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TEHUANTEPEC

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Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 507 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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TEHUANTEPEC , an See also:

isthmus of See also:Mexico lying between the Gulfs of See also:Campeche (Campeachy) and Tehuantepec, with the Mexican states of See also:Tabasco and See also:Chiapas on the E., and See also:Vera Cruz and See also:Oaxaca on the W. It includes that See also:part of Mexico lying between the 94th and 96th meridians of W. See also:longitude, or the See also:south-eastern parts of Vera Cruz and Oaxaca, with perhaps small districts of Chiapas and Tabasco. It is 125 M. across at its narrowest part from gulf to gulf, or 12o m. to the See also:head of See also:Laguna See also:Superior on the Pacific See also:coast. The Sierra Madre breaks down at this point into a broad, See also:plateau-like See also:ridge, whose See also:elevation, at the highest point reached by the Tehuantepec railway (Chivela Pass) is 735 ft. The See also:northern See also:side of the isthmus is swampy and densely covered with See also:jungle, which has been a greater obstacle to railway construction than the grades in See also:crossing the sierra. The whole region is hot and malarial, except the open elevations where the winds from the Pacific render it comparatively cool and healthful. The See also:annual rainfall on the See also:Atlantic or northern slope is 156 in. (Enock) and the maximum temperature about 95° in the shade. The Pacific slope has a See also:light rainfall and dryer See also:climate. Since the days of See also:Cortes, the Tehuantepec isthmus has been considered a favourable route, first for an interoceanic See also:canal, and then for an interoceanic railway. Its proximity to the See also:axis of See also:international See also:trade gives it some See also:advantage over the See also:Panama route, which is counterbalanced by the narrower width of the latter. When the See also:great cost of a canal across the isthmus compelled See also:engineers and capitalists to give it up as impracticable, See also:James B.

See also:

Eads proposed to construct a quadruple track See also:ship-railway, and the See also:scheme received serious See also:attention for some See also:time. Then came projects for an See also:ordinary railway, and several concessions were granted by the Mexican See also:government for this purpose from 1857 to 1882. In the last-named See also:year the Mexican government resolved to undertake the enter-prise on its own See also:account, and entered into contracts with a prominent Mexican contractor for the See also:work. In 1888 this See also:contract was rescinded, after 67 m. of road had been completed. The next contract was fruitless through the See also:death of the contractor, and the third failed to See also:complete the work within the sum specified (£2,700,000). This was in 1893, and 37 M. remained to be built. A See also:fourth contract resulted in the completion of the See also:line from coast to coast in 1894i when it was found that the terminal ports were deficient in facilities and the road too light for heavy See also:traffic. The government then entered into a contract with the See also:London See also:firm of contractors of S. See also:Pearson & Son, Ltd., who had constructed the drainage See also:works of the valley of Mexico and the new See also:port works of Vera Cruz, to rebuild the line and construct terminal ports at Coatzacoalcos, on the Gulf coast, and See also:Salina Cruz, on the Pacific side. The work was done for account of the Mexican government. Work began on the 16th of See also:December 1899, and was finished to a point where its formal opening for traffic was possible in See also:January 1907. The railway is 192 m. See also:long, with a See also:branch of 18 m. between Juile and See also:San Juan Evangelista.

The minimum See also:

depth at See also:low See also:water in both ports is 33 ft., and an extensive See also:system of quays and railway tracks at both terminals affords ample facilities for the expeditious handling of heavy cargoes. The See also:general offices, shops, See also:hospital, &c., are located at Rincon See also:Antonio, at the entrance to the Chivela Pass, where the temperature is cool and healthful conditions prevail. At See also:Santa Lucrecia, 209 m, from Salina Cruz, connexion is made with the Vera Cruz & Pacific railway (a government line), 213 M. to See also:Cordova and 311 M. to Mexico See also:city.

End of Article: TEHUANTEPEC

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TEHUANTEPEC (from tecuani-tepec—" jaguar-hill ")

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