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CANAL NEARING COMPLETION.Sixty F«r Cast of «h*to w« Via killed This Ttar.Tha Chicago Chronicle calls attention to the near ccmpleUon cf the drainage ditch, »fid while the informs* ilon given is mainly for Chicago fetd^ ere it wlU bj found of tqual interest to the citizens of Jo(le.t Those of our citizens whe have not avail*d them-sMves of the opportunity to visit the ditch and wittese the worklcgs of the machinery (ifiployed, and be able to form definite ideas regarding the ftigbly work of ehglnehring, should improve the time Intervening before the compfe'.iOH cf the work. Q iotiDg from the Chronicle:Chicago people who want to see the giant machinery in the rock sections of the drainage channel at work will have to crowd their sightseeing Into the nelt few weeks, tn two months more the imthenke cantile?-ers, which are the main show features of the work, will all be cut of commission! The sections on which they are being used will be completed this fall as far as excavation goes.The building of retaining walls of masonry will follow In most eases before the sections are completed, but this is not a spectacular performance like the giant cantilevers. It follows that those who want to take ad vantage of sanitary district operations at their height will have to visit the tig ditch this summer or fall.Popular interest in the drainage channel generally b gins to show itself in the form of excursions about May or June, when the weather settles. By May or June of next year two-thirds of the sections on the canal will be finished and the plants for the most part removed. By July 1,1896, there will not be more than half a dozen sections under active operations, except where sustaining walls of masonry are being built The rock section* will be completed first, and as the miost costly and intricate plants are on those sections the show features of the big ditch are rapidly passing.Few Chicagoans realize that the contract ors on the drainage channel have an investment in plants and their installment amounting to fully 13,000,000. Of this large Invest ment very little wiU be taken out again in the form of salvage. Most of the expensive machinery has been built especially for its present use, and a good shard of it will not be available on other work. The cantilevers, derricks and cableways now being operated on the ropk sections mark a new era in that class of excavations, and have been attentively studied by engineers from ah parts of the world. The machinery, do less than the magnitude and engineering di fti cultles of the channel itself, is one of the factors that will make the whole work me morable.Section 13, at Romeo is finished, except for some retaining walls of masonry yet to be build. Mason, Hcge Co., are the contractors who have the honor of finishing the first section ahead of contract time. Section 10, between Rolnoo and Lemont.will be finished during the present month, E. D Smith Co, being the rr,st reet.* Sections 11 and 12, Mason Hoge Co.’s contracts, will be done this fall. Section 9, in charge of Halverson Richards Co., will be done by January 1. Sections 6, 7 and S,also Mason, Hoge Co.’s contracts, will probably be finished by May 1. Section 3, in charge of Gilman Co , will be finished by January 1. Sections 2 and 4, in charge of McArthur Brothers, will probably be flnisheo by May 1, except the retaining walls. Sec tion 5, In charge of the Qualey Construction Company, will be done by May 1, except retaining walls. Section 1, in charge of Griffiths McDjrmott, Is entitled to some contract extensions, owing to a late start and the failure of former contractors, but most of the work will be out of the way by January 1.Ail these estimates are based on conservative reports of the engineering department 'to the board itself. According to these reports 69 per cent of contract work on the main channel is new finished and before this season closes there will not be more than 25 per cent of the work remaining to be done. Of the rock sections, Nos. 14 and 15, adjoining the Lockport terminal, are farthest behind, and it will take moat of next year to build the retaining walls. Section 14, in charge of Smith Eastman, will have the excavation proper finished by May 1, and section 15 shows good progress, the contract only being let last year.The lettered sections are more behind than the Rock sections, but some of these will also be finished at an early date. Section I and K, in charge of Christie Son, and sections L and M, in charge of the Heidenrich Company, will ail be completed this fall. Sections B, C and D will bs completed by May I. The other earth sections are In various stages of incompleteness. The trustees, however, say that the entire main channel could be completed next year but but for limitations of finance.
Newspaper Details
The Weekly Republican
Joliet, Illinois, US
Fri, Aug 16, 1895
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Clint C.
USA 14 Jul 2024
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