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Supervising engineer Andrew Onderdonk brought in thousands of Chinese labourers from San Francisco and Kwangchow, China, to construct the Fraser Canyon section of the railway. In the canyon, rock crews carved roadbeds and blasted tunnels from the sheer cliffs above the river. Because the cliffs made it impossible to carry large drills down to the worksite, all blasting holes had to be hand drilled. While one worker held the drill in position, another hammered it to make a hole in the rock. The hole was then plugged with dynamite and a long fuse was lit. After the explosion, workers returned to remove the debris and lay the tracks. 27 tunnels from Kamloops to the Pacific were constructed using this laborious method. The Chinese had a reputation as tough, industrious workers. Because they were willing to work for lower wages than white navies, they saved Onderdonk millions of dollars but alienated the whites. Racial intolerance was common and Onderdonk himself made little effort to ensure the safety of Chinese labourers.
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