UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA LIBRARIES Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from University of Florida, George A. Smathers Libraries http://www.archive.org/details/panamacanalrevie129pana / IN THIS ISSUE You and Executive Order 10988 £^teiZ( From Walla Walla to Panama Challenges of the Present Bridge Spectacular . _ Robert J. Fleming, Jr., Governor-President ifaFih, N. D. Christensen, Press Officer Connor, Publications Editor \\ I'. Leber, Lieutenant Governor Joseph Editorial Assistants: Will Arey Official Panama Canal Company Publication Eunice Richard and Tobi Bittel Panama Canal Information Officer Published Monthly at Balboa Heights, C. Z. William Burns, Official Photographer Printed at the Printing Plant, Mount Hope,Canal Zone On sale at all Panama Canal Service Centers, Retail Stores, and the Tivoli Guest House for 10 days after publication date at 5 cents each Subscriptions, $1 a year; mail and back copies, 10 cents each. Postal money orders made payable to the Panama Canal Company should be mailed to Box M. Balboa Heights, C. Z. Editorial Offices are located in the Administration Building. Balboa Heights. C. Z. Going Up and Over Thatcher Ferry Bridge Index THE HEAVIEST SINGLE LIFT scheduled during construction of Thatcher Fern- Bridge was completed successfully early in March, as the steel framework of the structure inched skyward from the side-of-channel piers toward its sweeping center crest. Needed: Water, Water, Water 3 Securely fastened to the main load block of the 300-foot boom of the barge-floated crane being used to lift truss members and Isthmian Visitors 5 other parts to the highest points of the bridge, the 98-ton mass of steel was lifted almost straight up to its assigned position, Program for Better Healt.._ 6 where the skilled men working for John F. Beasley Construction Co. bolted and pinned it securely into place. Local Unit of AAUP Chartered _ 7 The massive section, shown being fitted into place in the cover A New Era Ahead: Executive Order 10988. S photo, represented more than simply the heaviest single piece of superstructure to be lifted for the bridge. It also was the first Challenges of the Present- 11 major section of the tied-arch, suspended span which will swoop high above the waterway. (For additional striking photos of The Building of a Bridge- 12 construction work on the bridge, including one of the 98-ton section being tugged upward, see pages 12 and 13.) Sewing Circle in Cativa 14 As March ended, each day's work was visibly lessening the distance remaining to be spanned by the soaring crest of the The Long Arm of Friendship 15 bridge. Officials in charge of the project estimate that by mid-May the protruding ends of the bridge will have met and been fastened Payoff—for Suggestions and Superior together above the channel. Much work still will remain Performance- . 16 to be done after that, but from a visual standpoint most of it will be anticlimax. Interesting People 17 The S20 million bridge is scheduled for completion this fall Worth Knowing- - 18 and present plans call for it to be opened to traffic this fall. tons of steel which make up the supporting super- While the Anniversaries-. 20 structure of the bridge still are being moved into place, work is progressing on paving of the roadway which the bridge will Promotions and Transfers-- 21 carry across the Isthmian waterway. Simultaneously, work was moving forward on the widening Canal History 22 street which will lead to and I extension of the new 4-lane from the bridge on the east side of the channel. The new and Pop Makes the Rules 23 improved approach roadway is slated to be ready for use when 23 tin last yard of concrete on the bridge roadway, the final lighting Retirements- fixture, the finishing daub of paint, has been put in place and the Formal opening ceremonies completed. SI lipping 24 April 6. 1962 NEEDED: Water, Water, WATER Studies now being made to find best way to meet needs. Hydroelectric power generated at Madden causes no loss of water recent years, there have been brief ANY ISTHMIAN" NEWCOMER who Canal traffic of recent years and conse- In the use of water for and minor water shortages during extra- w atches the almost daily deluges of the quent increases in These have resulted in transits is causing fresh concern dry seasons. rainy season might find it difficult to ship for the temporary reductions in the allowable believe that lack of water ever would about future water requirements when Madden draft of transiting vessels. Even these become a problem here. But those first time since 1935, temporary limitations, minor as the few familiar with the Canal operation and Dam was completed. the almost rainless months of the dry But dry season use of hydroelectric generators at Gatun do result in loss. season recognize the very real and con- tinuing concern about the available supplv of water. Every complete lockage from one ocean to the other requires 52 million gallons of water, which is approxi- mately the same amount as an industrial Stateside city of 50,000 would use in a week's time. It is true that this amount of water, vast as it is. nevertheless is only the proverbial "drop in the bucket." compared to all the rainfall here. The gimmick that might trick the newcomer watching the rainy season weather is that there also is an annual dry season from January to May. Most of the water to be used during those months must be stored during the rainy season. It is this necessity for storing water during the rainy season to sustain Canal operations during the dry season that causes furrowed brows among Canal officials. At the present time. Canal storage facilities are capable of impounding somewhat less than one-fourth of the average available runoff. The increasing The Panama Canal Review . inches they involve may seem to lay- are scheduled for installation before the Deepening of the channel would men, often result in economic loss to beginning of next dry season, to at least add to the storage capability of the shippers and, consequently, the ulti- partially replace the electric power lake because it would permit the mate consumer, who must pay the needs now supplied by Gatun Hydro- minimum level of the lake to be reduced increased cost. For example: If the electric Station during dry seasons. below the present minimum of 82 feet. limitations force a vessel to reduce its Studies now are being made about pos- Each foot of additional reduction potential cargo from 30,000 tons to sible purchase of additional thermal would, of course, represent additional 28,000 tons, the per-ton shipping cost is generating units to further reduce the storage capability for the lake. increased by about 7 percent, inasmuch need for hydroelectric power generation The third means of increasing water as ship operating expenses remain at Gatun. available during the dry season—by virtually the same, regardless of the Conservation of Gatun Lake water creating additional reservoir storage- carried. amount of cargo bv eliminating its use for generating includes two major possibilities. One To enable the Canal to more ade- electricity during dry seasons would would be construction of a new dam on quately and continously serve the needs enable present water storage to provide die Chagres River above Madden Dam. of world shipping, three possible ave- for a minimum of 35 lockages daily, The other would be construction of a nues of action are being considered by approximately 5 more than present dam between an arm of Gatun Lake the Engineering and Construction Bu- requirements. Generation of electrical and the main body of the lake. Onlv reau to increase available water during power at Madden Hydroelectric Station the latter possibility, involving part of drv seasons. They are: would continue, because all water the existing Gatun Lake, is being 1. Conservation, during dry seasons, released for generating purposes there given serious consideration at the oi water stored in Madden and Catun flows into Gatun Lake, where it can present time. Lakes. be used for lockage purposes. Studies indicate that construction of 2. Increasing the storage capability Elimination of power generation at a dam across the so-called Trinidad arm of Catun Lake. Gatun is important from a water con- of Gatun Lake and raising the water servation standpoint because of the vast level behind it to a maximum of 98 3. Creation of additional reservoir feet, or 11 feet above the present maxi- storage. amount of water such power generation requires. To generate enough electri- mum level of the lake, would provide The most easily accomplished of the city at Gatun to operate 10, 2-ton air storage space for enough water to per- possibilities—greater conservation of conditioning units for a month takes mit 9 additional lockages per day dur- present water storage—already is far approximately the same amount of ing the drv season. Such a project also along in both planning and actual water as required bv a complete lock- would provide other benefits, including implementation. Chief among the age from ocean to ocean. Or, stated greater potential for hydroelectric' conservation measures are plans for another way, four families with monthly power generation. reducing and eventually eliminating Canal Zone electricity bills of $26.50 In addition to these three major pos- completely the generation of hydro- would, as a group, be using enough sibilities, studies also are being made electric power at Gatun, at least during water per month to provide for one relative to pumping large quantities of severe dry seasons.