VIII. — The Albemarle and Chesa¬
peake ship canal in progress of con¬
strue lion, and its great importance
to agricultural and commercial in¬
terests.
Many years ago, in the publication
of some notes of an early visit to part
of lower North Carolina, I urged, as
the greatest of improvements for that
State, a ship canal, to be dug on a
level, from the waters of Albemarle
sound to those of the Chesapeake —
to give free egress and passage, to
any distant marts of vessels of as deep
draft as could well navigate the sounds
of North Carolina. I then looked only
to the importance and incalculable
value, of the great object — but knew
nothing of the facilities and means, or
the difficulties to be found in the to¬
pography of the intervening country.
Such an improvement is now in the
progress of execution — and when
completed, it will offer to the com¬
mercial and agricultural interests of
North Carolina the greatest boon that
can Ik* derived from any aid to fa¬
cilities for transportation.
The "Albemarle and Chesapeake
Ship Canal," had not been long in
progress, when (in May, 1856.) I
visited the three different places in
which the excavating machines were
at work. The entire length of digging,
in two different places, will be but
fourteen miles, all through very low
and level ground.
The main operation will be a
straight cut from deep water in North
Landing, (or Cohonk) river, (empty¬
ing into Currituck sound.) to deep and
tide water at Great Bridge on the prin¬
cipal branch of Llizabeth river. This
part of the canal will be level, eight
miles long, and without a lock, ex¬
cept one at the junction of the level
water (flowing back from Currituck
sound) with the tide-water at Great
Bridge — and which lock is neces¬
sary merely to regulate the difference
between the usually uniform level of
the Currituck water, and the change¬
able height of the tide-water of the
Chesapeake.
Another straight and level cut of
five miles is to cross a low peninsula,
mostly of marsh soil, stretching from
the high land, between the deep waters
of Albemarle and Currituck sounds.
Some necessary dredging in the rivers,
to obtain full eight feet depth, will
make the entire depth of excavation
fourteen miles. The width of water
in the canal, at surface, is to be sixty
Digging a
Canal 100
Years Ago
It was quite a job with
tlie erude dredges of that
time.
By EDMUND RUFFIN
feet. The depth will allow vessels of six
feet draft, to pass through at first, and
is to be deepened to eight feet, or more
if required, afterwards. As there will
be no lift-lock, (and only the tide-
regulating lock.) there will be no dif¬
ficulty in continuing to dredge and
deepen the passage, after the canal is
in regular use.
IX. — Novel and remarkable manner
of excavating the new Canal. Profit¬
able benefit of this and similar
works, to drainage operations.
The excavation of the new canal
has been begun (May, 1856,) and is
in progress at three different parts of
the line, viz., in the five-mile cut, in
North Carolina, and at both ends of
the eight-mile cut in Virginia. The in¬
terest felt in the work and its object,
and also in the manner of excava¬
tion, induced me to visit all the three
operations.
The whole route for excavation in
North Carolina, is through a low and
flat peninsula, mostly free from ob¬
structions. The large cut in Virginia
will be entirely along the course of a
long and straight depression, the land
being a low and wet swamp in its
present condition. The highest points
of elevation will not be more than
four feet above the level of the sur¬
face water of the canal — and the
whole excavation will not average
more than two feet above that surface.
Thus eight feet of excavation,
throughout, will give six feet depth of
Tin I* anoth.r thaplcr from ihr 1*61 bool'
"Sktltht* ol l.o*cf Carolina."
water; and ten feel will give the com¬
plete and designed eight feet.
But this very low level of the land
through the route, which so much les¬
sens the amount of earth to be ex¬
cavated. served, in most places, to in¬
crease the difficulty of the work. The
surface of the swampy ground is, in
many places, so nearly level with the
water, and the earth is so generally a
quagmire of peat, and so full of dead
roots and buried logs, under the water,
and of living trees and roots over and
at the surface, when but very little
above water, that the difficulties of
removing such obstructions arc very
great, and would be insuperable if by
the use of ordinary utensils, and with
hand-labor.
But the means used were very dif¬
ferent; and to me, were as novel as
they seemed admirable. The excava¬
tion is effected entirely by steam-
dredges of new construction, and great
power. The one I saw in operation,
near North Landing, was then in the
most difficult ground, the very low
swamp just above the bridge. The
earth was barely above the water, and
covered with heavy and thick swamp
forest growth — and beneath the sur¬
face, in the former channel of the
choked river, were buried numerous
sound stumps and trunks of cypress
trees, which had been covered deeply
by the slow accumulation of vegetable
soil, for ages past.
The cutting through and removal of
this mass of living and dead (but
sound) wood, imbedded in semi-fluid
mire, and from beneath standing wa¬
ter, could scarcely have been effected
at all, except by the wonderful ma¬
chine in use, which derives aid from
the presence of deep water, in which
no hand-labor could effect anything.
The dredging apparatus is in a ves¬
sel of fifty or sixty feet long, and is
worked by a sixteen horse power
steam-engine. There arc seven of these
dredging machines and vessels at the
different places, and there will be built
two more, of greater size and power.
'1Ъс
excavation was begun at the edge
of deep water, as enough water to
float the vessel is necessary for the
operation. Thence, the machines car¬
ried on the excavation regularly, to
the full depth and width required for
the early navigation.
Two machines, one working a little
ahead of the other, carry the full
width of the canal. After finishing at
one position, the vessel is moved for¬
ward. the head of the vessel facing
i6
THE STATE. Junt 29. 1957
