Show sic the AM army A ale 9 ar inie av ua lt it w 77 J ZI IU kv 11 11 aj CUT IN the PANAMA CANAL C I 1 M gg IM va X U 41 R bmw N va 1 I ta I 1 uk V v 4 p w XV 1 V W 5 1 X M WIL 1 DM by ELMO SCOTT WATSON the earliest days of 0 the lie ile in speaking or of some soine groat co construction st project to say that ith the army engineers built IV it has haa been equivalent to saying that here was a piece of 0 work accomplished with walh the utmost in clency economy anil tin honesty therefore during the last administration when it was proposed to transfer river and harbor improvement projects from rom the lie corps of engineers in tho the war department part ment to a division 0 of public works in nn an other executive department there was an all I 1 lin ill mediate protest from those who lind had the host best re reason son to know liow low valuable were the services of the army in ili this work and wit what at the result of such a transfer might ho be upon those very factors ot of econom economy ly 11 and honesty li to many americans rivers and harbors work la Is synonymous with pork barrel legislation by congress what they do not realize Is that for more than a quarter of a century the corps of engineers of the united states army has been bee a tho the watchdog which has kept rivers find and harbors lia arbors projects from being just that its board be ard of engineers on rivers and harbors functions ons as a sort of supreme court in waterway matters n in aters submitted to them by congress from juno 7 u n 0 13 1902 1002 to march 31 81 1028 this board of engineers has reported on 2377 waterway projects of these only reports were favorable as compared to 1072 1572 that were unfavorable in other words these army engineers turned down two out of every three projects submit ted to them and the degree of confidence which congress tins has in the integrity and judgment of the army engineers Is shown by the fact that during the last 10 years in less than halt half a dozen cases lias has congress authorized tho the projects upon which the board of engineers on rivers and a nd harbors had presented nn an adverse report perhaps one reason why tho the corps of engineers stands so high in the estimation of both government ollic lais and the public lies iles in the fact that tho the efficiency and tho the honesty of the army engineer engi tins haa become proverbial millions and millions of dollars of public money have been expended under their direction without tho the slightest breath of sen scandal tidal or question as ag to their ability and perhaps another reason for or this confidence lies iles in the close association of the corps of engineers with tho the united states military academy at west point where tho the motto Is duty honor country duty the bedrock upon which their character Is founded and their careers aro are built honor the barrier invisible but invincible which sets the tha bounds to their activities country that august godlike mistress to whose service their lives are dedicated and for whose safety they would lay down their lives in case of need tile the academy at west point was founded in 1802 as a school for engineers of the united states army it being the first engineering school in this country and from tho the beginning it has been those who have won lio honors nors the cream of the crop of new oft leers who have been given the privilege of entering tho the corps of engineers in the army so there tins has grown up a set of traditions and an esprit du corps that Is to duplicate anywhere in the world of tho the corps it tins has been said one of the most wonderful records in tho the history of df the tha human race Is that out of all the thousands of men who have served in the corps of engineers during its century of existence only one man has ever broken through that invisible barrier of honor the contribution of the corps to service covers a multiplicity of things filings mapping explorations pl orations and surveys public buildings and alt city engineering roads railways bridges siege works explosives camouflage and decorative arts engineering mechanical and elec dec 75 4 0 O ra 4 AM Z r rlyn 1 li 5 CF rca 1 1 1 1 N 1 THE LINCOLN 9 V hinahon aqueduct I 1 CABIN JOHN BMW washington MONUMENT UNDER construction IN 1867 engineering power plants field engineering seacoast sen coast defenses and shipping marine design and operation of boat linds ianda and waterways it would be ba impossible within the space of this article to list all of 0 the projects which stand as enduring monuments to the engineer corps ot of the army but here are some ot of their outstanding achievements tho the panama canal at first it was under the control ot of civilian engineers but the men who conquered which seemed almost insuperable anil and pushed through to a triumphant conclusion the alio greatest engineering project the world tins has ever seen were army engineers in tho the minds of 0 americans there will forever be a associated with the name of the panama canal the name of an army engineer col george W goethals who organized the work solved complicated engineering problems and problems of supply personnel and finance and completed the construction of the canal ahead of the esti mated time tho the work was organized in three divisions as a follows file atlantic division under sibert whore where was built the gatun galun dam the worlds largest earth dam and the gatun galun locks also the worlds largest the pacific division under williamson which included three locks locka of the same s iza but requiring less concrete and the central division under gaillard Gall lard elitch included tho the culebra now gaillard Gall lard cut the worlds largest single excavation I 1 the total cost of the panama canal was 37 the iho total amount of concrete placed was waa cubic yards the equivalent of a wall 8 feet high and 3 feet wide running clear across the continent from new york to sin san francisco tho the total excavation work was cubic yards another big job which the army engineers did and did with their accustomed thorough ness was in connection with the american expeditionary force in the world war under the leadership of langfitt taylor tailor patrick and jadwin hero here are some of tho the enormous eng engineering lineer problems of construct construction lon and supply which the corps was called upon to solve the building ot of miles of railways the construction of COO miles of light railways and the operation of 2000 more miles of 0 the same class the maintenance and repair rep clr of 1750 nilles miles of roads building and operating lumber mills producing ties poles cord wood and over board feet of lumber per day erection of barracks equivalent to miles and providing space for beds tn in hospitals of which miles of wards were new construction build ing storage warehouses covering tho the equivalent of COO acres under root roof building the equivalent of seven miles allies of berthing space for ships making improvements and additions to existing water bator sulp supplies lles and sewerage among which was a system supplying gallons ot of water per day receiving storing and issuing tons of engineer supplies the famous epitaph of sir christopher wren builder of st pauls cathedral might well be paraphrased tor for the corps of 0 engineers and the visitor to the national capital might well be told if you would see their monument look around you the city of washington was laid out by major lenfant of alib french engineers but it was surveyed by andrew ellicott professor of mathematics at west point and the development of tho the city plan was continued thereafter by army engineers one of them was 11 T L casey who in found tho the washington monument aw feet high and unfinished by civilians in charge lie he put a new foundation under tho existing mo monument num ent an intricate and difficult job albel albeit t and finished it to its full height of feet mt but the washington monument Is not tho the only work of the army engineers in washington the public buildings there which they constructed include the capitol the library Y of congress tho the government printing office the state war and navy building the pott post office building and the lincoln memorial moreover the water supply of washington gion the washington aqueduct was built and Is 13 now being operated under the direction of army engineers in the vicinity of washington are three arld bridges g es which are outstanding engineering accomplishments s it all built by this corps they are the cabin john bridge completed in 1855 by meigs which was the longest masonry arch bridge in the world single span feet for nearly 50 years the francis scott ney key bridge built in 1020 by tyler to replace the old aqueduct bridge connecting georgetown with virginia and the arlington memorial bridge which Is being constructed under the direction of 0 mehaffey which to la to cost and which will connect the mall with the virginia side leading to the arlington memorial the imprint of the army engineers Is strong upon both the highway find and railway systems of the country the famous old cumberland rond road from cumberland md bid to st louis the first national nation til highway was constructed and maintained by off officers leers of the corps of engineers from 1824 to tat 1840 the alaska road commission consisting of three army officers has constructed and maintained 1100 miles of wagon roads CW miles of roads and miles of trails mention of 0 river and harbor work nt at the beginning of 0 this alria article recalls the fact that this work was begun by the corps ot of engineers in 1824 when west point was the only engineering school in the country on this account and also because there was then no continuing civil service and because fortification construction was already an organized service of the army these works were put under the charge ot of army engineers from that time to this they have hare been in charge of the development of this work and up to the present time the investment of 0 the government in these projects Is over 1000 their upkeep requiring a yeah year the corps of engineers now lias has charge of harbors 1 91 rivers and 53 canals a 0 br western newspaper union |