No. 63. ESTIMATE of the probable Expense of making a CANAL at the THE Locks 33 feet wide, 110 feet clear of the opening of the gates. The length of the Canal 2 miles, 228 yards; width of the Canal at the bottom equal to the width of the Locks, with a slope of 45° for the banks, and two passing places or lay-bys. A Regulating Lock, walls twenty-one feet in height; and a Lock at the end, of a ten-feet lift, same height of walls. Correspondence relative to the Canal Communication in Canada. Correspondence relative to the Canal Communi. cation in Canada. 28 November 1822. 3d February 1824. Carillon Rapids! Memorandum :—IN estimating the expense of the Excavation, I have been guided by the general appearance of the ground, not from any trials; and I conceive at least two-thirds will prove to be in rock at the ridge; at the lower end it is so to the surface; and the average height for 460 yards is upwards of 21 feet. From where the Regulating Lock is proposed to be placed downwards, for 1,500 yards it is a thick swampy wood, and in its present state it is difficult to form an opinion of the depth fel Hub adi suda bes bu of earth. e to sit, om In the bank near the first Lock, there is lime-stone, which appears to be fit for building; I have also observed similar stone in the ridge, at the lower end, and have calculated upon the excavation supplying the rough stone for backing for the Locks. 9052 901 4. do 8 to 31 (signed) inf Henry Du Vernet. vor odi taiðu samson adt te dalit sui diiu bus 13gga adt redem adt to gai-oq-ib 33 tabe olge and No. 64.-LETTER from the Earl of Dalhousie to the Right Hon. W. Huskisson, &c. &c. &c O SIR, 2013 IN submitting to you the subject of the Papers which I have now the honour to enclose, I must refer you to a former correspondence with Earl Bathurst and Mr. Horton, relative to the Grenville Canal on the Ottawa, with which the present 'project is materially connected, as that work would be incomplete; indeed not materially useful, unless two other rapids, lower down the river, are overcome by two smaller works or canals. The Grenville Canal is now nearly completed; and it becomes necessary that I submit to your consideration the accompanying Plans for the further progress on the next part of it, the Chûte à Blondeau. " The whole of this important public work has been carried on from the beginning under the officers of the Royal Staff Corps," and the science they have shown does them all great honour. The expense has been authorized from time to time by His Majesty's Government through Earl Bathurst. I have now, therefore, only to submit the Plan and Reports prepared by the officer of the Staff Corps conducting the work, and to recommend, in the most earnest manner, that instructions be given to me to proceed in this second branch of the Grenville Canal. 9-5 or to mitol-960 „Bottegron mat oh I have, &c. 2700 Sq bude pot tog love (signed). Dalhousie. ,』 No. 65.-LETTER from Major Du Vernet to Major-General Darling, &c. &c. &c. SIR, 115 Montreal, December 26, 1827. CONCERNING the Chûte à Blondeau and Carrillon Rapids to be included in the improvements to be made of the navigation of the Ottawa River, I have several times, in the course of the last summer, been at the first-mentioned place, with a view to ascertain what is necessary to be done there; and having had a Plan and Levels taken of the ground, and observed the rise and fall of the water, it appears to me that the navigation may be improved in the two ways pointed out in the Plan which I have the honour to transmit to you for the information of his Lordship the Commander of the Forces. An objection to the dam is, that it will obstruct the ice: in point of expense, they will be about equal. In the year 1823 I made a Report on the Carillon Rapids, which, together with a sketch, has been laid before his Lordship; further observation might give rise to some small alteration in the projected line of Canal, the water having fallen lower than I was at that time aware of. If any thing is to be done at these places, as almost the entire of the excavation will be in solid rock, it may be desirable to commence as early as possible. I have, &c. 1 b, 1 Chûte à Blondeau. Correspondence THE obstruction to the navigation of the Ottawa is here caused by a bar of rock relative to the Canal Communicrossing the stream, to which it presents a nearly perpendicular face, in a diagonal cation Co Canada. in direction (nearly east and west), the water falling as over a rolling dam. The banks of the river in its neighbourhood are every where formed of solid rock. The most favourable situation for the construction of a Canal being on the north-west shore, where the upper part of a strait, formed by a small island lying on, and nearly at the eastern extremity of, the bar, affords a deep and secure channel immediately above the rapid, and where the bank is little more than of a sufficient height to protect the works from the effects of the spring floods. This is the situation shown in the accompanying Plan, where two descriptions of works suggest themselves as eligible; one, a direct cut, taking the line D. E., a section on which is given with the Plan, as the middle of the excavation, with a lock, near the lower end, as shown by the red dotted lines on the Plan; the other, a lock in the same situation, communicating at the upper end with the river, at the nearest point the space necessary for the navigation would admit of, disposing of the materials furnished by the excavation (which are very suitable for the purpose) in forming a dam across the channel, by which the water would be kept up to the same height as at D., and the of the entirely done a navigation greatly increased by the rapid in the channel being entirely done away with. G. marks the head of the excavation, and the lines The space between F. between F. and G. H. I. K. the base of the proposed dam, according to this second project. The entire excavation will in either case be through a hard clay-stone rock, lying in large oblong blocks, in beds of various thicknesses (from two feet to ten inches), the strata nearly horizontal, with joints diagonal to line of cutting D. E. Those parts of it that have been tried by the stonecutters have been found, from hardness and brittleness, to be unfit for other purposes in building than backing a rubblework; this circumstance will tend materially to increase the expense of construction of a lock, if built in the same manner as those of the Grenville line, no better description of stone being to be met with nearer than the quarry to Hawkesbury. From the shortness of its extent, it will not be required that the cut should be made wider than the lock-gates: no tow path will be necessary, nor, from the nature of the banks, will a greater slope be advisable or requisite than that which will be unavoidable in their formation. Agreeable to these premises, allowing one foot six inches for the fall of the surface in dry seasons below the point it stood at when the levels, soundings, &c. were taken, four feet below that surface for the navigation, one-fourth of the depth for the unavoidable slope of the banks, and for a lock-pit 165 feet by 40, with a rise of four feet, the quantity of excavation required for the longer cut cn D. E. will be about 16,230 cubic yards. For the cutting, entering at F. G., deepening the channel in front of the entrance, &c. 12,850 cubic yards To form a dam seventy feet in width, at the base fifteen feet high, with a tenfeet causeway along the top, 250 feet in length, will require a quantity of 5,500 yards of material, In consequence of the great rise of water during the spring-floods, it will be necessary to raise the walls of the lock to a height of twenty-four feet above the lower sill; the rise of water below the fall corresponding with that above, no pressure of water greater than that occasioned by the fall of four feet, need be provided against. This equally applies to the lock-gates and the dam across the channel. (signed) Henry Du Vernet. No. 66. LETTER from Major Du Vernet to Major General Darling, SIR, Montreal, January 10, 1828. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 5th instant, and, in reply, have to acquaint you, that my reason for not giving an Estimate, with a Report, on the Chûte à Blondeau, was, that so much depends on where the stone for the lock is procured, and how the rock to be excavated turns out, that I was fearful of not being within moderate bounds in stating the probable expense. The Regulating Lock at Grenville is nearly of the same size; but what it has cost. I cannot say, without going to Grenville, and examining the pay-lists and other Correspondence relative to the Canal Communi expenses, and even then I do not think I could find out exactly its cost. Captain Read, who had the immediate superintendence of its building, is of opinion, as well as cation in Canada, myself, that it cannot be reckoned at less than £. 4,000. There is no stone, that I have been able to discover, that will answer for the coins, sills, &c. except that at Mr. Mears' quarry, although I have searched during the last autumn in all directions; and the stone at the Chûte à Blondeau is pronounced by the stone-masons too hard to cut for ashler, all of which must therefore be brought from where I am now procuring it for the lower Locks of the Grenville Canal; and the expense of the transport will be very heavy, but in some degree compensated for by the backing being got immediately on the spot. In the spring, the distance to the Hawkesbury quarry is between nine and ten miles, and the sand must be brought about fourteen miles. So much depends on circumstances, that similar works may cost double in one situation what they would in another. If nicety is not required,. and I may be allowed to state the expense of the Lock at £.4,000, the excavation for the line D. E. 16,230 cubic yards of rock, at 5s. per yard, £.4,057. 10., the Estimate will be £.8,057. 10. For the second project, the Lock is the same, and the least, excavation 12,850 cubic yards, costing £. 3,212. 10., the difference, £. 845, reckoning upon the rock supplied from the excavation, I conceive will be barely adequate to the expense of the dam. It is therefore my opinion that the line D. E. is preferable, as being less liable to accidents, and perhaps will prove to be the least expensive. If this statement should not be satisfactory, on receiving your answer I will return to Grenville, and collect what further information I may be able with respect to the expense of the Lock, The rate at which I have estimated for the excavation, may appear high, when compared with the other works of this description; but, taking into consideration. the depth of the cutting, and the nature of the rock in which it is to be entirely carried. I do not consider the price I have stated as being more than it will cost in execution. If any thing is to be done at the Carillon Rapids, I should like to be allowed to clear the projected line, as it is difficult to form any opinion of the ground whilst covered with trees. The expense will be about £. 50, according to my former Estimate, but might not cost so much at present. I can undertake to carry on both works at the same time; the Grenville Canal being reduced to little more than building the Locks, and the Chûte à Blondeau, from its limits, not requiring many persons to superintend it. No. 67. STATEMENT of EXPENSES incurred in Canada on account of the Grenville Canal, from 25th May 1819 to 24th December 1828: extracted from the Record of the Offices of Accounts at Quebec, and Ordnance at Montreal. *All Stores for Upper Canada and the Ottawa River are forwarded from Montreal to La Chine ; but as the accounts for transport do not express the proportion intended for the latter, the 2mount of transport only includes the expenses incurred for conveyance from La Chine to Grenville. No. 68. DESPATCH from Secretary Sir George Murray to Lieut.-General SIR, Downing-street, 4th April 1829. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch of the 12th of February last, enclosing an Estimate for the completion of the Grenville Canal, and Plans and Estimates of the Canals proposed to overcome the obstructions to the navigation to the Ottawa at the Chûte à Blondeau and Carillon Rapids. I entirely approve of Major Du Vernet's suggestion, that those two Canals should be of somewhat diminished breadth, though of a sufficient width throughout to admit of the passage of a steam-boat of the largest class frequenting this navigation, with two "lay-by or passing places" for these boats. My despatch of the 5th January last will have informed you of the amount to be appropriated in the present year in carrying on the Canals in Canada; and provided Major Du Vernet confines his expenditure on the Grenville Canal and the Chûte à Blondeau and Carillon Rapids to the sum granted by Parliament for this service, viz. £. 32,213. 6. 8., I am not aware of any objection to the execution of a proportion of the work by contract. I have, &c. (signed) G. Murray. No. 69.-LETTER from R. W. Hay, Esq. to R. Byham, Esq. &c. &c. &c. SIR, Downing-street, 12th June 1829. I AM directed by Secretary Sir George Murray to transmit to you, for the information of the Master General and Board of Ordnance, a copy of a despatch which has been received from Lieut.-General Sir James Kempt, enclosing a letter which had been addressed to him by Lieut.-Colonel By, reporting the rupture of the dam on the Rideau Canal. I am, &c. (signed) R. W. Hay. No. 70.-DESPATCH from Lieut.-General Sir James Kempt to the SIR, I have the honour to be, Sir, James Kempt. No. 71.-LETTER from Lieut.-Colonel By to Lieut.-General Sir James Kempt, SIR, 1 &c. &c. &c. Royal Engineer's Office, Rideau Canal, IT is with the deepest regret I have to report for the information of your Excellency, that the dam at the Hog's Back failed on the morning of the 3d instant, and have the honour of enclosing a copy of my letter to General Mann on the subject, to which I beg to refer your Excellency for every information in my power to give relative to this unexpected and unfortunate occurrence. I have the honour to be, &c. (signed) John By, L' Col' R' Eng" Com', Rideau Canal. Correspondence relative to the Canal Communication in Canada. No. 70. 13 April. No. 72. |