ملف رقم ٣١٤٢ لسنة ١٩٠٣ "سكة حديد الحجاز" [و‎‎٧‎٩] (٤٨٨/١٦٤)

Distances of Stations
from—
No.
Name of Stations.
Haifa.
One another.
(I 1
Kilom.
Kilom.
w »
IS
14
Muserib, formerly meeting place for pilgrims' caravans.
Large bazaar. Village with about 800, which consists
of two parts. The island village Kom-el-Muserib is on
the site of the old and more important to\«’n in the midst
of a lake rich in fish. To the north lies the new village
Dekakim with the ruin of a Turkish castle Kal’at-ed-
Djedid. To the east is an old castle Kal at-el-Alika,
built by Sultan Selim I . .
Der’a. See main line
149* 1
160-9
11-8
+ 461 -60
+ 529-00
The branch line, like the main line, is built with a narrow gauge of f05 mefres.
The total length of the line is 161 kilom., of which 60 kilom. are on the I lam ot
Zezreeh, 30 kilom in the valley of the Jordan up to the Lake of Gennesaret, 60 kilom.
in the Jarmuk Yalley, and the remainder on the highlands of Hanran.
From Haifa (0 kilom.) the railway ascends to Afula (36 kilomJ 62 metres, and
from there to the Jordan Bridge (station Djisr-el-Medjami 76 kilom.) it falls to
- 246 metres. From here the railway rises again to - 187 metres at Samach
f87 kilom) on the sea of Gennesaret, and then enters the steep, deep cleft of tie
Jarmuk Yalley, where it overcomes the difficulties ^ its way by numerous bridges and
tunnels Near the station Muserib (149 kilom.) it attains the margin of the Hanran
Plain at a height of 462 metres, and finally, with a moderate rise, leads to Her a
JieTkilom ) He end of the railway, which is at a height of 529 metres (see sectional
natural that the carrying of the railway through the broken ground of the
narrow Jarmuk Valley, in conjunction with the steep gradient, have added greatly to
the ^ryfittle masonry work has been required as the greater
part of the route passes over the Plain of Jezreel, which is free of all obstacles From
Jordan on begin a great number of engineering works, which increase m numbei as the
railway penetrates into the Jarmuk Valley. Bridges, tunnels, and aqueduc s eie
fOU °'hTj^r1ariirf ifcrTsThy'a massive arched stone bridge, which makes an
excellent impression, in spite of its simplicity. Five arches of 12 metres width were
11606 Th/maxImum^rXit had been fixed at T Uo and the minimum radius for curves
at 125 metres save for some exceptional cases, when the radius might be reduced to
100 metres ’in order to accomplish the ascent of the Jarmuk ValW under these
coalitions it was found necessary, in the neighbourhood of the station Seisnu, to make
two loons into tributary valleys of the Jarmuk, and to cross the valley at lepeated
Joints This has been .lone by means of two bridges of 50 metres long four viaducts
with a middle arch of 50 metres, and two arches of 30 metres—these all constructed
of iron- and a number of viaducts with six to ten arches of 16 metres span, built of
St ° n ?T he last mentioned viaducts especially necessitated costly foundation works, and
the pumping of the foundation trenches could only be carried on with the aid of
loconiobdes.^ ^ ^ ^ extengive use of iron in the bridges over the Jarmuk
compared with those of the main line is to be found in the fact that they often had to
rS at a considerable height above the bed of the valley, and for these buddings
Jordan to Muserib is eighty-three, and on the
''''‘"'iGaSriiece^rylo build eight tunnels, which have a total length of about
1,10 Speckfattention had to be given to the drainage in the Jarmuk Valley There
•ire therefore in the section Jordan-Muserib alone 216 aqueducts and culverts, while
on tie section Haifa to the valley of the Jordan there are only fifty-six culverts.
[222?. cc—1]