follows the course of the Eider to near Willenbergen, when it leaves
that river and turns southward to join the Elbe at Brunsbuttel, about
forty miles below Hamburg. The canal is 61 miles long, 200 ft. wide at
the surface, and 85 ft. at the bottom, the depth of water being 28 ft.
The surface of the water in the two seas being level, no locks are
required; sluices or floodgates only being provided where it enters
the Eider and at its termination. The country being generally level
there are no engineering difficulties to contend with, except a boggy
portion near the Elbe; the ground to be removed is chiefly sandy loam.
Four railways cross the canal and two main roads, and these will be
carried across on swing bridges. The cost is estimated at £8,000,000.
About six thousand men are employed on the works, principally Italians
and Swiss.--_The Engineer._

* * * * *




THE KIOTO-FU CANAL, IN JAPAN.


Japan is already traversed by a system of railways, and its population
is entering more and more into the footsteps of western civilization.
This movement, a consequence of the revolution of 1868, is extending
to the public works of every kind, for while the first railway lines
were being continued, there was in the course of excavation (among
other canals) a navigable canal designed to connect Lake Biwa and the
Bay of Osaka, upon which is situated Kioto, the ancient capital of
Japan.