Correspondence relative to the Canal Communication in Canada. operations have been much retarded by the restricting of my expenditure in the commencement of the present year to £. 41,000, until the Committee, on 29th June, authorized my expending £. 105,000, and the sickness among my men and officers, which created a sad stagnation in the works; yet, taking these unexpected events into consideration, there has been an astonishing quantity of work performed, as fully detailed in the accompanying Report. The line of bridges erected across Ottawa at the Chaudière Falls is completed; and although the great Kettle Bridge was destroyed by the chains breaking, on 2d April last, it has been rebuilt, and that service completed at an excess of only £.372. 14. 44. on the original Estimate. The traffick appearing very great, I have ordered a toll-house and gates to be erected, and the following notice to be fixed at the gate; and conceive the tolls will produce at least £. 100 currency per year, which will be paid, as collected into the military chest, until I receive instructions on that subject: "THESE Bridges across the Chaudière Falls, having been built at the expense of His Majesty's Ordnance, Orders are given, That no person "whatever shall be permitted to pass, until they have paid one Penny; one Penny also to be paid for every horse, mare, gelding, ox, cow, calf, sheep, "lamb and pig; and Two-pence for every waggon, sleigh or carriage, until "the pleasure of His Majesty's Ordnance is known. (signed) "John By, I have succeeded in making the mound across Dow's Great Swamp water tight, which places beyond all doubt the practicability of converting that unhealthy swamp into a fine sheet of water, and does away with the original idea of forming an aqueduct in the centre of the said mound, and a considerable saving will be made in consequence. I have also succeeded in raising the Rideau River at the Hog's Back twenty-seven feet perpendicular, and am now busily employed in carrying on that work in thickening the base, and completing the arch key-work across the river, which was injured by the spring floods carrying away the temporary dam; and I have every reason to hope by that time next year to have the water raised to the required height of forty-five feet, as at present I have met with nothing to create a doubt of the practicability of the plan; and if I am allowed to expend £. 137,215. 11. 10. per annum in 1829, 1830 and 1831, I am confident the whole of the proposed works will be completed by the 12th August 1831; but I shall require the assistance of six officers of royal engineers, in addition to those I have now the honour of commanding, to ensure the masonry and other works being well executed. I have, &c. John By, No. 59.-LETTER from R. W. Hay, Esq. to R. Byham, Esq. &c. &c. &c. SIR, Downing-street, 16 January 1829. I HAVE laid before Secretary Sir George Murray your letter of the 12th instant, and I am directed to acquaint you, in reply, that the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury have sanctioned the expenditure of £. 130,666. 13. 4. on the Rideau Canal, and £.32,213. 6. 8. on the Grenville Canal for the year 1829; and a communication to that effect was made to the Commander of the Forces in Canada by the American mail of the present month. With respect to the proposed Tolls on the Bridges across the Chaudière Falls, Sir George Murray is not aware of any objection to levying the Tolls, provided it can be done without infringing on any provincial law. I am, &c. R. W. Hay. Correspondence No. 60.-LETTER from Sir James Kempt to the Right Hon. Sir George Murray, relative to the &c. &c. &c. SIR, Quebec, 12th February 1829. IN submitting for the approval of His Majesty's Government the accompanying Estimate for the completion of the Grenville Canal (No. 1.), Plans and Estimates of the Canals proposed to overcome the obstructions to the navigation of the Ottawa at the Chûte à Blondeau (No. 2), and Carillon Rapids (No. 3), I beg to call your attention to the despatch upon the Canals at Grenville and Chûte à Blondeau, addressed by the Earl of Dalhousie to Mr. Huskisson on the 30th January 1828, a copy of which is herewith enclosed. The Grenville Canal is about six miles in length: it is now navigable, on the original scale, to within half a mile of its lower or western extremity, and the excavation is nearly completed along its whole extent. It was originally intended that the locks on this Canal should have been of similar dimensions with those of the Canal at La Chine (108 feet long by twenty in breadth), and suited only to the navigation of Durham boats, and other small craft. But in the summer of 1828, the Committee, of which I was President, directed the locks which had not been commenced, and those which admitted at that period of the necessary alterations, should be constructed on the enlarged scale (134 feet long, or 110 feet clear of the gates, and thirty-four feet wide), to correspond with the locks of the Rideau Canal, and adapted to the navigation of steam-boats thirty-three feet broad across the paddle-boxes. The three upper locks have been finished on the original scale; the pits of the two next are nearly completed on the enlarged scale; and those of the two lower (on the same scale) are in an advanced state. Major Du Vernet, commanding the Royal Staff Corps, reports, that, with the means he now possesses, the Canal cannot be completed before the spring of 1830. The sum already expended on the Grenville Canal, you will perceive, by the accompanying Statement (No. 5.), amounts to £.113,920 sterling; and the Estimate for its completion (No. 1) is £. 21,000 sterling, giving an aggregate amount of £.134,920 sterling, exclusive of a considerable quantity of stores and tools supplied by the Barrack and Store-keeper General's Department, the amount of which cannot now be ascertained. To overcome the obstruction at the Chûte à Blondeau, a Canal of 700 feet in length, with one lock, will be required. The soil through which the Canal will pass being of a very rocky description, and the excavation in consequence very expensive, it is proposed to form the Canal of a somewhat diminished breadth, from which, as its extent is so small, it is supposed that no inconvenience can arise. The estimated expense for the completion of this Canal is £. 11,580 sterling. The Canal projected at the Carillon Rapids is a much more considerable operation than that at Chûte à Blondeau, extending two miles and 228 yards, generally traversing a rocky and difficult soil. The formation of this Canal upon the full dimensions (seventy-five feet wide at the surface of the water), through a soil of that character, would greatly increase its expense; it is therefore proposed to form it also of a reduced breadth, though of sufficient width throughout to admit of the passage of a steam-boat of the largest class frequenting this navigation, with two " lay-bys, or passing places," for those boats. Major Du Vernet is of opinion, that those reduced dimensions will answer every purpose of this Canal; and, by placing the lock-houses on elevated situations, signals might, if necessary, be made to prevent boats from encountering each other in the narrow parts of the Canal. Upon this Canal two locks will be required, and its estimated expense is £.58,000 sterling. To increase the breadth of the Canal along its whole extent to the full dimensions (seventy-five feet), would cause an augmentation of the Estimate to the amount of £. 23,500 sterling. The locks of the Canals proposed at the Chûte à Blondeau and Carillon Rapids, Canal Communication in Canada. No. 61. No. 62. No. 63. No. 64. No. 67. No. 61. Correspondence relative to the Canal Communication in Canada. you will perceive by the Estimates, are of the same dimensions with those on the Rideau Canal, and calculated for the navigation of steam-boats of thirty-three feet across the paddle-boxes. Major Du Vernet is of opinion that they cannot be completed in less than three seasons with the means now under his control. Those means he considers insufficient to supply the military overseers required to superintend operations on so extensive a scale: with a view, therefore, to accelerate their completion, but more especially the excavations, he recommends that they should be executed by contract under the general superintendence of the Royal Staff Corps; and though he is not aware whether this system would tend to increase or diminish the estimated expense of the Canals, I beg most strongly to concur in the propriety of this recommendation. The completion of those three Canals will obviate every impediment to the navigation from the Rapids of St. Anne, on the St. Lawrence, to the mouth of the Rideau Canal until they, and a Canal to turn the Rapids at St. Anne, are finished, the great advantages which the Rideau Canal will yield to the defence, and to the commercial and agricultural interests, of the Canadas cannot be obtained; and as they severally form component parts of the great system of internal navigation which Great Britain has undertaken for the benefit of these colonies, and upon which their defence so materially depends, f beg most earnestly to recommend, that the completion of the Grenville, Chûte à Blondeau and Carillon Canals may be authorized with all the expedition of which circumstances admit. The ground in the vicinity of the St. Ann's Rapids I have directed to be surveyed when the season permits, and a Plan and Estimate of the Work required to obviate the interruption they present to the navigation of the St. Lawrence to be prepared by Major Du Vernet, which, when received, I shall submit for your consideration; and in the course of the ensuing summer I trust I may be enabled to adopt a similar proceeding with respect to the Water Communication in rear of the Island of Montreal, which I consider a most important part of the back navigation of this country. I have, &c. James Kempt. No. 61. ESTIMATE of the probable Amount of Sums required to complete the Works at Grenville. Excavation from the mouth of the Canal to the Regulating Lock 500 Making a Dam to effect the same Completing the Pier, &c. Completing the 4 Lock-houses Fourth and Fifth Locks: Excavating 596 yards of rock in 5th Lock Pit, at 3s. per yard Excavating 1,191 yards of rock and earth in 4th Lock Pit, at 2 s. per yard Ditto of coping 350 running feet 80 Square feet of pavement Sixth and Seventh Locks : 5,657 Yards of rock to be excavated in Lower River Lock Pit, at 4s. Ashler wanting to complete 10,463 feet, at 3s. 1,131 516 1,569 9 1,800 1.50 100 900 Feet of coping pavement, hollow coins, and sills for the two Locks; A Coffer-dam in the river at Greece's Point 5,623 Feet of oak timber, at 1s. 6 d. per foot, to construct the 12 Lock gates Carried forward 150 Barrels of cement, at 30s. per barrel Cedar post for scaffolding Machinery for raising sluices, anchor-plates, gudgeons, racks, &c. for swing-bars, and other cast-iron works for the four Locks, estimated at Iron, steel, and other stores required, estimated at 7,000 Bushels of charcoal, at 6s. per bushel 700 Cords of hemlock for burning lime, at 4s. per cord 5 Chaldrons of coals, at 32 s. per chaldron, exclusive of transport Work of two pair of sawyers 8 Blacksmiths, 5s. per diem, 312 days 10 Carpenters, at 5s. 6 d. ditto - - ditto 10 Stonecutters, at 5s. 6d. day-work, 166 ditto 50 Builders, at 5s. 6d. ditto ditto 9,274 Rations on Sundays for the above number of men, at 6d. per ration Charge of Mr. Mears for the use of the quarry Remuneration to Allen Cameron for his quarry, supposed about Ditto to Stothers, supposed For permission to take clay for puddling dams 100 50 50 20 No. 62. ESTIMATE of the probable Expense of making a CANAL and Lock at Chûte à Blondeau for Steam-boat Navigation. THE Locks 33 feet wide, 110 feet long, clear of the gates; lift, four feet; walls of the Lock 26 feet above the lower sill. The Canal 33 feet wide at the bottom; slopes equal to one-fourth of the height; length, including the Lock, 700 feet; to carry five Memorandum.-The excavation at this place is entirely in rock, and the average depth upwards of twenty-two feet; but from the circumstances of its appearing to lie in horizontal strata with joints, I conceive the blocks may be removed without much blasting, which has induced me to estimate for it lower than usual for rock to twelve feet depth, being generally from 4s. to 4s. 9 d. per cubic yard. There is to be seen in the bank beds of a hard and brittle description of limestone, which has been tried, and is considered unfit for other purposes than backing, upon which I have calculated. At present I have no knowledge of any good quarry in the immediate neighbourhood, but do not reckon upon any particular difficulty rendering the expense of stone higher than that employed in the lower locks at Grenville. From the numerous fissures in the rock, and nearness of the river, I am apprehensive it will be impossible to excavate below the level of the water in the spring, which may occasion some delay. Montreal, Jan. 29, 1829. (signed) Henry Du Vernet. |