commercial lines 18 vessels, with a total tonnage of 73,307. At the Cristobal dry dock 51 pieces of equipment were docked for the canal; 16 for the War and Navy Departments, with a total tonnage of 2,563; and 15 with a tonnage of 16,097 for commercial lines. On account of the facilities afforded by the Balboa shops and dry dock and the congested condition of the shipyards in the States, upon the recommendation of the superintendent of the division the suggestion was made to Government departments interested that the mechanical division of the canal might be considered available for a limited amount of construction and repair work that would, under usual circumstances, be performed in the States. As a result the construction of a 120-foot coast-guard cutter for the. Navy Department is under way, and the extensive overhaul of the steamers Ancon and Cristobal, operated by the Panama Railroad, will be undertaken at the Balboa dock and shops. Additions and improvements, as foreshadowed in the report of last year, have been made. to the Balboa shops' equipment as follows: The Balboa roundhouse has been enlarged; an instrument repair shop has been added to Building 9; a new pattern shop, with restaurant on the second floor, has been constructed; and the car shop, oxy-acetylene plant, and pipe shop have been enlarged. Building 29, inclosing the dry-dock pumping plant, electrical switchboard, and air compressors for the Balboa shops, has been completed and its equipment installed. A 120-inch engine lathe, 42-inch mill and planer, 50-ton dry-dock crane, and additional machinery and hand tools have been purchased and delivered.

On account of the diminishing amount of dredging work required in Gaillard Cut and the reduced concentration of dredging equipment in that part of the canal, the work in the Paraiso shops was much reduced. The force was reduced to about one-third of its previous size, a part being sent to Balboa shops and a part to Cristobal, and most of the work formerly done on the dredging equipment at the Paraiso shops was distributed between Balboa and Cristobal, as was most convenient.

At the time the construction of the Balboa dry dock was determined upon the project contemplated a smaller dock, No. 2, parallel and in close proximity to the 1,000-foot dock. The construction of the smaller dock was suspended until the necessity for it should become sufficiently apparent to justify an appropriation of funds for the purpose. Experience has indicated that when the smaller dock is required it should be located at or near the Atlantic terminus of the canal. Investigations are in progress, including borings, to determine the character of foundations to develop the most favorable site. Besides considerations concerning the requirements of commercial shipping, the establishment of the large submarine base at the Atlantic end of the canal would in itself determine the advisability of a dry dock there. The old French dry dock near Mount Hope, somewhat enlarged early in the construction period of the canal, is only 300 feet long and 50 feet wide, and is of sufficient capacity to accommodate only the smallest types of vessels. The Cristobal shops are not equipped to handle the heavier marine work, and the buildings are dilapidated from age. New buildings and additional equipment will be required in connection with the dry dock when constructed, and in advance of its construction, to care for the increased marine repair work that has developed. For further details of the operations of the mechanical division, see report of the superintendent, Appendix D.

SUPPLY DEPARTMENT.

Labor. The total force of silver employees of all grades employed on the canal on June 30, 1917, was 24,146. This represents about the average force throughout the year; fluctuations occur from time to time as work is completed or new work begun. The available supply on the Isthmus has been more than sufficient to meet our demands, and no recruitment of contract labor has been done.

Quarters.-The completion of the program of new quarters authorzed has materially reduced congestion. On June 30, 1916, there were 736 applicants for family quarters on file, and on June 30, 1917, 257, distributed, as follows: Ancon-Balboa, 126; Paraiso-Pedro Miguel, 3; Gatun, 2; and Cristobal, 121. The completion of the 105 apart

ments at New Cristobal in July, 1917, further reduces the list of applicants unprovided for to 152. Including these 105 apartments, 585 new apartments for gold employees and 353 for silver employees were provided. On account of the cheap production of electricity at the hydraulic station, experiments have been made with the installation of electric ranges in a few quarters, as a substitute for coalburning cooking stoves. Data are not yet sufficient to determine the advisability, from an economic point of view, of using electricity as a fuel in all quarters. It would appear that a sufficient number of family quarters are now provided for the permanent gold force, except in the Cristobal district. The situation in that district is complicated by the fact that many of the old French quarters at Cristobal are greatly deteriorated from age and the expense of maintenance is high. Furthermore, the encroachment of the business buildings upon the residential section of Old Cristobal will make it necessary to demolish the old quarters at that place. To provide for the operating force of the canal when there is no doubt as to the permanency of the location, the concrete type of construction for quarters has proved to be satisfactory and economical in the long run. It would seem to be a proper policy to provide quarters of permanent construction at the new town site as the old French quarters at Cristobal are condemned and destroyed. Bachelor quarters are not adequate at either terminal city to provide for the present force, and ultimately concrete quarters of a type similar to the set constructed at Ancon in 1916 should be provided for bachelors, so as to permit the assignment of one individual to a room. Quarters should also be provided for the permanent force of silver employees. Unrest in the common-labor class, due largely to the expense of hiring rooms in the cities of Colon and Panama, has been apparent from time to time. Corrals.-There was a decreased demand for animal-drawn transportation, principally in the municipal engineering and building divisions. The operation of automobile trucks and gasoline vehicles has proved to be more economical. Seventy-five animals were purchased, 22 horses and 38 mules died or were destroyed, and 1 horse was surveyed, condemned, and sold. Including 134 horses and 51 mules at work in the pastures and plantations, the total number of animals on June 30, 1917, was 533, of which there were 183 horses and 350 mules.

Materials and supplies.-A total of 1,347 requisitions were prepared and forwarded to the general purchasing officer, as compared with 1,776 during the previous year. The total value of material received was $10,817,106.51, as compared with $9,945,390.32 for the preceeding year; local purchases cost $1,516,914.79, as compared with $1,569,812.15 for last year. There was a marked increase in price of all staple articles and material purchased. The value of material

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