DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE FLORIDA CANAL 413

nowhere be cut; that shallow farm wells adjacent to the canal may need to be
deepened; that vegetation and agriculture will be essentially unaffected even
locally; that, once the volume of the underground reservoir is adjusted to the
canal cut, water will always flow from the land into the canal; and that
municipal water supplies will not be seriously affected. Opinion was reserved,
pending further extensive investigations, in regard to the ultimate effect of the
canal cut on springs and lakes in the contiguous area and in regard to its effect
upon artesian pressure in the artesian basin extending eastward to the Atlantic
from the vicinity of Silver Springs.
 The estimated cost of the project is $143,000,000, exclusive of the cost of land,
which is being furnished by local interests, and interest during construction.
It is expected that the canal will be completed in 6 years at slightly less than the
estimate, if funds are made available to permit prosecution of the work to best
advantage.
 PM'BmNT AOrlvITY

 The authorization of the initial $5,000,000 specifically designated the following
 work: Clearing right-of-way, $500,000; housing, shops, and minor structures,
 $500,000; excavation, $3,500,000; bridge foundations, $500,000.
 Three days after announcement of the allotment, preliminary work commenced
 on the project. A site 2% miles south of Ocala, on the Diie Highway, was
 selected for the headquarters camp, and construction began immediately.
 Within 8 weeks from the start of work on September 6 more than 3,000 men were
 engaged in building offices, cottages, and the portable bunkhouse sections which
 were later erected in the six clearing camps established along the right-of-way
 between Palatka and Dunnellon. By November 16 the headquarters were com-
 pleted with 4 office buildings, 76 dwellings, 2 dormitories, a mess hall, necessary
 warehouses, minor structures, streets, and water, electrical and sewage systems.
 The clearing crews, which have averaged a total of approximately 1,000 men,
 are divided into companies of from 80 to 120 men each. Under the initial allot-
 ment these companies will clear 1,000 acres and clear and grub 964 additional
 acres.
 On September 19 the President set off a charge of dynamite, by telegraph
 from Hyde Park, N. Y., to make the official opening of excavation work. On
 the site of the blast, about 9 miles south of Ocala on the alinement, hired labor
 companies are excavating approximately 804000 cubic yards of overburden with
 mule teams and wheeled scrapers.
 Contracts were awarded in October for the excavation of 13,535,000 cubic
 yards of overburden at a total price of $2,98,979, the unusually high unit cost
 being the result of the stringent labor requirements of the emergency relief
 program. Using tractor scrapers, dragline, belt conveyors, a conveyor bridge,
 tractor wagons, an Industrial railway, and trucks, the contractors had moved
 8,075,000 yards by March 20, and are averaging about 90,000 cubic yards per day.
 This portion of the contract work is to be completed during June 1986. Nine
 camps for contractors' employees have been erected.
 A contract also has been awarded for the construction of foundations for the
 high-level highway bridge at Santos, and subsurface explorations for other
 bridge foundations are under way.
 Geological studies, surveys, and engineering planning are continuing for work
 to be undertaken as funds are made available. It is anticipated that several
 dredges of the type in use at Fort Peck, but slightly modified to meet local con-
 ditions, will be constructed at sites along the alinement and put in operation to
 remove underlying rock. Approximately 6,000 men are now at work on the
 project, and it is estimated that 20,000 will be employed at the peak of:
 operations.
 wUMPE umB TrrI

 The canal's main purpose is to reduce the costs and time of transportation
 between Gulf ports and ports of the Atlantic seaboard of the United States,
 Canada, and Europe, as well as Mediterranean ports of Europe, Asia, and Africa.
 Such reductions are of beneft to carriers using the canal and of direct and
 Indirect benefit to industry and commerce.
 Savings in time by use of the waterway are evident. For example, from New
 York to Galveston by way of the canal is 360 miles shorter than by passage
 through the Florida Straits; from New York to New Orleans, 394 miles.