Show BIG ENGINEERING PROJECTS OF 1931 Commer- Commer Commercial I Many Changes in Commer Cammer- Commercial cial Geography of VI World arId II Washington Washington Important Important o engineering projects of ot 1931 wrought many ln h ls l's In the commercial geography nf of th the 1 world according to a bulletin from rum th the MIC National Geographic society reviewing re re lowing the ilu outstanding construction accomplishments of or the year The year saw w the greatest highway construction program In the history of the United the bulletin States says S 1 because of ot a 1 liberal e expenditure polIcy pol Ic Icy by hy federal state and local gay gay- cov- cov ov More rore than miles of federal aid highways hl hwn's alone were under un tier der con construction at nt n cost of over a third of a n billion dollars Cuba Cuha contributed the mo most mast t spectacular spectacular spec spec- single high highway It project of th the V year Rr when whon In February she threw w I open for tor use the tulle mile paved motor road rand extending from end to end of the Island At Washington ton th the United States Slates Slates' government brought almost t to completion comple ion tion a n model modern automobile road I built hullt In pr preparation fur for the hi bl centen i aloe c celebration of be the birth of neon e WR Washington hl It I Is the Mount Vernon Memorial highway extending from the National Capital to the home of the first President wide The Mount Vernon roadway Is enough for tor four lanes nf or and Is Isto Isto isto to have hn on each side pu parked ked strips of ot lawn flower lower beds and shrubs No road rond however unimportant Is permitted to cross the highway blind The least ImP Important rods roads hn have e staggered cr cross cress ss Ings InItH Others mu must t cross crass between safety Islands The Important cross crossroads crossroads crossroads roads are carried over the highway on ornamental viaducts Hudson River Bridge o. o Tire Tho The most notable engineering event of ot the he year was the completion In Oc Oc- t ber of ot the George Washington Memorial Me Me- Memorial morial bridge across the Hudson river between New v Jersey and Manhattan Leland Island This bridge with a span of WO feet teet Is la the longest suspension bridge In the world Only a few weeks later Inter the near by Rill Kill Van Kull bridge between n New Jersey and Staten Island was completed the longest steel arch bridge In the world Its len length th 2 feet one Inch exceeds by two feet one Inch the len length th of the arch In the Sydney IJ Harbor bridge Australia also virtually completed In 1931 In In Africa a new combined highway and railway bridge e was put Into operation operation opera opera- I tion In Jn Uganda across the Nile near the rivers river point of or Issue from Lake Victoria As a n result of ot this completion completion comple comple- tion the first railway train entered Kampala one of ot the leading cities clUes of ofU U Uganda I The outstanding canal completion of ot the year yenT was that of ot the New Welland canal In Canada between Port Colborne on Lake Erie and Port Weller on nn T Lake Ontario At one point the Welland river Is siphoned under the canalIn canaLIn canal canalIn In November the Panama canal was t temporarily closed by the first t major landslide of ot the year The Thc slide was U quickly red cleared away I Work was be begun un on the huge hue Hoover Hoo- Hoo I ver vcr dam project on the Colorado river I I near r Las Ye Vegas ns Nov Nev Numerous j lams Jams were completed Including a R wn- wn j dam near Calgary nry Can Cnn the j Ha Bagnall n dam dum on the Osage c river In J Missouri the Saluda dam near Colum i t bio hi S. S C C. and the dam clam near J Los Tos Angeles j I Important railway construction probably led all other engineering 1 t activities In wide distribution throughout through through- h. h t tout i l out the world Of Ot great sl significance ulf cance waR wan the building of a n railway section In Belgian Congo ConJo which made It possible pos pos- I sible Ible for the first time for tor passengers and freight to move by hy rail across j I Africa from on nn the Atlantic to Beira on the Indian ocean The tine line J I opened up rich copper mine areas In Katanga Belgian Congo Conso and In northern northern north north- i ern Rhodesia Bermuda Gets First Railway One of ot the most Interesting hits of railway building was In the Islands where a line 20 O miles Ion lone Ioni was WI opened to traffic It I Is the first I railway to be built In this old i colony Legislation has hns her heretofore I prohibited railways In these islands In In the Malay peninsula n a railway wits was opened along the east cast coast I establishing communication between I Singapore and the border of Siam's long southern tall Of Immediate economic Interest l was waR the opening for tor grain shipments shipment I for tor the first Arst t sensor season of the railway from Canadas Canada's we western tl rn wheat wheal region to Churchill on Hudson ha bay O Of gen gel geographic graphic Interest with economic re result to follow later was ryas the virtual northern On Ontario ion of a railway through tario tarlo to the southern extremity of Hud Hudson son flay Bay at Moose Factory Rails Ralls were pushed ahead steadily adding to the worlds world's railway mileage e eIn In such widely scattered regions n as 15 Finland Brazil Turkey Turl ry the Philip pines Nova Scotia Argentina I AI Algeria Colombia Manchuria Japan and dor dol In th the United States an nn Important link was built In southwestern tern Penn Ienn I a iI cutoff from rain the southwest I corner of ot Kansas Into New Mexico J I In the T Texas Panhandle In northern California and In n a number of other West Western rn states A short but Important Important Im Im- line was built In southern Nevada connecting the site of tI the Hoover dam with existing railways In the tho Netherlands the first polder of the vast t Zu-der Zu ee reclamation project was put Into use These Ol acres acre were reclaimed from trum the tit sea after after aft er pi slurp I |