Distribution of the Work.—Let us now see how this sum is to be expended, and in what manner the works may be distributed, in order to their completion in the space of six years.
| The first thing to be done is, evidently, to bring the fresh water into the Isthmus, in order to supply the workmen, and to effect the transport of provisions and materials. The canal of communication, with its locks, the irrigating channel, and the water conduit, may be easily executed in the first year, since these works only represent 12,539,384 met. cub., or, at the maximum 6,269,692 days’ work, at the rate of two cubic metres per diem. Taking 300 working days in the year, it will require 20,898 men. In this part of Egypt from 30 to 40,000 may easily be had if necessary. In the same year the grand yards will be formed at the quarries, with all the railways, quays, and landing places, for the extraction and supply, on a large scale, of the stone necessary for the moles, jetties, and works of art. Contracts will be made with the manufacturers for the supply of dredges, lighters, towing barges, boats, and other machines to be employed in the execution of the works. In this first campaign, the expenditure will be approximately | fr. 12,000,000. |
| In the second year, eight dredges will be mounted in the harbour of Suez to excavate the channel and the foundations of the jetties. The operations at the quarries, the erection of the jetties, and the barrage lock, may therefore be pushed on with all desirable activity. Fresh water will be thrown into Lake Timsah, to set to work all the other disposable dredges; 30,000 workmen will perform all the clearance in the extent of the Bitter Lakes, and for the remainder of the Canal. They will prepare a trench in the ground to 1 met. 50, below low water, and so form a channel 15 met. wide, which will enable the barges and machines to pass and repass the whole extent of the Isthmus. All the force will be applied this year to open a communication between Suez and Lake Timsah, and consequently between Suez and the Nile. The fixing of the downs, and the cultivation of the lands, will be commenced. The expenditure of this campaign will be approximately | fr. 25,000,000. |
| In the third year the communication of Lake Timsah with the Mediterranean will be opened, and all the disposable force will be employed in making the scouring basin and erecting the jetties. The earth-works will be continued, the dredging also, the sowings on the downs, and the agricultural labours. 20,000 workmen will be employed this year, and the expenditure may be set down at | fr. 30,000,000. |
| In the fourth year, the same works as in the preceding, that is, the earth-works will be continued both by hand and by the dredges, the jetties, the barrage locks, and the quay wall in the Lake. Moreover, the defensive mole will be commenced; the sowings and cultivation extended. It is estimated that 20,000 workmen will still be required, and an expenditure of | fr. 33,000,000 |
| In the fifth and sixth years, the same operations will be continued, but so many men will no longer be required; for the dredges will perform the principal part of the work, and the operations at the quarries can then be pushed on with all possible activity. We assume for each of these years an expenditure of fr. 31,000,000; for both | fr. 62,000,000 |
| Which will make up the amount of the estimate | fr. 162,000,000 |
Interest to be paid to the Shareholders.—As it is usual to pay interest to the shareholders on the amounts subscribed, in proportion to the paid-up capital, it is necessary to take an account of the interest so accruing, and to carry the amount to the cost of execution.
| Interest on 12,000,000 fr. subscribed | the first year at | 5 per cent. | for six years | fr. 3,600,000 |
| — 25,000,000 | 2nd yr. | 5 per cent. | 5 yrs. | 6,250,000 |
| — 30,000,000 | 3rd ” | ” | 4 ” | 6,000,000 |
| — 33,000,000 | 4th ” | ” | 3 ” | 4,950,000 |
| — 31,000,000 | 5th ” | ” | 2 ” | 3,100,000 |
| — 31,000,000 | 6th ” | ” | 1 ” | 1,550,000 |
| fr. 25,450,000 | ||||
| Total of interest payable to the shareholders, to be added to the estimated amount of expenditure | 162,550,000 | |||
| 188,000,000 | ||||
Let us, however, carry the maximum capital to be applied in the undertaking to | fr. 200,000,000 | |||
In presenting the estimate of the works, amounting, as we have seen, to a maximum of 162,550,000 francs, we have been desirous of meeting, on the data generally admitted, all the objections hitherto made relative to the difficulties consequent upon the choking up of the entrance of the jetties and the accretions in the basin of the Red Sea or in the gulf of Pelusium. We have been fearful of appearing too bold in pronouncing, in an absolute manner, in favour of dispensing with the sluices and the works which they necessitate. We need not call attention to the fact, that the present is but a precursory scheme; we reserve it for our definitive scheme, to examine an entirely new theory founded on the experience of the most distinguished engineers of France, and on the conclusive opinion now before us of M. Renaud, chief engineer of seaports. We have hopes then, that it will be possible to dispense with the system of sluices, and that we shall thus effect an economy of several millions in the execution of the work. M. Renaud has ascertained that when the sluices open into the sea they lose nearly all their efficiency, and that in many cases they are worse than useless, and become detrimental. They deposit, in front of the channel, the matter which they bring down, and when this matter is not carried off by traversing or littoral currents, it forms, sooner or later, deposits or bars, whose summits are above the bed of the channel. It is thus that the mouths of rivers which flow into seas without tides, are, with few exceptions, without depth of water; the alluvium which is carried along the coasts coming within the action of the current of the river, is driven by that current to a certain distance from the shore, and deposited in proportion as the current loses its power. Being then less easily held in suspension than when near the coast, where the depth is less, they are also less easily carried off by the littoral current; deposits are formed and rise, until the combined action of the waves and the current no longer permit any fresh matter to subside.
Whatever may be thought of this explanation, it must be admitted that the alluvium brought by the sea, no less than that brought by rivers, prevents our obtaining a depth of water at the mouths of those rivers. Artificial sluices, therefore, appear to have no power to preserve a permanent depth of water.
If then we are permitted to renounce the idea of having recourse to the use of sluices for maintaining the depth of water at Pelusium and at Suez, it will be very easy by means of dredges to ensure the continuance of this depth, as is already done at the entrance of several ports, and particularly at that of the port of Cette.
The employment of dredges will allow of a considerable saving in the cost of establishing the Canal. The portion of the expenses required for the sluices would certainly be greater than the capital representing twenty times the annual expense of dredging.