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SECTION No. 13.

Distance, 5 miles 300 feet,

1 2-3 acres of clearing, at $18,
1 acre of grubbing, at $100,

1,259 cubic yards of rock excavation, at 65 cts.,
290,354 cubic yds. of earth excavation, at 13 cts.,
51,063 cubic yards of embankment, at 14 cts.,
175 feet of bridging, every thing included,
64 cubic yards of masonry for culverts,
1 road bridge, every thing included,
2 farm crossings, at $35,

30

100

818 35

37,746 02

7,148 82 8,746

128

448 00

70

Total cost of grading section No. 13,

$55,235 19

RECAPITULATION.

Total cost of grading, &c., section No. 1,

$83,582 76

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97,343 20

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107,545 32

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57,995 22

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53,440 70

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88,357 51

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74,642 54

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66,119 71

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35,811 45

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38,620 04

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49,242 80

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119,167 59

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55,285 19

Total cost,

Total cost of grading, &c., main line,

Superstructure, 78 miles, at $7,920 46 per mile,
Add for turnouts and contingencies, 10 per ct.,

Giving an average cost per mile, exclusive of the right of way, of $21,785 76 1-2.

Estimated cost of the line up the valley of the Presumpscot,

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with a maximum grade of 54 feet per mile, including grading, bridging, clearing, &c., and excluding the right of way: Length of line, 11 miles 370 feet. Total cost,

Estimated cost of that part of the main line embraced between the commencing and terminating points of the former,-Length, 10 miles 1400 feet,

Difference in favor of main line of

Estimated cost of the line west of Longley's, including grading, &c., and excluding the right of way,-Length 1 mile 4720 feet,

Estimated cost of that portion of the main line included between the commencing and terminating points of the former,-Length 1 mile 4549 feet,

Difference in favor of main line,

$204,428 50

202,929 15

$1,498 35

20,448 66

18,247 28

$2,201 38

From the information which was obtained and presented in the Report which I had the honor of submitting last June, on the various routes which were explored between Portland and Lake Champlain; and the facts which have been ascertained by the survey that has been made of that portion of the line situated within the bounds of Maine, and the trial level that was run from thence to the Connecticut river, it is manifest, that so far from there being any insuperable difficulty in the construction of a Rail Road, between the two important extreme termini, it can be done without encountering acclivities as great as those which have been adopted in the grades of several of the established lines that

have been completed in other States, and at an expense which will be much less, than has been there incurred. From these preliminary and indispensable elements, there cannot be a doubt of its being practicable to open a line of intercommunication between the commercial emporium of Maine and the vast region of the great Lakes, which is commensurate with the grandeur and cost of such a work.

The importance of establishing greater facilities of intercourse between the distant points of a State, as well as with other States, by roads, canals, railways, and the improvement of the navigation of rivers, has been so universally conceded and illustrated in the examples of not only the ancient and modern nations on the eastern continent, but by every State in the Union, that it may seem to be an act of supererogation to enter, at this time, into investigations for the purpose of confirming the correctness of a position which has been so generally assumed as correct, by the most enlightened governments which have ever existed, and which has been for the last half century, and now is, so zealously acted upon.

The unexampled prosperity of Great Britain since the close of the war of our revolution, in agriculture, navigation, commerce, manufactures, and all other branches of industry, is to be mainly attributed to the construction of the very best roads which exist in the world, cutting canals, laying down Railways,

and rendering the natural water courses and havens more accessible and safe for the transit of vessels and boats of all kinds. And this has been done in such extensive and diversified directions, that the whole Island has been traversed and intersected in such an ample manner as to afford every city, town, hamlet, and estate, as well as the proprietors of the innumerable iron, coal, copper, tin, and other mines, the means of a safe, cheap and rapid transportation of persons and an interchange of products of all kinds, both of a foreign and domestic character.

Although the area of the Island of Great Britain is only about a third greater than that of the States of New England, the aggregate length of the canals and Rail Roads of that Kingdom is 4,240 miles, while that of the immense number of well constructed roads, on which the science, talents and genius of a Telford, McAdam, and other eminent engineers, were exhausted with the increased extent of navigation, given to the numerous rivers, by the removal of obstructions, and other modes of rendering their capacities available for the purpose of transportation, is more than decuple that vast extent of line of artificial conveyance.

In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, there was not an Englishman in London who followed the exclusive business of an importer and exporter. That trade was almost entirely prosecuted by foreigners,

and even the coasting vessels were manned by foreign sailors; but so great has been the change, that the commercial fleet of Great Britain now amounts to over 25,000 sail; and in 1835 there entered the single port of London, 4,837; which with their cargoes were estimated at 1,261,447,500 dollars. As late as 1739, just one century from this time, not only all the linen and silk fabrics consumed in England, were imported from France, Holland and Germany, but nearly all the bar iron used was brought from Sweden, Denmark and Russia; and now there is one establishment in Wales, owned by a single individual by the name of Crozier, and who appropriately is called the iron king, where 75,000 tons of iron are annually made; and the whole product of the island has augmented to 1,400,000 tons.

If France has not evinced as much energy in the construction of like works of internal improvements, when the extent of her territory, and the large amount of her population are taken into consideration, still, since the reign of Louis XIV. down to the present period, their importance has never been lost of, by the government; and during the last thirty years, such has been the effort to equal, in this particular, the flourishing and long rival Kingdom on the other side of the channel, that the length of the canals and Rail Roads has increased to 3134 miles; and so many works of both kinds have been pro

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