Chapter 720 Lake Eyre Canal Project

In the next period of time, the biggest news in the United States should be where a new country has been established.

After the establishment of the two kingdoms was handed over to the government, Arthur was free again.

As time entered 1929, the world situation changed dramatically.

At present, it should be able to win a short-term stability, and Arthur also set his sights on construction during the economic crisis.

Yes, although Australasia has not suffered much impact in the economic crisis, construction during the economic crisis cannot be stopped.

Only by continuously launching large-scale construction can more white immigrants from Europe and America be attracted to fill the population of Australasia.

Of course, with the population exceeding 36 million, Australasia's demand for population is not so intense.

The impact is that the immigration department's review of immigrants is more stringent, and the probation period that immigrants need to go through has been extended from three months to six months to six months to one year.

This also means that even immigrants with good performance will have to wait for half a year at the earliest to obtain Australasia's nationality.

Those who fail to pass the immigration review or probation period will be forcibly deported and will not be allowed to apply for immigration within three years.

This is also to prevent other countries from sending intelligence workers to Australasia in large numbers.

Although the world situation seems peaceful, the spies and intelligence work in the dark have been fighting fiercely.

The Australasia intelligence department captures and examines at least hundreds of intelligence workers every year. Their best fate is to be repatriated and permanently banned from entering Australasia.

As for those who are discovered during intelligence work, they will basically be executed on the spot by the intelligence agency.

This is also tacitly agreed by all countries. After being discovered, intelligence personnel can only be disposed of by others.

Under the premise that it is not possible to openly admit to sending intelligence workers, sacrificing the interests of intelligence personnel to protect the reputation of the country is the best outcome.

The war is over, and the several constructions that Arthur decided before can finally start.

In fact, since the beginning of the economic crisis, Australasia has started several relatively large construction projects and has made good progress.

And the large construction that Arthur is talking about now is naturally a larger project than before.

The first project to be decided is the plan to build a canal connecting Lake Eyre to the ocean.

To be honest, even Arthur had to make up his mind for a long time before launching this canal plan, and Arthur was not sure whether the Lake Eyre Canal plan would eventually be a complete success.

Because even in later generations, there was no precedent for a large canal like the Lake Eyre Canal that connects inland lakes and oceans, and no one knew whether such a canal could be successful.

After all, the canal's main function is to save time on the road, as well as shipping and sea transportation.

But the Lake Eyre Canal's main function is to fill Lake Eyre with water, irrigate and moisten the entire Great Artesian Basin.

The benefit of doing so is that there is a high probability that the Great Artesian Basin will be activated, allowing Australasia to obtain a huge green basin with an area of ​​millions of square kilometers.

As long as the canal plan is successful, the entire eastern part of Australia will become a habitable area, and the population capacity of Australia alone will be increased to 200 to 300 million people.

Of course, such a large canal plan must be investigated for a long time before the project is launched.

Long before the outbreak of the economic crisis, the cabinet government had considered the construction plan of the Lake Eyre Canal.

But such a huge project must be approved by Arthur before it can be started, because no one can bear the consequences of the project's failure.

After careful consideration, Arthur decided to start the construction of the Lake Eyre Canal.

With Arthur's high reputation, even if there is not much result after the construction of the canal in the future, it will not cause public dissatisfaction.

If the government is allowed to promote it, the result will be good, but if it has no effect, I am afraid that the people will directly ask the parliament to dismiss the government on the pretext of wasting money and labor.

The reason why Arthur is determined to promote the Lake Eyre Canal plan is that the Lake Eyre Canal is likely to activate the entire Great Artesian Basin, and the unique nature of Lake Eyre.

From the topographic map, it can be seen that the Lake Eyre Canal is definitely the heart of the central plains of Australia and a very important source of water resources for the entire Great Artesian Basin.

This inland lake, known as the heart of death, is not completely dead.

According to records of Lake Eyre, the water in Lake Eyre will be abundant 3 to 4 times every 100 years on average.

It is the water of Lake Eyre that can only be encountered once every 20 years or so that the environment around Lake Eyre is not too bad.

Especially 100 years ago, the Great Artesian Basin had not completely drained away the water, and the area around Lake Eyre had not completely become desertified.

Another very important reason is that Lake Eyre itself is a saline lake, so there is no need to worry about the impact of the inflow of seawater on the environment around Lake Eyre.

Seawater cannot actually moisten the land because the salt content in seawater is too high and can even affect the growth of plants.

But the environment of Lake Eyre is quite special, and the salt content in the water of Lake Eyre is even much higher than that of seawater.

Even such a high salt content has not affected the growth of plants, which is why Arthur is optimistic that Lake Eyre will be revitalized after the canal connects to the seawater.

Then the question is, a lake near the edge of the Great Artesian Basin, why is it said to be the heart of the entire Great Artesian Basin?

In fact, the real reason why Lake Eyre was formed is that many rivers flow into Lake Eyre.

However, due to the large number of desert areas in western Australia, the evaporation of Lake Eyre's water far exceeds that of other inland lakes.

Some rivers have even evaporated halfway before they flow to Lake Eyre.

If Lake Eyre can have abundant water resources all year round, the higher temperature will quickly evaporate the water, and then turn the water vapor into rainwater that the entire Great Artesian Basin urgently needs, giving back to the basin that has lost too much water resources.

There are two monsoon wind directions in Australia, one is the southeast wind that is more in winter, and the other is the northwest wind that is more in summer.

In terms of the geographical location of Lake Eyre, if Lake Eyre can be filled with seawater, it can even benefit the southeastern region of Australia, and it can also make the Murray River Basin, which is currently being vigorously built by the government, more water resources.

With so many benefits, some risks and disadvantages can be fully borne.

Under Arthur's order, the Lake Eyre Canal Project was officially launched on January 21, 1929.

The entire canal project will be divided into three sections, namely the ten-kilometer-long northern canal connecting the north and south Lake Eyre, the central canal connecting the south Lake Eyre and Lake Torrens, and the southern canal connecting Lake Torrens and Spencer Bay.

Among them, the northern canal has the shortest mileage, with an estimated length of about 9 to 10 kilometers. The central canal is the longest, with an estimated length of 70 to 75 kilometers. The southern canal is in the middle, with an estimated length of 60 to 65 kilometers.

The total length of the sections that need to be dug for the canal is less than 150 kilometers, which is longer than the Kiel Canal built by the Germans, but much shorter than the Suez Canal connecting the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean.

Because the terrain of Lake Eyre is lower than the ocean, this also means that the construction of the canal is easy to complete. As long as the canal is completed, no other auxiliary facilities are needed, and seawater can naturally flow into Lake Eyre.

After determining the estimated length of the canal, the next thing to be determined is the width of the canal.

Although shipping will be opened after the canal is completed, it is mostly used to transport mineral resources in the central part of the country.

This also means that the demand for shipping in the Lake Eyre Canal is not high, and the width and depth of the canal naturally do not need to be as large as the Suez Canal.

After comprehensive surveys and designs by the geographical survey department, the construction of the entire Lake Eyre Canal will mostly refer to the Kiel Canal in Germany.

This also means that the width of the Lake Eyre Canal (the width of the canal bottom) will remain at 44 meters, with a water depth of 11 meters, and can accommodate ships under 50,000 tons.

According to estimates by various departments, the entire canal is expected to cost 700 million Australian dollars and take at least 8 years to build.

This is also the reason why the cabinet government dare not promote the canal construction plan. After all, no one dares to guarantee that he will still sit on the cabinet throne in eight years. This kind of behavior of taking risks for others is not what a qualified politician should promote.

Of course, it doesn't matter to Arthur. Anyway, the only person sitting on the throne is Arthur or Arthur's son. It is always the royal family that bears the fruits of success or the responsibility of failure.

700 million Australian dollars is just a preliminary estimate, and the actual situation will not be known until the construction of the canal begins.

Although the government can afford this money, it is certainly impossible to put all the money on the canal.

After thinking about it, the government decided to issue canal bonds and raise some funds from the private sector to start the construction of the canal.

At the same time, the entire section of the canal will be divided into large and small projects, and strive to be able to bid and contract them out.

The issuance of canal bonds has started at the end of January. It is expected to be issued for one month, and as much funds as can be raised will be raised.

However, the fund-raising situation greatly exceeded Arthur's expectations. In one month, nearly 200 million Australian dollars were raised.

This also means that in this month, most of the funds needed for the construction of the canal have been raised.

Although these bonds will have to be repaid later, the money for repayment can be deducted from the canal tolls.

In the future, most of the cargo ships that pass through the canal will be factory cargo ships, and the tolls for each trip are not small figures.

I believe that even if the Lake Eyre Canal cannot become a rare and extremely busy transportation artery like the Kiel Canal in Germany, it can still become a channel connecting central and southern Australia, transporting more minerals to the developed southern regions, and then making them into industrial products and exporting them to other countries.

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