“Well, what do you think of it?” inquired the chief engineer after a time.
“I’ve heard of the Galveston sea-wall,” said Roy, “but I had no idea it was anything like that. Why, that’s a wonderful piece of work.”
“It’s a great deal more wonderful than you think, Mr. Mercer. It is one of the most wonderful things in the world. That wall is built on sand.”
“Yes?” said Roy, not appreciating exactly what a difference that meant.
“Yes; on sand,” repeated Mr. Anderson, with considerable emphasis on the word. “You know a heavy sea would ordinarily quickly undermine such a structure. The sand would be washed from underneath it.”
“Then what prevents the sea from doing it?” asked Roy, growing much interested.
“It’s built on pilings,” replied the chief engineer. “Four rows of ’em driven forty-three feet into the sand and projecting a foot up into the wall itself. Then there’s a twenty-four-foot sheet piling behind the outer row to prevent scouring, and the stone riprap at the foot of the wall is twenty-seven feet wide and three feet thick. The wall itself is sixteen feet thick at the base, five feet wide at the top, and seventeen feet high. The city built three and a half miles of it, and the government extended it more than a mile farther to protect Fort Crockett.”
“Whew!” ejaculated Roy. “That is some piece of engineering. I don’t wonder you like to look at it.”
“Oh! That’s only part of the story,” continued the chief engineer with a smile, “and perhaps the smaller part. The raising of the city to the level of the wall is perhaps more wonderful than the making of the wall itself. Sea-walls aren’t unique by any means, but I know of nothing quite like the raising of the level of Galveston. You know the entire city was raised.”
Roy looked his astonishment. “Not really?” he gasped.