It would probably require the removal of another 100,000,000 cubic yards to bring the present cut down to sea level. Digging at Culebra began on January 22, 1881. The International Board of Consulting Engineers had mistakenly decided that the rock would be stable at a height of 73.5 metres (241 ft) with a slope of 1 in 1.5; in practice, the rock began to collapse from that slope at a height of only 19.5 metres (64 ft). It would cover almost half of the rail miles, 29 airports, and almost all ports in the Gulf Coast area.
The French had excavated some 14,256,000 cubic metres (18,646,000 cu yd) of material from the cut, and had lowered the summit from 64 metres (210 ft) above sea level to 59 metres (193 ft), over a relatively narrow width.The United States took over on May 4, 1904. Goethals shifted priority to excavation of the Culebra Cut, making it a 24-hour operation. What is the length of Culebra or Gaillard Cut? The excavation of the Culebra Cut was begun by a French venture, led by Ferdinand de Lesseps, which was attempting to build a sea-level canal between the oceans, with a bottom width of 22 metres (72 ft). …
The initial crack was first noted on October 4, 1907, followed by the mass wasting of about 382,000 cubic metres (500,000 cu yd) of clay. Digging at Culebra began on January 22, 1881. The clay was too soft to be excavated by the steam shovels, and it was therefore largely removed by sluicing it with water from a high level.The excavation of the cut was one of the greatest areas of uncertainty in the creation of the canal, due to the unpredicted large landslides.
Strain softening of the underlying shale layers of sedimentary units caused continuation of sliding as the strength of the slide post-failure was reduced.After this, the sediment in the upper levels of the cut was removed, resulting in less weight over the weak strata. Here, men and machines labored to conquer the 8.75-mile stretch extending through the Continental Divide from Gamboa on the Chagres River at the north to Pedro Miguel on the south. Gaillard (Culebra) Cut begins at Gamboa and passes through the Continental Divide.
As many as 6,000 men were at work on the cut at any given time. Lake Gatun covers an area of 163.38 square miles and was formed by the construction of an earthen dam across the Chagres River which runs northward toward the Caribbean Sea. Most of this densely populated area lies less than 10 feet above sea level, according to the National Hurricane Center. A combination of disease, underestimation of the problem, and financial difficulties led to the collapse of the French effort, which was bought out by the United States in 1904.
The channel through the cut has an average depth of about 43 feet (13 metres) and extends some 8 miles (13 km) to the Pedro Miguel Locks. The cut forms part of the Panama Canal, linking Gatun Lake, and thereby the Atlantic Ocean, to the Gulf of Panama and hence the Pacific Ocean. A 23-foot storm surge would flood 67% of U.S. interstates, including 57% of arterial highways.
Culebra Cut was the “special wonder” of the canal. This slide caused many people to suggest the construction of the Panama Canal would be impossible; Gaillard described the slides as tropical glaciers, made of mud instead of ice. In a typical day, 160 trainloads of material were hauled away from a cut 14 kilometres (9 mi). The lowest point in the saddle between Gold Hill on the east and Contractors Hill on the west was at elevation 333.5 feet above sea level. The Americans had lowered the summit of the cut from 59 metres (194 ft) to 12 metres (39 ft) above sea level, at the same time widening it considerably, and they had excavated over 76 million cubic metres (100 million cubic yards) of material. Four different types of slides 1) Gravity, 2) Structural, 3) Deformation and 4) Combination. Three major slide areas 1) East Culebra, 2) West Culebra and 3) Cucaracha. The Culebra Cut in December 1904, after the French handover. Dozens of spoils trains took the spoil from the shovels to the landfill dumps, about 19 kilometres (12 mi) away. Worst of the slides occurred in 1912 in front of the town of Culebra, West bank of the cut. The excavation of the Culebra Cut was begun by a French venture, led by Ferdinand de Lesseps, which was attempting to build a sea-level canal between the oceans, with a bottom width of 22 meters (72 ft).