The experience of the Suez Canal shows that the actual time of transit is more likely to fall under than to exceed the above estimate.[209]
The traffic of the canal is limited by the time required to pass a lock, and on the basis of 45 minutes (above estimated), and allowing but one vessel to each lockage, the number of vessels that can pass the canal in one day will be 32, or in one year 11,680,[210] which, at the average net tonnage of vessels passing the Suez Canal, will give an annual traffic of 20,440,000 tons. This is on the basis that the navigation will not be stopped during the night.
With abundant water power at the several locks and the dam, there is no reason why the whole canal should not be sufficiently illuminated by electric lights; and with beacons and range lights in the river and lake, vessels can travel at all times with perfect safety. The estimated cost of the canal is 64 millions of dollars, or 13,000,000l. including electric lighting, &c., and it is calculated that the work can be completed in six years.
TABLE OF PRICES. | Per cubic yard. |
|---|---|
| dols. | |
| Excavation in earth | 0·40 |
| Excavation in rock | 1·50 |
| Excavation in rock (submarine) | 5·00 |
| Dredging | 0·20 and 0·40 |
| Concrete | 6·00 and 9·00 |
| Stone pitching | 2·00 |
| Stone in breakwaters | 1·50 |
| Puddle | 0·75 |
| Timber | 0·50 |
Western Division:— | dols. |
| Excavation and embankment | 8,496,292 |
| Diversion of Rio Grande and Rio Lajas | 1,870,447 |
| Other auxiliary work, including R. R. | 753,329 |
| Locks (four) | 4,762,480 |
| Harbour of Brito | 1,611,500 |
| Total | $17,484,048 |
Middle Division:— | dols. |
| Lake Nicaragua | 379,520 |
| River San Juan | 3,074,791 |
| Valley of R. San Francisco | 1,112,413 |
| Dam across R. San Juan | 1,858,975 |
| Embankment across R. San Francisco | 1,331,262 |
| Embankment near Ochoa | 45,578 |
| Railroad | 240,000 |
| Total | $8,042,539 |
Eastern Division:— | dols. |
| The “Divide” | 11,982,938 |
| From the “Divide” to Greytown | 8,077,294 |
| Locks (three) | 3,561,515 |
| Railroad | 320,000 |
| Harbour of Greytown | 1,766,625 |
| Total | $25,708,372 |
RECAPITULATION. | dols. |
| Western Division | 17,484,048 |
| Middle Division | 8,042,539 |
| Eastern Division | 25,708,372 |
| Total | $51,234,239 |
| Surveys, hospitals, shops, &c.; | |
| management and contingencies, | |
| 25 per cent. | 12,808,740 |
| Grand total | $64,043,699 |
The Canal Company has received from the Nicaraguan Government a concession which allows a period of 2½ years from 1887, within which to begin operations, a grant of 1,000,000 acres of land, and immunity from taxation and import duties for 99 years. The Canal Company estimate that by 1894, shipping to the amount of 8,000,000 to 9,000,000 of tons would avail itself of this route. The leading commercial bodies of New York, New Orleans, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Chicago, Indianapolis, and San Francisco, have expressed themselves favourable to the project, which has also been supported by the Legislatures of California and Oregon.
The great majority of the people of the United States are only interested in the construction of a canal across the American isthmus, in so far as it will tend to make them independent of the Pacific railway companies, which have of late years shown a disposition to work together and pool their traffic at the expense of the traders. There is, perhaps, very little to complain of in this respect, so far as the average range of American railway rates is concerned. But the Americans are ’cute enough to know that if they could play off the steamship against the railway, the ultimate result, though it might be disastrous to both transportation agencies, would be favourable to the trader so long as the competition lasted. The actual present sea distance from New York to San Francisco, with an isthmian canal opened, would be shortened by 8000 miles. The distance, therefore, would not be materially greater by canal than by railway. The ship, however, all other things being equal, will always carry more cheaply than the locomotive.[211] Whether the difference would be very material when the canal company’s tolls have been paid remains to be seen.
It is probable, that with the opening of the canal, a great stimulus would be given to the coasting trade of the United States, and especially between the two ports of New York and San Francisco, to the probable detriment, at least for a time, of the trans-continental railways. The very large trade that is now being cultivated between the United States and Central America, the republics of Peru, Chili, and Ecuador, and something like one-half of Mexico, would be equally benefited by the new means of communication. With all this to depend upon, the promoters of the canal are probably not over-sanguine in expecting that its financial results would be fairly satisfactory. The experience of the Suez Canal at least encourages that hope, although it is to be remarked that the cost of the Nicaraguan canal, will probably, when completed, have been more than that of the Suez waterway.
The local advantages of the Nicaragua route for a ship canal are generally recognised in the United States. A recent writer[212] on the subject states that—
“The range of what in other parts of Northern and Central America are mountains, and at Panama has proved one of the obstacles that have wrecked the French Company, on the Nicaragua line, dwindles to its lowest elevation, as if inviting a junction between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The western shore of Lake Nicaragua is but fifteen miles from the Pacific, and the ‘divide,’ which north and south at this point assumes mountainous proportions, is less than 50 feet above the level of the lake, and about 150 feet above the mean level of the Pacific Ocean. Although so close to the Pacific slope, and with so slight a barrier holding back its waters, the great lake of Nicaragua drains through the river San Juan to the East into the Caribbean Sea. The lake itself is deep and unobstructed, and that portion of the river San Juan needed for navigation purposes requires but little work to adapt it for the heaviest draught vessels. The Lake of Nicaragua is undoubtedly the key to the situation, forming the summit level, and supplying the immense amount of water required to operate a lock canal on the large scale projected.”
The route from Greytown, on the Atlantic, to Brito, on the Pacific, a distance of 170·099 miles, has been divided thus:—