‘Persia – especially Seistan’ [‎87r] (172/949)

9
(p
This gorge is an obligatory point on any railway from Kondi or its
neighbourhood to the coast, as it affords the only feasible route through the
outer barrier of the Kharan-Panjgur range.
My surveyor examined the Zurrat Tangi, one of the two defiles of the
Mashkhel River, and found it impracticable, owing to its lofty precipitous cliffs
and rapid windings (vide drawing attached).
He reported to the same effect of the Bibi Lori (or Maki) Tangi, a report
which I subsequently verified. The river is a series of zig-zags, its banks
rise steeply for several hundred feet, the strata are contorted in every direction
and crushed by the superincumbent weight of the mass above. The Korkian
Tangi to the east is longer and worse than the Palantak.
I may mention that the 4 miles—l" maps show the nullas about here
incorrectly; time did not permit of my correcting them. It may be added
indeed that in many important places, the hills and nullas are so sketchily
mapped that it is impossible to make the plan agree with the section. In such
cases where the report and section speak of a plain, while the line on the plan
is drawn through a hill, the latter may be regarded as imaginary.
With the exception of the descent down the Siri Kaur into Bela, and
perhaps of the tunnel and approaches at the Madak Pass, which will be described
hereafter, the five miles of the Palantak defile is the heaviest section of the line.
The grade is fairly; easy otherwise it is a Bolan Pass in miniature, but
narrower and more precipitous. Portunately the river is fairly straight, the
strata are hard and vertical, while rock appears all along the bed of the river.
Where, therefore, cuttings in the hillside would be costly, long stretches can
be built with a low retaining wall on surface foundations —vide sketch.
For mcc^cort
mrio WctCL-
The roadbed will be secure and free from slips whether in cutting or in
retaining wall. Possibly water may prove too scarce for anything, but a mini
mum of masonry, in which case retaining walls would be out of the question,
and even the bridges might with advantage be American steel trestles. In
ordinary seasons there is generally a trickle through the gorge, but in time of
drought the nearest permanent sources of supply are at Palantak, six miles
from its northern mouth, and at Palantak Thana at its southern end. The
accompanying traverse, on which, merely to fix ideas, a line has been
sketched, gives some impression of the character of the works.
It shows nine crossings of the river, four short tunnels, and ^ a mile of
retaining wall. It should, however, be clearly understood that the alignment
does not purport to be even approximately correct: in fact, it is much too
cheap in places for safety.
Beyond the Tangi the alignment continues to follow the Ladgasht-Panjgur
caravan road. The first six or seven miles are ordinary medium heavy line
in hilly country with considerable bridging in small spans. The ruling grade
through the gorge and up to this point is 1—70 to 1—80.
At the 7th mile from Palantak Thana the line crosses a watershed The boundary between adjacent drainage basins. among
the hills where a short tunnel and some expensive development in a basin
below the Kotal are necessary in order to obtain 1—50. Between this inter
mediate Kotal and the watershed The boundary between adjacent drainage basins. of the range at Dambodin, R. L. 4,040, the
grade is easy, but the earthwork and minor bridging will be heavy.
Dambodim is an awkward Kotal for the Railway Eagineer; long flat, and
unavoidable. A heavy cutting will be necessary through it, with possibly a
short tunnel or cut and cover towards Panjgur, in order to ease the descent
of the Sagari Sing nulla down which the alignment runs for miles.