Petersburg Canal
was planned, and in a very few years the larger class of steamers might
have to deliver their cargoes at Cronstadt, as before, if the waterway
to St. Petersburg be not adapted to their growing dimensions.
[Illustration: THE ST. PETERSBURG AND CRONSTADT MARITIME CANAL, OPENED
BY THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA, ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 1885.]
"The dredging between the embankments of the canal was done by an
improved process, which may interest those connected with such works. It
may be remembered that the Suez Canal was mostly made by dredging, and
that the dredgers had attached to them what the French called 'long
couloirs' or spouts, into which water was pumped, and by this means the
stuff brought up by the dredgers was carried to the sides of the canal,
and there deposited. The great width of the St. Petersburg Canal was too
much for the long couloirs, hence some other plan had to be found. The
plan adopted was that invented by Mr. James Burt, and which had been
used with the greatest success on the New Amsterdam Canal. Instead of
the couloir, floating pipes, made of wood, are in this system employed;
the earth or mud brought up has a copious stream of water poured on it,
which mixes in the process of descending, and the whole becomes a thick
liquid.
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