Читать книгу Is a Ship Canal Practicable? онлайн

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The excavation of the canal, although of considerable difficulty, was exceeded by the necessity for creating artificial harbors at the extremities. The harbor at Port Said, upon the Mediterranean, has the general form of a triangle, the base resting on the shore and the longer side on the west, protecting the entrance from the moving sand. The longer arm, or mole, is 8,200 feet, extending to the 26 feet curve of sounding. It is proposed to extend this mole 2,300 feet farther. As this harbor is exposed to N. E. winds, an inside basin has been constructed. The area of the outer harbor is equal to 400 acres, and will permit twenty line-of-battle ships to swing freely at anchor.

At the other extremity of the canal, a mole 2,550 feet in length protects the channel, which has been dredged to the depth of 27 feet. The mole at Suez differs from that at Port Said in construction; the latter being formed of concrete blocks of 13 cubic feet, the former of stone quarried from the neighboring mountain.