,0^
IMAGE EVALUATrON
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
<5" c,
^^'
i
r\%'
*\V^S-
4;f Ms'.
CIHM/ICMH
Microfiche
Series.
CIHM/ICMH
Collection de
microfiches.
Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques
Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniquej et bibliographiquas
The Institute has attempted to obtain the best
original copy available for filming. Features of this
copy which may be bibliographically unique,
which may alter any of the images in the
reproduction, or which may significantly change
the usual method of filming, are checked below.
n
Coloured covers/
Couverture de couieur
I I Covers damaged/
Couverture endommagee
Covers restored and/or laminated/
Couverture restaur^e et/ou pelliculde
Cover title missing/
Le titre de couverture manque
Coloured maps/
Cartes g^ographiques en couieur
Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/
Encre de couieur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire)
Coloured plates and/or illustrations/
Planches et/ou illustrations en couieur
Bound with other material/
Ralid avec d'autres documents
□
D
D
Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion
along interior margin/
Lareliure serree peut causer de I'ombre ou de la
distorsion le long de la marge interieure
Blank leaves added during restoration may
appear within the text. Whenever possible, these
have been omitted from filming/
It se peut que certaines pages blanches ajoutdes
lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans io texte,
mais, lorsque cela dtait possible, ces pages n'ont
pas it6 filmdes.
Additional comments:/
Commentaires suppl^mentaires:
L'Institut a microfilme le meilleur exemplaire
qu'il lui a eti possible de se procurer. Les details
de cet exemplai'e qui sont peut-*tre uniques du
point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier
une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une
modification dans la m6thode normale de fi!mage
sont indiqu^s ci-dessous.
r~~| Coloured pages/
Pages de couieur
Pages damaged/
Pages endommag^es
□ Pages restored and/or laminated/
Pages restaurees et/ou pelliculees
t/
Pages discoloureci, stained or foxed/
Pages ddcolorees, tachetdes ou piquees
I I Papes detached/
Pages detachees
Showthrough/
Transparence
Quality of prin
Quality indgale de I'impression
Includes supplementary materie
Comprend du materiel supplementaire
Only edition available/
Seule Edition disponible
r~7] Showthrough/
I I Quality of print varies/
I I Includes supplementary material/
r~| Only edition available/
D
Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata
slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to
ensure the best possible image/
Les pages totalement ou partiellement
obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure,
etc., cnt 6te filmdes d nouveau de facon a
obtenir la meilleure image possible.
This item is filmed at the reduction rati(i checked below/
Ce document ea; film* au taux de reduction indiqu* ci-dessous.
10X 14X 18X 22X
12X
16X
20X
26X
30X
y
24X
28X
]
32X
re
letails
}s du
Tiodifier
ir une
iSmage
»s
The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks
to the generosity of:
Library of the Public
Archives of Canada
The images appearing here are the best quality
possible considering the condition and legibility
of the original copy and in keeping with the
filming contract specifications.
Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed
beginning with the front cover and ending on
the last page with a printed or illustrated impres-
sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All
other original copies are filmed beginning on the
first page with a printed or illustrated impres-
sion, and ending on the last page with a printed
or illustrated impression.
The last recorded frame on each microfiche
shall contain the symbol — »> (meaning "CON-
TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"),
whichever applies.
Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at
different reduction ratios. Those too large to be
entirely included in one exposure are filmed
beginning in the upper left hand corner, le^t to
right and top to bottom, as many frames as
required. The following diagrams illustrate the
method:
L'exemplaire film6 fut reproduit grdce d la
g^ndrositd de:
La bibliothdque des Archives
publiques du Canada
Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le
plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et
de la nettetd de l'exemplaire film6, et en
conformity avec les conditions du contrat de
filmage.
Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en
papier est imprimde sont filmds en commenpant
par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la
dernidre page qui comporte une empreinte
d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second
plat, selon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires
originaux sont filmds en commenpant par la
premidre page qui comporte une empreinte
d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par
la dernidre page qui comporte une telle
empreinte.
Un des symboles suivants apparaTtra sur la
dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon ie
cas: le symbols —*- signifie "A SUIVRE", le
symbols V signifie "FIN".
Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre
filmds d des taux de reduction diffdrents.
Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre
reproduit en un seul cliche, 11 est film6 d partir
de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite,
et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre
d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants
illustrent la mdthode.
irrata
to
pelure,
n a
3
32X
1
2
3
1
2
3
4
5
6
(All rightt raerved.
ADVANCE PttOOF—iSuhject to revisinti).
This proof is sent to you for discussion only, and on the express
understanding that it is not to be used for any other purpose what-
ever. — (See Sec. 47 q/ the ConitituHon).
^anadiaij ^ocietij of ^ioil Engineers.
INCORPORATED 1887.
TRANSACTIONS.
^f.B — This Society, as a body, does not hold itself responsible for the facts
and opinions stated in any of its publications.
BUILDING IIAILWA^S ACROSS PEAT HOGS OR
SWAMPS.
By I). A. Stewaut, M. Can. Soo. C. E.
In some parts of Canada lari;e areas of peal boi^s or .swamps are
mot with ; and when iocatini; lines for riiilwjya, the engineer frei]uently
has to carry the line over these, or avoid them by taking a line objec-
tionable in other wayn. and in some oases it may be impossiijle to avoid
them altogether. The following observations may be helpful to some
engineer who may have tj handle such work without iiaving had pre-
vious experience in ih.it way.
In building railways over such ground, the method of construction
will, in most eases, either bj to form a raft of some kind on which the
weight of the track and trains will 1 s it were, floated over the yield-
ing mass beneath, or to fill in hard muteiial until a solid bank is formed
from the bottom of tiie >wamp upwards. The use of timber trestles,
being intended usually iis only a temporary expedient, need not be con-
sidered here. If the swamp is at all deep the plan of filling in is both
expensive an^' uncertain, so tliat the tirst method should be adopted
whenever practicable, which will be the case almost always when the
grade line can be kept down close to the surface of the swamp.
When the swamp can be drained to a depth of from two to five feet, the
cheapest and most convenient plan will ^be to cut side ditches on both
sides of the road bed, with such off take drains as may be needed to
take the water out of the side ditches, and to use the material
taken out of the side ditches to make a light <'mbimkment. The
body of partially dried peat between the side ditches is then sufficient
to carry the liuht embankment with the track and trains In this way
railways have been carried over swamps so deep and soft that one man
could push a pole into the muck lor twenty feet or more, and pull it
out again. If the covorod on the sidcH :is well as nn the top with sand "i- graved us
sotm as pussiblo after tlic tr.irk is laid, to keep tiiem from t;ikins fire
iind biirninj,' away, ihc muck banks should not be made more than
twelve feet wide on top I'ni- a standard' ,;,'ange railway, so tiiat the (|uan-
tiiy ^ot ficm si.le ditches of the size mentioned above' will be ample to
fiirm the roadbed. It is usual to make the sides of the ditclies vertical
or nearly so, and they will stand in this way for many ytars without
iiiliing in, but it would be as wdi, if oul.s lor the sake of ippearaiieo, to
have theiri slopeii. U will prove true eoonouiy in the long run to be
liberal in the matter olort-take ditches. The light moss from tlic top
of the dilehes and roots and sticks found among the muck are fre-
nt into the bank, they should he burned for the sake of
appearance.
The berms .shonld not be left very wide, one and a half times the
depth of the side diteh plus five I'eet, measured from the slope stake to
the inside edge of the bottom of the ditch, woidd be a good rule in
most eases, uidess allowance is being made for a second track, in which
case the width of the roadbed should be added on one side to the above.
The objection to-wide berms is that the wei-lit of tlic bank causes the
inner side of the berm to sink lower than the outside, thus forming a
depression along the foot ol the slope in which water collects, forming
unsightly pools and softening tlie banks.
As the surfaces of such swamps are either level or slope gently, a sur-
face line will always give easy grades; and the grade lino should as
nearly as possible be a line parallel to the surface of the swiiinj), thus
making the side ditches of uuilorm size.
The swamp will settle as it is drained, and the bank as it becomes
consolidated, but in ordinary eases no attempt should be made to raise
them up to the original profile grades, the cost will be greater than any
gain, and the additional weight may even cause the bank to brc.k
through the crust.
When the swamj) is too wet to allow a bank to be made in this way,
and drainage cannot be got, and the grade line can be k.-pt close to the
ground, a raft may be made of logs or brush, or both, with enough peat
on top tti hold the track and keep the ballast from sifting through. In
this case it would be better to take the peat or muck from some dis-
tance outside the ('nds of the legs, as by cutting the skin of the swamp
clo.se to the road its bearing power would be dimini.shed. One tier of
logs shonld bo laid lengthways of the road, to help to diminish the un-
dulations (if the track under trains. The cross logs should be as Ion"
as can he conveniently got and handled, so as to distribute the weight
ovitr as wide an area as po.ssible , but then' is no gain in putting down
more than two or three tiers of logs, as tlie weight will tend to sink the
raft down, and the object is to carry the track over the crust of the
swamp without bceaking through. But when the cru>l of a soft swamp
has been broken, and the hole has to be filled up, if timber is plentiful
and convenient, it may be used simply as filling, and will have a cer-
tain advantage from its not being softened and ilissipated by the
water as earth or sand wimld he, and in deep bogs may form a sub-
merged rait capable of carrying ilu? required load.
.Sawdust has been used with success for filling low trestles on the
Wabigoou section of the Western division of the Canadian Pacific
Railway, both in eases where the banks had broken through the sur-
face and where greit cjuantities of gravel had been put, in, but without
bringing the bank as high as the original surface of the swamp, and
also in one case wliere no other fillinj- had been used and the .surface
\mi\ not been broken. In this case the trestle was about sis hundred
feet long and eight feet high, and soundings had bacn taken to a depth
ol'sixty Ibet without 6ndiiig firm bottom. The sawduat was spread
out to slopes of three to one to distribute the weight, and track ties
iwi!ivc feet long were used. Both top and slopes were covered with six
inches if gravel. The sawdust settled unequally, and a wutohnjao was
kept on for four months, iiud the track lifted and tamped oocasionally,
but after that t'r.-'e there was no farther trouble.
The eulveiis in such swamps should be made of wood, the banks
will usually be too low for ma.sonry culverts, and the foundattons
would be very expen.xive, pipes either of cast ir,,n orearth.-nware would
he liable to be broken or parted at the jointj by the movements of the
soil, while wood, if properly put together, would yield to aueh move-
ments without injury. Being always damp, or at least the lower pitrts
of them, they would last well, espocially if made of cedar, and the banks
being low, they could easily be replaced at any time.
The chief objection to rail\y.iys built in this way is the exoessivo
creeping of the rails, caused by the undulations of the track un ler trains.
To remedy this the use of cinder ballast and ties twelve feet long was
introduced on the Western division of the Canadian PaciUc Railway
by Mr. Whyto, the general superintendent, and these have been
succe.sslul to a considerable degree. The evil might be still further
lessened by the use of .stiffer rails.
When the bog is too soft to carry any embankment, however light
or the grade line cannot bo kept near i,..e surfaco, there will usually bo
no other way than to till in firm material until a solid bank is formed
from the bottom up. In making estimates for this, not only should
the bottom of the fill be assumed to be at the bottom of the soft material
instead of the surface, but large adilitions should be made to the
quantities so calculated, because the .soft material, being displaced by
th2 filling, will .slip out sideways and carry portions of the latter with it .
In many cases the division between the bog and the underlying
material will not be distinct, but the one will merge gradually into the
other, and in such cases the quantities of filling required will be
corres^-ondingly uncertain. The worst cases are usually where the soft
muck is underlaid by soft and slippery clay. It is a common practice
to get the track over such pi ices by using timber trestles, leaving the
permanent work to be donclater; but '.fhen this is done, careful sound-
ings should be taken and the method of doing the pernianoiit work and
its probable cost fully considered. This nii,'ht not seldom result in the
adoption of some other line, or a chacge of grades, which though more
costly iu the first place would be very much cheaper in the long run iia
well as safer. It should be kept in mind that the uUing of these tres-
ties is often lift until the traffic over the road is large, then not only
will the work of filling be delayed by the traffic, but the latter will also
be hindered or possibly interrupted for days together by the accidents
which are almost sure to happen in the course of filling high trestles
over soft ground, in spite of all the care and precautions that can be
taken, and in addition to these delays there will be the cost of main-
taining the trestles in a passable condition, perhaps even of rebuilding
them. If all these things were taken into account, it would often be
found to be really cheaper to take heavy rock work than to make high
fills through these bogs ; this will be understood when it is borne in mind
that rock increases in bulk when broken up, that it will not take flatter
slopes for being wet, as is the case with earth filling, and will not be
.so readily carried away by the movement of the soft material as would
sand or gravel. Besides, in many cases a rock embankment would
avoid the need tor a culvert.
But when it has been decided to cross any snoh soft ground at a high
level by means of trestle work, to be filled in afterwards, the per.
3
raanont structure, if any roquirod for the passaj^e of water, slioiild be
-o witli its proper
location ai.d construction aftorwar.js. in noiilcct of tliis it often Imp-
pena Iha', the rim of firm uronnn nt the ,.d;;c of the bo^' is filled over
by the niaierial from euitin-;.* on both sides, miilciii;;- the foundations
of the permanent si ruetun^ a matter of great difficulty un.! expense.
«uch ho-s are often buiin.hMl l,y loelcy fid-es; ;.nd wiioii these are sO
shaped that tunnels la,- tlio passnue of the wator "an I..' driven tliroujjh
them without beinji too long, tliey uiay be cheaper as well a- more
secure than ma>uiiry euiv'cri;s ; tiic enniparison will drp.^nd ,.|iieHy on
tho respective len-tlis of the culvert and the tunn.l and the size of the
openin- required. lUit tiiis (|U(stion should be decided before the site
of the proposed tunnel is cov.Ted over, the tunnel sliould be located,
test pits duit or borings made, and tlic r.'sults left on record, otherwiso
it may be difficult afterwards to ascertain whether the rock is suitable
fir a tnnnel or not. If a stream tunnel is not possible or suitable,
the culvert will, of enurse, ir at all josMbJe, bo placed on Hrm .irround,'
beyond any danjrer of movement ; il this is not possible, it would per'.
haps bn b.'tter to build it "tron-ly of wood, makiiii;; it so lar-e that a
pipe or brick culvert lar^'i' eiioiij,di to earry i he water can be built itiside
it after the bank lias done srttlin,'. Som.'linies a platform of |oi.'s is
used under ilie fill ; but il the fill i. at all heavy, this is not of any use
as it will hebioken uporsunk, andin any case will count (miy as so
uiucli filluiL', when it will seldom hi' as cheap as u'ravel, and will ipake
it more difficult to keep the trestle in shajie.
If clean, coarse urav fill sh.jies steeply, if tho fillino j.,
ploui:hed off iinit'ormiy over the leiiglii (d' the tresti", it is apt to .slide
towards the middle ot the trestle, .and so crowd the bents ; this nuiy
be prevented to sowe c.Ntcnt by filling from the middle towards both
ends. In such w.ay.s, by cairiul watching and distribution of the
fillinir, much may be done to preseiTo the tre.~tle in a pa.ssable condition,
butiu i;ll bad eases, a bridge crew - .mhl be kept on the work, and
plenty of material lor repairs should be kejit on the ground.' It
will bo an .■Klvantage to have as many as possible of the men working
at the all boarded i lo.s.. by, and arrangements shoul.l be made so tha't
additional men can lie ^ot and aeconuuodated, and ample material and
tools procured at short notice in case of craoraeney.
The objections to undertaking heavy Hlls across soft bogs, and the
precautions that should betaken when such work has lo be done,
noted above, apply cvn mor.. strongly to t!,e case of ponds or lakes'
with soft and muddy bntton.s. wldch may be considered as bogs with
their surfaces covered to a greater or less depth with water. Th^e most
valiucblo assistance the engineer can have will be a few good men who
have had some experience on similar w(u-k.
4