APPENDIX S S.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER COMMISSION.

PRELIMINARY REPORT.*

T~E MISSISSIPPI RIVER COMMISSION, PRESIDEN1."S OFFICE, ARMY BUILDING, .

33 WEST IJOUS1.'ON STREET,

New York, March 6, 1880.

SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith a preliminary or partial

report of the Mississippi River Commission. It is expected that the two

members of the CommiMsion-Genera.l Comstock and Mr. Harrison-who

have withheld their signatur~s from the report will submit separate

statements, embodying individual dissenting opinions, upon the several

sub.iects discussed therein. Whe.n. these are received they will be forwarded without delay, in order that they may take their appropriate

place as appendixes to the report.

The following papers are hereunto appended, viz:

1. A financial statement made by Lieut. Smith S. Leach, Corps of Engilieers, the disbursing officer of the Commission, showing the disbursements made and liltbilities incurred to Februar.v 16, 1880. It will be

seen from the statement that the wh@le amount appropriated will be

expended by the close of the cUl'rent fiscal year in making the surveys

and examinations deemed requisite by the Commission. .

.:!. A Coast Survey chart of the" Mississippi River from the Passes to

Grand Prairie, Lolusiana."

It is understood from the Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic

Survey that the engraved plate of this chart will be placed at the disposal of the,Public Printer, so that its reproductiolf will be unnecessary.

Very respectfully, your obedient se,rvant, .

Q. A. GILLMORE,

Lieutenant-Oolonel of Engineers, Bvt. Maj. Gen., U. S. A.,

President j1fissis.~ippi River Oomm,ission.

Ron. ALEXANDER RAMSEY,

Secretaryof War, Washington, D. 0.

[Indorseme¥t. ]

OFFICE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, U. S. ARMY,

March 8, 1880.

Respectfully forwarded to the honorable the Secretary of War.

.H. G. WRIGH1"

Ohief of Engineers,

Brig. &; Bvt. Ma;j. Gf}n.

2719

"H. R. Ex. Doc. No.58, 46. Cong., 2dsess.

'"' 11" 

\
2'120 REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, U. S. ARMY.

REPORT.

/

J WASHINGTON, D. C., February 17,1880.

SIR: The Mississippi River Commission, constituted under an act of

Congress approved June 28, 1879, respectfully submit. the following

partial report :

The work assigned to the Commission was- .

First. To direct and. complete such surveys of the Mississippi River

between the Head of the Passes, near its mouth and its headwaters, as

were then in progress; and t~ make such additional surveys and examinations of said river and its tributaries as mif!;ht by it be deemed

necessary.

Second. To take into consideration and mature such plan or plaus as

will correct; permanently locate, and deepen the channel, and protect

the banks of the Mississippi River; improve and give safety and ease

to the navigation thereof; prevent destructive fioodsand p1'omote and

facilitate commerce and the postal service; and with such plans to prepare and submit estimates of the cost of executing the work.

Third. To report specifically upon the practicability, feasibility, and

probable cost of the plans known as the jetty system, the levee system,

and the outlet system.

By section 5 of the act authority was given to the Commission, prior

to the completion of all the surveys and examinations, to prepare and

sJlbmit plans and estimates of cost for such immediate works as in the

judgment of the commission may constitute. a part of the general sy8tem

of works contemplated. -

The Commission met for organization in the city of Washington on

the 19th day of August, all the members being present, and immediately

upon its organization tooK into consideration the surveys of the river already " in progress" and " such additional surveys, examinations, and

investigations, topographical, hydrographical, and hydrometrical," as

seemed necessary to carry out the objects of the act of Congress establishing the Commission.

---It was found that the portion of tne river lying above the mouth of

the Ohio had been essentially covered by the several shore-line surveys

already completed, or drawing to a close, so that the attention of the

Commission was directed more especially to the lower river between

Cairo 'and the Head 'of the Passes. This portion of the river, measuring

about 1,100 miles along the channel, had' been the scene of numerous

detached.surveys, the data from which will be available notwithstanding the intervals of time that they cover; and in providing for theconnection and extension of these, the Commission decided to so arrange

the work of the present fiscal year that the information immediately

required should be obtained by systematic methods, useful not only to

the proximate ends in view, but in connection with the wider range of

inquiry that must ultimately be necessary.

It was considered important ~hat the triangulation, so essential in

locating the river, however limited the field of practical operations of

immediate improvement might be, Bhould be so executed and permanently marked that it would furnish the basis of future surveys.

It was therefore decided that a line of secondary triangulati.on should

be run, itR triangles closing within 6 seconds. ,

For the present, however, it was !leemed desirable to execute no detailed or widely extended topography, but to develop as rapidly as

possible the shore lines and the forms of the river bed.

It was furthermore decided that physical inquiries extending to all

L

.
APPENDIX S S. 2721

the recognized phenoinena likely to have a bearing upon problems of im -

provement should be instituted at once, and that they should be based

upon the expe,rience of predecessors who had a~eady made much progress in these studies.

Provision was made for running lines of precise levels along ~he river

bank and for maintaining and increasing the number of the stations at

which the elevations of the river are recorded, so as to trace in future

the progress of floods and the larger features of the river slopes, without, it is hoped, any fiuther interruption.

Provision was also made for physical examinations of selected reaches

of the river, distant from each other, but presenting locally and relatively the most widely-contrasted elements of width, depth, and curvature; that the conditions most favorable and those most inimical to

navigation might thus be traced back to their causes inductively.

.At these early meetings resolutions were adopted embodying the

sense of the Commission as to the extent and character of the surveys

required, and the committee composed of a majority of the members

was appointed to carry out the views thus re~orded.

Inquiries were made of the Secretary of War and of the Secretary

of the 1'reasury as to the aid they could render in these surveys, free of

expense to this Commission, and the conimitt~e on surveys was author.

ized, after the receipt of replies to the above inquiries, to direct the

secretary of the Commission to employ the necessary persons, and make

al] purchases of instrumeQts, materials, and outfit needed to carry out

the provisions of the resolutions already adopted as to surveys, &c., to

be made at once. ,

The surveys thus instituted are being executed under direction of

this Commission, in pa,rt by its employes and in part by parties and

vessels of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, detailed under section 3 of

the act; the former moving from Cairo southward, the latter working in

the lower part of the river.

The continual prevalence of yellow fever at several points on the

lower river until late in the fall prevented these parties from beginning

their work as soon as ,vas expected.

The following estimates of the extent of river completed or ]ikely to

be covered during the present season are based upon the rate of progress

furnished in the schedule drawRup by the Secretary of the Commission,

and in the report of the SuperinteQdent of the Coast and Geodetic

Survey. Gauges.-The gauge~ along the river between Cairo and New Orleans

were increased in number to 20, and more recently others have been

added between Gairo and Saint Louis, so that tire elevations of the river

surface are nOw recorded daily at intervals of about 50 mi]es.

The zeroes of these gauges are to be referred to a common plane of

reference by the lines of precise levels to be described hereafter in th\',

order of progress.

Triangulation.-Of the 1,100 miles of river lying between Cairo and

the Head of the Passes, the triangulation Qf past years, executed by the

government, amounted in all to about 407 miles, comprising the I!rogress

,vork of the Coast and Geodetic Survey as well as the surveys made by the :United States Corps of Engineers. .

Of the employes of the Commission, three double parties, now in the

field, are engaged upon triangulation. This work, inclusive of about 18

ll)iles previously executed, has already reached Memphis; and, as below

this point about 85 miles of work previously executed will be met with,

171 E
2722 REPoRT OF THE CHIE}' OF" ENGINEERS, U. S. ARMY.

~

it is anticipated that the patties will reach the mouth of White River,

420' miles below Uairo, by the Ist of April.

The, trigonometrical points established by these parties are to be

referred to permanent marks l;>eyond the erosions of the river, by the

topographical party following them.

Fonr single triangulation parties have been placed on the river, under

this Commission, by the Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, Mr. C. P. Patterson; and these have been located by the Board

with a view to connect the isolated fields oiwork which now rest upon

separate bases.

Mr. Patterson expects, with the appropriation made by Congress for

the worl{ under his superinteudence, together with an allotment from

the funds of this Conlmission, to execute 300 miles of triangulation during the pre.sent fiscal year, and make the chain of geographical positions

complete from the Gulf of Mexico to Providence, about 500 miles.

As these parties ,vere not to be immediately followed by topographical surveyors, it was deemed advisable to require of them the

establishment of reference Il)arks, which has rendered their progress

slower than it otherwise would bave been.

At the requestof tl;le Commission, the Superintendent of the Coast

and Geodetic Survey has measured a base line in the vi~inity of Cottonwood Point, 120 milt's below Cairo, to be used in connection with the

triangulation executed by the employes of the board.

Topography and hydrography.-Tllese have been combined in the

operations of one party, having three divisions, composed of employes

of the Uommission. One of these divisions develops the shore line of

the actual river with its banks, tow-heads, chutes, islands, &c., as well

as levees when not more than a half mile back from the water; another

followS with levels, giving the elevations of banks, water-surfaces, crosssections of levees, &c. ; while the third division sounds out the bed of

the stream in connection with the levelings, so as to complete the uormal cross-sections of the river and its approaches about every half mile.

All this work rests upon the preceding triangulatiou, aud the topographers, as they pass the triangulation stations; are required to refer them

to permanent marks already mentioned. These marks are placed about

three miles apart, measured along the general course of the river, and

in pairs on either side, the one nearest the river bank being so placed as

to be sure to remain undisturbed for at least twenty years.

The present work will not furnish a detailed map showing the character and elevation of the swamp and bottom lands lying far back from

the actual lines of thf; river, but the necessity of more elaborate'maps

is anticipated, and these marks ,are to secure the full advantage of all

triangulatIon executed this season as the basis of future topographical

work wherever the trigonometrical points shall have been obliterated by

the caving of the banks. This combined party, tra,-ersing shore lines,

measuring elevations, and sounding out cross-sectionsj has advanced

".60 miles and made connection with the wo;rk of examination party in

-the vicinity of Plum Point. It is anticipated that it wili carry its work

to Memphis during the present season; beyond this, for a distance of

40 miles; complete maps exist from the survey made by General Comstock

before the Commission was created.

, At the time the Commission was organized charts had been published

by the Coast and Geodetic Survey of the portion of the river lying between point Houma (about 12 miles above New Orleans and the Gulf),

showing depths of water with marginal topography; so that there re-
APPENDIX S S. 2723

mained for this Commission to execute, in the river below Cairo, about

900 miles of surveys of the skeleton form above indicated.

Precise levels.-Frorn employes of the CommissiOill two parties were

assigued to run a line of precise levels, in 4uplicate, and in opposite

directions, with permanent bench-marks every three miles, so located

and marked that they may be relied upon f-or at least tweuty years.

The most accurate instruments knowu to engineers were placed in the

hands of these parties, and they were instructed that the discrepancy

in duplicate lines of levels should not exceed 5mm, X the square root of

the distauce in kilometers.

They began their work at Columbus, 20 miles below Cairo, at the

termination of a series of levels previously executed by General Corn.

stock, and have advauced to Cottouwood Point, 120 miles below Cairo.

They will probably reach Memphis by the middle of April, should no

interruption from floods occur. Here they will counect again with a

series of levels e.xecuted by General Comstock which extends about 83

miles below.

It is proposed to put another leveling party iuto the field as soon as

proper instruments are obtained, and if this additional party can pursue

its work until the first of May the precise levels will be brought nearly

to the mouth of White River, where the triangl~atiou of this season

will probably terminate, fl,S above stated. ,

In the lower portiouof the river two parties of the Coast alid Geodetic

Survey are ruuning similar lines of precise levels between Carrollton

and Greenville, and the superinteudent expects to be able to keep this

,vork in progress during the entire season and close this space of 500

miles by the end of the fiscal year-

.Examinations.-Three localities have been selected at which surveys

are repeated frequently to ascertain the varying relations of the river

and its bell ; these are Plum Point and its approaches, Lake Providence

and its neighborhood, and Carrollton; the last named being selected

because it was the site of similar inquiries during the surveys of Humphreys and Abbot in 1858.

The observations at these places comprise the chauges in the figure

of the river bed at different stages of the water, the kind of material

forming or moving along the bed, the figure aud movements of sandwaves, the slope of water surface, the discharge, and the transverse

curves of velocity.

The parties engaged in these physical surveys are employes of the

Commission, many of whom had previously been engaged in similar

studies. They commenced work in the low-riverseason, and it is hoped

that the funds available will enable them to continue till the spring floods have subsided. ,

Borings.-A boring party has been organized to determine the depth

-of the alluvial deposits and the character of underlying strata in portions of the river requiring improvement. These borings have been

fiuished in the vicinity of Memphis and Helena, and others are to be

made at Choetaw Bend and other points.

SURVEYS AND EXPENSES OF COMMISSION.

It is necessary that the surveys and examinations which have been

undertaken by the Commission and are now in progress below Cairo,

under the authority conferred in section 3 of the act, should be continued,

and that surveys should be commenced above Cairo, so far as they may

be considered necessary for the advantageous progress of works of im-
2724 REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, U. S. ARMY.

"

provement. For these purposes and for salaries, mileage, traveling and

office expenses of the Commission, there will be required during the

coming fiscal year the sum of $200,000. ..

III view of the prospect of\an extreme flood on the Lower Mississippi,

which would afi'ord an unu~ual opportunity for observations upou the

operations of floods, the importance' of an early appropriation of the

amount estimated for surveys under the Commission is earnestly represented, in order that the system of observations already inaugurated

may be made continuous "through the flood season.

~

SYSTE]\IJ:S OF IMPROVEMENT.

.This CommissIon is npt prepared, nor is it deemed necessary at the

present time, to submit a full and detailed report, wit~ estimates of final

cost, upon any general system of rivet improvement. It seems proper,

however, that all the several methods and plans embraced by the comprehensive and distinctivelangua.ge used in the act, so far as they apply

to or have direct bearing upon any of the objects contemplated therein,

should be defined, and that the general principles which have been kept

in view in adopting a plau which will conceutrate rather than disperse

the waters of the ~ver, as the principal agent in securiug the needed

improvement in its navigation, should be briefly st~ted. Whatever seems needful to be said upon the " outlet system," which,

being one of diffusion and waste and not of concentration, does not

commend itself to the judgment of the Commission, will be embodied in

this report.

The Mississippi River, aside from its great length and other elements

of wonderful and impressive magnitude, and the ~nergy with which it

maintains its tortuous and everchanging route to the sea, ranging over

a broad alluvial region of its own creation, does not appear to be characterized by any phenomena peculiar to itself, or by any physical features not found in greater or less degree in other turbid streams flo;Wing

through alluvial deposits. Its waters within the limits of the alluvial

district constantly carry large, although very variable, quantities of sedimentary matter. This sediment, or silt, derived from tributary streams,

from caving banks, and fJ!om its own bed by erosion and scour, is borne

along by the current in such manner that a large part of it is held in,

more or less constan,t suspension in the water, while a portion is rolled

or swept along upon the bottom.

An exact relation between the quantity of silt transported or moved

along by a stream, and the longitudinal velocity of its current, has not

been discovered. Longitudinal velocitlV, however, is always accompanied by motion in other directions. Without upward motion of the

water, there can be no continued suspension of sedimentary matter

in it.

When, on anygi ven reach of the same stream, the velocity, as usually

measured by meters or floats, is increased, the vertical motion, and therefore the silt sustaining the transporting power of the stream, is also

increased. It does not follow from this, however, that in different siltbearing streams, or in different reaches of the same stream, orevf\n in

the same reach through varying stages of water or difi'erent seasons of

the year, the saine velocity of current invariably sustains and transports

the same amount or proportion of sedimentary matter. No fixed relation has been discovered between a volume of water and the amount of

sediment in it for any given observed velocity. The supplyof earthy

matter is very irregular, varying greatly, irrespective of chaJlges of ve-

.
APPENDIX s s. 2725

.~ locity, with fluctuations in the stage of river, the relative discharge of

different tributaries, the seasons of the year, the conditions governing

rainfall, alternations of freezing and thawing, the kind of crops cultivated

in the vicinity, and other causes.

Any reduction of velocity by lessening the sustaining and transporting power of the water, and by arresting some of the heavier particles

which the diminished current is unable to move along upon the bottom,

will tend to cause a deposit of solid earthy matter and raise the bed of

the stream. The direct effect of raising the bed is to raise the surface

slope. The surface slope may also be increased by reduction of the i

river's length by cut.offs and other causes.

~ conversely, if the velocity be increased from any callse, a greater

ount of silt will be thrown into suspension, which will be supplied by'

rosion. A lowering of both the bed of the stream and the surface slope

will therefore ensue.

These general principles may be briefly and comprehensively stated

as follows, viz: If the normal volume of water in a silt.bearing stream

flowing in an alluvial bed of its own forD;lation b'e permanently in-

.creased, there will res~1lt an increase of velocity, and consequently of

erosion and' silt.bearing power, an increase in area of average cross-section, and an ultimate lowering of the surface slope; and, conversely, if

the normal flow be decreased in volume, there will ensue a decrease of

velocity, silt-transporting power, and mean sectional area, and an ultimate. raising of the surface slope.

THE OUTLET SYSTEM.

It has been supposed by many persons that, because the immediate

effect of a crevasse during a flood is the reduction of the height of the

river's surface in the vicinity of the crevasse and below jt, lateral outlets,

either natural or artificial, by which the flood-waters of the river are

drawn oil' and conveyed thro11gh a shorter route to the sea, tend toprevent the recurrence of destructjve floods, by supplyjng additiobal avenues for their escape. This method would undoubtedly be effective if

the flood-waters of the Mississippi were not hjghly charged with sedimentary matters, which are held in suspension in the water by the current. fro support this immense mass of earth and sand in suspension,

and thus insure its trausportation to the Gulf, the velocity of the current

must be sustained. Without stoppiug to determine, or even discuss,

the character of the relation which exists between the various velocities

of current and the proportionate quantities of sediment which such velocities are capable of carrying in suspension, the fact seems to be established that when the current is checked in its natural flow during floods,

a deposit of sediment will occur. Shoals are found in the river immediatelybelow crevasses, which it is difficult to refer to any other cause than

the loss of current velocity which takes place below the crevasse. As a

portion of the volume of the river is drawn off by the crevasse when it

is first made, it is impossible that the current below the crevass~ can

then be as rapid as it was before its occurrence. Being less rapid, it is

unable to sustain the whole quantityof matter held in suspension by

the more rapid current above the outlet, and cousequently its surplus

sediment falls to the bottom below the crevasse. This depos{tion continues until the size of the river below the crevasse has been so reduced

by the shoaling that the current is again restored through the short

distance in which the bottom of the river has been thus raised and the

channel dimjnished. Ifthe crevasse remained open, however, for sev-
2726 REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, U. S. ARMY.

~

v

eral years, it is evident that the shoal will continue to extend down the

stream, for the reduced velocity will still exist in the river below the

shoal. If the crevasse be kept open indefinitely, the shoaling will continue to extend down the stream until certain other injurious effects are

produced, which will be presently referred to.

It is a well established law of hydraulics that the ratio of frictionaJ

resistance per unit of volume increases if the sectional area be diminished. Thus, if the volume of the river were suddenly divided by an

island into two channels, the water flowing in them would encounter

more frictional resistance than it met with while flowing in a single

channel. Hence the curr(\nts through these channels would be more

sluggish. As the water is charged with sediment the sluggish current

would cause a deposit in the channels which would first begin at their

upper ends, andwould continue until the bottoms of the two channels

would be so steepened that the current would attaiu a velocity capable

of carrying the suspended sediment through them without further

deposit. Ifthe two channels were of nearly equallengthaud size, they

would probably rem!j,in permanent, and the slope of the river's surface

in flood time would be fou~d to be steeper through them than abovea~d

below, where the volume flows in a single channel. If one of the two

channels were materially longer than the other, the effort of the river

to increase the fOteepness of the longer channel would be abortive, because its slope wollld be controlled by the shorter one. A shoal in the

upper end of the long channel would, however, be built up'to such

height by the depositing action of the sluggish water in tt, as finally to

shut it off altogether from any connection with the river, while the still

water at the lower end of such channel would promote the deposition of

sediment at that end to such an extent as to build it up also, and thus

coJJlpletely separate the long channel from the main body of the river;

in the mean time the s4orter channel would have enlarged so as to accommodate the entire,river. The longer channel would, in this event,

constitute a lake, like one of the many lakes which are seen on a map of

the alluvial basin of the river. Being removed from the influence of

overflows, these ~akes remain deep and clear for many centuries. The

phenomenon just described invariably accompanies the formation of a

cnt-o:tr. Wh~n one of these occurs, the volnme of the river is at first

divided into two channels of unequal length, an island being left between

them.

In the case of a cre,'assc an island is also formed, having the main

body of the river on the one side of it, and the crevasse channel on the

other side. As the volume flowing in the main channel below a cre,vasse

has been decreased by the amount drawn off throngh it, a steeper slope

in the main river, if the crevasse be kept permanently open, becomes

inevitable; because the shoal below the outlet, as it gro,vs in length

down stream from the deposition of successive floods, gradually increases

the frictional resistance of the volume flo\ving through 'that dimiillshed

channel, and this tends to check the current of ,the river above the

crevasse, and thus the shoaling of the river bed and the raising of the

flood line above the site of the outlet ensue as a secondary and permanent

effect.

It is in this way that silt-bearing streams flowing through alluvial

deposits have the ability to increase or steepen their surface slopes. and

thus reco,Ter the velocity of their curre;nts and adjust them to the work

of transporting the sedimentary matter with which the flood-waters are

cha,rged so that this matter may be carried without loss or gain. In

proof of the correctness of th.ese views, and of their full accordance with
APPENDIX ss. ~727

~

w~Q established hydraulic laws, we have the evidence of .thisrela,tion

between slope and volnme pres(\nted in the phenomena of silt-bearing

streams all over the world. Wherever such streams flow through alluvial deposits, other conditions being the same, the slope is least where

the volume is greatest; and, conversely, the slope is found to be invariablyincreased as the volume is diminished. The Mississippi throughout its alluvial basin, not only in its maiu trunk, but in all of its outlets,

presents no exception to this peculiar feature. Among numerous illustrations of this law the following examples may be cited:

The fall of the Atchafalaya is about six inches per mile from its head

to the Gulf level, while the fall of the Mississippi f1'om the Rame point

is less than two inches per mile. The volume of the Atchafalaya is only

about one-twelfth as great as that of the :M:ississippi where they Reparate. The fall of the South Pass is three inches per mile, whilst that of

the Southwest Pass is but two inches per mile. The volume of the South

Pass is only about one-quarter as large as that of the Soutllwest Pass.

As water selects the line of least resistance in flowing from a higher

to a lower level, it follows that, inasmuch as that portion of the

Mississippi floods which enters the Atc,hafalaya seeks the Gulf level'

through a route not half so lonf!. as that which follo\vs the main river,

IJ,nd as it has a desce,nt threefold greater than the portion that flows

in the main river, the resistance in the shorter and steeper rou1;e 'of

the Atchafa.Iaya must Qe so much greater that these elements which

tend ~ increase the current are so fat' neutralized as to produce in both

routes to the sea that rate of current which is capable of transporting

the sediment without loss or gain to the Gulf level, and thus a condition of equilibrium is established between these two routes to the sea.

It seems unnecessary to state that the ratio of frictional resistance to

volume of water resuJting from the smaller size of the Atchafalaya is

so much greater than tha,t in the main river, that this condition of

equilibrium or" regimen of the two channels is the result. Anything

wfich ,,:ill tend -to increase the flow permanently thro~gh ~ither route

" ould, if unchecked, have a tendency to cause the entIre rIver to find

its way ultimately through that route to the sea by lessening in it, as it

enlarged, the ratio of frictional re&istance to volume of water flowing in

it. The subdelta-building abilityof the smaller passes by which they

prolong their length and thus iatten their slopes, will invariably tend

-to c~use their extinction b," results similar to those hereiuafter referred

to at Cubitt's Gap, the Jump, and the extinct outlets below them. This

cause has tended to the extinction of many well-known bayous below the

Atchl;1.falaya. That the Atchafalaya remained so long unaltered, and is

now evidently enlarging, is owing to important changes in a bed of

the Mississippi near it, by which a large portion of the floods of Red

River have beeu recently discharged through it.

This explanation of the relation between slope and volume is, of

course, applicable to the other existing outlets referred to in this connection. J!-'or tliis reason the CommissioRbelievesthat no sUl'er method'

of ultimately raising the flood surface of th~ river can be adopted than,

by making lateral outlets for the escape of its flood waters. The raising of t1le flood surface necessitates an iIlcrease in the height of th{',

levees and leaves shallower channels for navigation.

!As the system of improvement proposed by the Commis~ion is based

upon a conservation of the flood waters of the river, and t !eir concentration into one channel of an approximately uIiifor~ widt..' , it wol1ld

seem scarcely necessary'further to consider a system based u. 'on theo-
2728 REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, U. S. ARMY.

.-

ries and arguments so diametrically opposed to it as the outlet system

is thus shown to be.

Allusion has only been made so far to phenomena attending longestablished or permanent outlets. A proposition to " provide for improving the navigation of the Mississippi River and for the reclamation of the low lands of the States bordering thereon " having been presented to the consideration of Congress in House bill 5413, Forty-fifth

Congress, third session, it is the duty of the Commission to report upon

the merits of the system as set forth in the bill. The first feature of

the plan consists in opening an outlet, about ten miles below New Orleans, from the river into Lake Borgne. The idea of making an outlet

into this lake was suggested by Mr. Charles Elle,t, jr., civil engineer, in

1852 (see Ex. Doc. 20, Thirty-second Congress., first ~ession), in ~n

elaborate report to the Secretary of War on the lllundatlon of the MISsissippi River.

The proposition was snbsequently discussed at considerable length

in the report of Humphreys and Abbot, and rejected by them as impracticable. It was again taken np and examined into by the Levee

Commission in 1875, and was by it likewise rejected.

In considering the proposed outlet at Lake Borgne, it is necessary to

refer to phenomena attending a class of outlets which cannot be considered as permanent ones, and which are similar in their characteristics

to those which wonld attend the proposed one atoLake Borgne, for the

reason that the river immediately after their occurrence, whether from

artificial or natural causes, commences a process of subdelta formation which in the course of a few years effects their complete closure. ,

On examination of the appended United States Coast SurvE'y map,

showing that part of the delta embracing the passes and about forty

miles from the main river, several remarkable systems of extinct channels will be found on each side of the three great passes. The vermiculated appearance of these old outl~ts is particularly noticeable on -the

west side of the Southeast Pa,ss and on the w~st side of the Southwest

Pass; The process by which the river closed them up and shut them

off is clear]y illustrated by a similar process now "Occurring about three

miles above the Head of the Passes. At this point on the map referred

to will be seen the largest and most recent outlet or mouth of the Mississippi. It occurred during a flood seventeen years ago, and is kn()wn

as Cubitt's Gap. It was caused by a small canal between the river and

the Gulf, u~ed by fish,ermen in visiting the oyster banks in the vicinity.

The river and the Gulf at this point were then separated by a narrow

margin less than one thousand feet wide. The dift'erence in the surface

height of the river and the mean level of the Gulf at the time was a

little over three feet. The s~rface slope or fall through the gap was

therefore at first at the rate of about fifteen feet per mile. The rapidity

of the escaping water with this enormous fall made the crevasse over

two thousand feet wide in a few years, with depths of one hundred feet

and over in the gap where the river bank had formerly stood.

As soon as the water passed through the gap its velocity was gradually lost, and the immense volume of sediment with which it was charged

was thrown down within a f'an-shaped area embracing probably twenty

or thirty'Square miles. The earlier maps of the Coast Survey show no

islands outside the gap, but the more recent ones show, by the incipient

islands and shoa]s which n9w surround it, how rapid has been its subdelta formation. These islands are subdividing the single volume of

the river water issuing from it into innumerable' bayous and little channels, none of them having at this time a greater depth than 7 feet.
APPENDIX s s. 272~

Each flood serves to build up these islands higher and extend their area

further into the Gulf. And as this island-building process continues

out gulfward, these small chaBnels become more distinctly outlined from

,the depositing action, w hich goes on most rapidly in the more sluggish

water along their shore-lines. Every overflow serves to build up the

banks of these channels and to extend them out into the Gulf, but in

their prololigation is to be found the cause which finally cuts off. and

separates them, perhaps forever, from the main river. Th~ difference

of level between the river and the Gulf remains the same that it was at

the time of othe crevasse, but the enormous slope through tbe gap, at

first equal to about 15 feet per mile, and which must bave created an

exceedingly rapid current during the first few days after the gap was

made, now no longer exists. Every addition to the, length of tbe separate channels which are now forming through the subdelta flattens

their slope and consequently reduces the current through them. Ultimately these currents will become too sluggish to transport the sediment

contained in the water, and it will be dropped at the upper or ri,Ter ends

of these channels, and they will be finally shut off entirely from all connection with'the main river, just as those were which are seen OQ the

map on the west side of Southwest and Soutbeast passes.

Each successive overflow of the river bank will tend to increase the

distance between the river and these extinct outlets, and the wound

made in the side of the river by Cubitt's Crevasse will thew have been

completely healed by a natural process.

Twenty-one miles above the Head of the Passes, a gap similar to Cubitt's occurred about forty y~ars ago, called " The Jump." An immense

subdelta was formed there in consequence, and upon it there are now

several rice plantations and extensive forests, many of the trees being

over 12 inches in diameter.

Innumerable bayous permeate this subdelta and lead to the sea,

each having at its mouth a miniature bar like those at the mouths of

the great passes, none of them having more than 2 feet of depth at lowwater.

At the river entrance to The Jump, the depth is but 3 or 4 feet, and

in a few ye,ars more it will be fully closed by the river deposits.

Tbe same effort which the river is successfully making to close up

The Jump and Cubitt's Crevasse (both of which are high and low water

(}utlets}, it is making at the celebrated Bonnet Carre Crevasse, which,

being through an artificial embankment or leve.e, only discharges at

high-water. The immense deposits which it has carried out and spread

over the land near it have served ~eatly to reduce the volume of water

discharged by the crevasse.

Should an outlet be made to counect the river with Lake Borgne, resuJts precisely similar to .those which have occurred at Cubitt's Gap and

The J ump must be confidentlyanticipated. Below Cubitt's ~ap it is an

undisputed fact that the former depth of the river has been largeJy rednced since the gap occurred. Below The Jump it is not so definitely

known what the shoaling has been, as charts of previous soundings,aI"e

not now available if any exist, but the Light-House Board has placed two

buoys a short distance below The Jump, to warn vessels away from

the shoals which exist there. It is not possible to make the proposed

outlet °into Lake Borgue without creating a shoal in the river below it,

and it is not possible to keep it permanently open except at great cost

in dredging away the subdelta that would be formed by it. Nor could

it be kept permanently open without the slope of the river being ulti-
2730 REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, U. S. ARMY.

matel~- increased from the Head of the Passes to the outlet; after which

it w(luld raise the flood surface of the river above the outlet. ,

With reference to that part of the plan set forth in House bill 5413,

relating to the At:chafalaya outlet, the commission suggests that, as

Major Benyaurd, of the United States Corps of Engineers, in charge of

the government works upon this portion of the Mississippi, has now

under consideration the question of the permanent improvement of the

mouth of the Red River, with the inteution, as expressed in his last

annual report, of making a spe~ial report thereon at the earliest possible

moment, it is not deemed adyisable that any work at this locality , except

what may be required to check the enlargement of the Atchafalaya,

should be recommended by this Commission in anticipation of the matured views and opinions of that officer. This can be done in such

locality and in such manner as wi,ll not interfere'with the navigation of

the Red and Atchafalaya rivers, and at a cost not exceeding $10,000.

That part of the plan which involves turning the Reu River into the

Calcasieu, from a point above Alexandria, is entirely impracticabl('" it

ha~-ing been ascertained by a line of levels run across from Alexandria,

nnder Major Benyaurd's direction, that the bed of the Calcasieu River

is 63 feet higher than the water surface of Red River in time of ordinary flood, while its ordinary flood level is 73 feet above that of Red

Ri ver .The distance between the two rivers, on the line of levels, which

is the shorte~t line that can be run from Alexandria, is 23.86 miles.

If it is proposed to avoid this difficulty by making the connection with

the Ca]casieu at a point sufficiently near its mouth to secure the requisite

,descent in the cut, not only won Id the expense pe so enormous as to be

practically prohibitory, but there would still remain the danger, unless

the dimensions of both the cut and the Lower Calcasieu be made immoderately large, of widespread destructionbJT floods during every highriver stage through the region traversed by the outlet.

Although other equally no\Telpropositions are setforth for consideration by Congress in House bill No. 5413, as part of this extensive outlet

syst(',lll, which in the language of the, bill is designed to effectthe" deepening of the channel of the Mississippi River, reducing the mud flow

therein, arid filling np the swamps and low places by the deposit, and

diminishing the volume of water by absorption and evaporation," the

Commission deems it unnecessary to report upon them in detail after this

exposition of the Lake Borgne and Ca]casieu outlets, inasmuch as the

latter constitute the chief features «;If the entire scheme, and the former

are, like them, quite impracticable.

Before dismissing this snbject, however, it is pertinent to say that the

statements which have been published to support this scheme, regarding

th~ effect produced by the Bonnet Carre ontlet, in lowering the flood-line

above and be]ow it, have been greatly exaggerated.

The Board of Engineers for the improvement of the low.water navigation of the Mississippi River below Cairo, to whom House bill No.

5413 was referred, say in'their report of January 28, 1879, with reference

to the effect of the proposed ontlet :

,

The probable immediate effect 1)ithig outlet upon the flood-level of the Mississippi

will next be considered. The best basis for a safe estimate is the measured effect of

the Great Bell crevasse which occurred just above New Orleans on the right bank, in

1858. Its maximum discharge occnrred August 1-17, and was 80;000 cubic feet per

second, or about 1-12 of the total discharge of the river at that date.

This lowered the water surface 1.5 feet at its site and produced no sensible effect at

Baton Rouge, 124 miles above. One fundamental error of the engineering proj"ct on

which this bill is based lies in overestimatrng the distance to which the influence of

'an outlet extends above its site, and it will be well to elaborate this point.
~

APPENDIX s 8. 2731

The influence of the Gulf upon the river at high stages is hardly felt above the mouth

of Red River, The high-water and the low-water slopes of the water surface above

this point are sensibly the same for long distances. Nothing can be done tow.ard modifying the water-Ievel below which will exert any ma;rked effect at auy considerable

distance above. That this is so was proved by the Red River and Raccom'ci cut-offs,

which shortened the Mississippi 39 miles near the mouth of Red River and lowered the

high-water mark there 4.6 feet in the flood9f 1851. This beneficial effect diminished

rapidly at points higher up the river, and was not felt at all at a distance of 100

miles.

The same principle of hydraulics which is fundamental, and which logicallyr~sults

from the small ftmction of the slope entering all discharge formulre, is also illustrated

by accurate tidal measurements upon the Mississippi. Thus, for spring-tides the oscillations are- At the Gulf in flood stages ofriver, 1.7 feet; in low stage of river, 1.7 feet. ,

At the Forts (:~ miles) in flood stages of the river, 0.6 foot; in low stages of river,

1.4 feet.

At Can:ollton (120 miles) in flood stagesoftheri,er, 0.3 foot; in low stages of river,

1.1 feet. I

At Donaldsonville (192 milesf in flood stages of the river, 0.0; .but in low Btages of

river, Q.9 fqot. ,

At Baton Rouge (244 miles) ill flood: stages of the river, 0.0 foot; iu low stal!;es of

river, 0.4 foot.

At Red River (315 miles) in flood stag"!'s of the river, 0.0 foot; in low stages of river,

0.0 foot.

It is true that the temporary duratiou of the tidal rise at the river mouth diminishes

its effect on the upper river, but never~heless t~e facts given for ~he tide.s illt~strate

the general fact that the effect of lowerrng the rIver surface at a gIven pOInt dIes ont

rapidly iu ascending.

THE LEVEE SYSTEM.

~

Levees ha,ve never been erected upon the banks of the Mississippi

River except for the special purpose of protecting the alluvial lands

fronl overflow. They have, therefore, always had sole reference to the

:high. water stage, and the degree to which levees might prudently be

:relied upon "to improve and give safety to na,;gation," "promote and

facilitate commerce, trade, and the postal service," has not hitherto entered into the question of the construction and maintenance of a levee

system.

There is no doubt that the levef's exert a direct action in deepening the

channel and enlarging the bed of the river during those 'periods of " rise "

or " flood " when by preventing the dispersion of the flood-waters over

the adjacent low-lands, either over the river banks orthrough bayous and

other openings, they actually ca11se the water to rise to a higher level

within the river-bed than it would attain if not thus restrained.

It would seem to follow, from the law that thevolumj3 of water flowing in the bed determines the size, that prior to the constrllction of levees

the area of the mean cross-section ofbed of the Mississippi River musthave

been less than it was after -the levees had reached their most efficient

condition, assuming, what is believed to be true, that the average rainfall in the Mississippi Valley hasuot materially changed within the last

hundred years.

There is some evidence in a comparison of the results of YOUIig, POUSsin, and Tuttle's examination of 1821, with later surveys, that the width

of the river has increased since that date.

As silt-bearing streams in alluvial districts have a tendency to assume

in the straight reaches cross.sections which are arcs of circles, and in the

bends curves of deeper forms, it follows that any general widening of

the river resulting from concentration or increase of volume., which may

have taken place, would as a rule be accompanied by a general and corresponding deepening as the result of such general enlargement, although

local shoalings, temporarily injurious to navigation might occur.

1;

~

L-!
2732

~~

~

t

REPORT qF THE CH1EF OF ENGINEERS, U. S. ARMY.

There is reason to believe that during the period when levees were in

their most perfect condition, from 1850 to 1858, the channel of the river

was better generally for purposes of navigation than it has been since that time. .

It is known that during the last twelltyyears the levee system has

bern continuously interrupted by a great number .of crevasses between

Cairo and Red River.

Before the levees were built, a large portion of the flood -waters spread

out over the banks of the river in a thin sheet, of which the average depth

at the margin of the stream, where it escaped, did not probably eiceed

a fewinches, or, at most, afoot. The immediate efi'ectof thele".ees would

be to increase the volume and height and accelerate the velocity of the

flood-waters between them, resulting in an erosion and deepening of the

river. bed, and ultimately in a corresponding lowering of the flood-slope,

in accordance with the general law already quoted, that an increase in

the normal volume of discharge in a sedimentary stream fl()wiDg through

alluvial deposits, results ultimately in a lowering of the flood surface.

It would seem, therefore, that a closure of the crevasses might be expected

to accelerate the removal of tho~e shoals which have been produced by

them, and if their closure be accompanied by the requisite contraction

of the channel to a more nearlyluniform hig'h-water width, a lowering

of the flood-level may be expected to such extent as will ultimately render the maintenance of the levees as an aid to navigation practically

needless above Red River, and greatly lessen the necessity of their per--

manent maintenance for that purpose below Red River, even at a reduced height. .

"v\'hile it is not claimed that levees in themselves are necessary as a

means of securing ultimately a deep channel for navigation, it is believed

that the repair and maintenance of the extensive lines already existing

will hasten the work of channel improvement through the jucreased

scour and depth of river bed which they would produce during the highri ver stages. They are regarded as a desirable, though not a necessary,

adjunct in the general system of improvement submitted.

It is obvious that levees are, upon a large portion of the river, essential to prevent destruction to life and property by overflow. They give

safety and 4;lase to navigation and promote and facilitate commerce and

trade by establishing banks or landing-places above the reach of floods,

upon which produce can be placed while awaiting shipment and where

steamboats and other river craft can land in times ofhigh-water.

In a restricted sense, as auxiliary to a plan of channel impro.vement

only, the construction and maintenance of a levee system is not demanded. But in a larger sense, as embracing not only beneficial effects

upon the channel, but as a protection against destructive floods, a ltjvee

system is essential; and such system also promotes and facilitates com- ! merce, trade, and the postal service.

.A levee system aids and facilitates the postal service by protecting

from injury and destruction by freshets and floods the various common

roads and railways upon which that service is conducted to and from

the river bank, and generally within that portion of the alluvial region

subject to overflow. Moreover the permanent maintenance below Cairo

of a connected levee system, a system of sufficient strength to inspire

confidence in its efficiency, or the demonstration, by the achieved results

of an improved river, that overflow need no longer be seriously apprebended, would act as a prompt and powerful stimulant in rapidly de-

",,~eloping a largely increased trade and comme~e in all the products of

~
APPENDIX S S. 2733

~

~

"

agricultural industrY indigenous to that region, and in those branches

of manufacturing enterprise related thereto.

, The foregoing is submitted as the opinions of this Commission, with

regard to the attributes and functions of levees, and their general utility

and value. ' The views of the several members, however, are not in entire accord with respect to the degree of importance which should 'attach to the concentration of flood-waters by levees, as a factor in the

plan 'of iml):r v ment of low-water navigation, which has received the unanimous preference o e om. .

The breaks in the levees were estimated in January, 1875, by the commission for the reclamation of the alluvial basin of the Mississippi River,

to amount to 8,065,JOO cubic yards. It is believed that the repairs done

in Louisiana and Mississippi since that time will fully equal the enl,argment of the openings in Arkansas and Missouri. The estimate of the

cost of cl9sing the breaks in the existing system of levees to the former

height is based upon this hypothesis.

The want of completed survl::ys and the limited supply of labor would

render difficult the construction of mOre than one-half of this amount

of work in anyone year.

ESTIMATE OF COST.

For closing to their former height the gaps in the existing levees between

Cairo and New Orleans,8,065,700 cubic yards of earthwork, at 23 cents

peryard , $1,85.5,111

Add for contingencies, :... 164,889

--

Total for repairs of existing levees 2, 020, 000

This does not include the cost of maintenance, for which no reliable

estimate can be made in the absence of data giving the req~ired dimensions of the levees and their positions relative to caving banks. For

the absolute prevention of destructive floods, the former height of the

levees would have to be increased, but no exact estimate of the cost of

these higher levees can be made at present for want of the necessary

data.

r

I

PLAN OF IMPROVEMENT REcOMMENDED.

The bad navigation of the river is produced by the caving and erosion of its banks, and the excessive widths and the bars and shoals

resulting directly therefrom.

It has been observed in the Mississippi River, and is ind~ed true

of all silt.bearing streams flowing through alluvial deposits, that the

more neal'ly the high.river width, or width between the bank~ approacht\s to uniformity, the more nearly uniform will be the channel

depth, the less will be the variations of velocity, and the less the rate

of caving to be expected in concave bends. This would seem to be so

in the very natul'e of things, because 'Uniformity of width secured by

.contraction will produce increased velocity, and therefore increased

erosion of bed at the shoal places, accompanied by a corresponding deposit of silt at the deep places, and consequently greater uniformity of

depth.

Uniform depth joined to uniform width, that is to say, uniformity of

effective cross-section, implies unifol'm velocity, and this means that

there will be no violent eddies and cross-currents, and no great and sud.

den fluctuations in the silt.transporting power of the current. There

Will therefore be less erosion from oblique currents and eddies. and no

formations of shoals and bal's produced by silt taken up from one part

of the channel and dropped in another. As the friction of the bed reL-
2734 REPORT OF TH~ CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, U. S. ARMY.

~

tards the flow of the water, any diminution of the friction wjll promote

the discharge of floods. Thefiictional surface is greater in proportion

to volume of discharge where the river is wide and shoal than where it

is narrow a!ld deep. It follows, therefore; that after th~ wide shoal

places are suitably narrowed, and the normal sectional area is restored

by deepening the channel, the friction will be less than it was before.

This wUl result in a more easy and rapid discharge of th~ flowing. water,

and conseq uently in a lowering of the flood -surface. It would seem, therefore, that the plan of improvement must comprise, as its essential features, the contr~ction of the water-way of the river to a comparatively

uniform width, and the protection of caving banks, and this is presumed

to be the plan referred to in the act as 'the "jetty system." It is known,

from observation of the river below Cairo, not only that shoals and bars,

producing insufficient depth and bad navigation, are always accompanied

bya low-water width exceeding 3,000 feet, but that wherever the river

does not exceed that width there is a good channel. In other words,

bad navigation invariablyaccompanies a wide low-river water-way, and

good navigation a narrow one.

~ 'The work to be done, therefore, is to scour out and maintain a chani nel throngh the shoals and bars existing in those portions of the river

where the width is exce.ssive, and to build up new banks and develop

n~'Y shore-liu.es, so as to .establish as far as practi<?able the requisite conditIons of unIform velocIty for all stages of the rIver.

It is believed that this improvement can be accomplished below Cairo

by contracting the low-wat('r channel way to an approximately uniform

width of ab/Jut 3,000 feet, for the purpose of scouring out a channel

through the shoals and bars. and by causing, through the action of appropriate works constructed at suitable localitie~, the deposition of sand

and other earthy materials transported by the water upon the dry bars

and other portions of the present bed not embraced within the limits of

the proposed low-water channel. The ultimate effect sought to be pro.

duced by such deposits is a comparative uniformity in the width of the

high-water channel of the I:iver.

It is believed that1the works estimated for in this report will create and

establish a depth of at least 10 feet at extreme low stages of the river

over all the bars below Cairo, where they are located.

--.1tls the opinion of this Commission that, as a general rule, the chan- -

nel should be fixed and maintained in its present location, and that no

attempt should be made to straight~nthe river or to shorten it by CUt-

-"offs-. .

The borings which were made in 187,9 at New Madrid and Plum

Point, by direction of the Board of Engineers, for the improvement of

the low-water navigation of the Mississippi River below Cairo, and those

of more recent date at Memphis aDd Helena, made under the orders of

this Commission, as well as those near Lake Borgne, reported by the

levee commission of 1875, and others m~e along the proposed line of

the Fort Saint Philip Canal, and the artesian well sunk at New Orleans,

all furnish concurrent evidence of the yielding character of the strata

forming the river-bed. This evidence, taken in connection with the fact

that deep water is found in.all the bends of the river where the width

is J;lot excessive, and that these bends have, by their shiftings at one

time or another, probably occupied and covered nearly every part of th~

belt from 10 to 20 miles in width from Cairo to the Gulf; point to the

conclnsion, if it does not indeed justify it, that there is no exten~ve

stratum of material capable of resisting ero&iofi and preventing the r'~vel'

.
APPENDIX s s. 2135

from deepening its own bed. In exceptional localities, where the material is too tough or the gravel too heavy for removaJ by scour, dredgiug

may have to be resorted to as an auxiliary, the depth secure.d by this

means beilJg maintained by the works erected for narrowing the stream.

Experience, as well in this country as in Europe, justifies the belief

that the requisite correction aDd equalization of the transverse profile.

of the stream, by developing new shore-lines and building up n~w banksr

may .be made chiefly through the instrumentalities of light, flexible, and

comparatively inexpensive constructjons of poles and brush, and materials of like character. These constructions will commonly be open or

permeable to such degree that, without too violently arresting the flow

of water, thereby unduly increasing the head and causing dangerous.

underscour, they will sufficiently check the current to i.nduce a deposit

of silt in selected localities.

The works which have been used in simjlar improvements are bf various forms and devices, such as the hurdle,-composed of a line of stakes

or light piles, with brush interlaced; the open dike, formed of stakes

with waling strips on both sides filled in .loosely with brush; the continuous brush mattress, built or woven on fixed or floating ways and

launched as fast as completed, as a revetment to a caving bank, the mattress used as a vertical or inclined curtain, placed in the stream to check

the current, the same laid flat OIl the bottom as the foundation for such

a curtain or as an anchor~ge for other brush devices; curtains of wire

or brush netting, placed vertically or inclined in the stream; and variI)US other forms of permeable brush dikes, jetties, or revetments. Some

of these methods of construction have been used on the Mississippi and

Missouri Rivers with increasing satisfaction and success, although they

caunot yet be regarded as entirely beyond the experimental stage. In

some, perhaps in many localitie~, works of a much more solid character

than those above indicated may be necessary.

The closure of deep channels or low-water chutes, with a view of confinin,g' the flow to a single passage, ma,y require substantial dams of

brush and riprap stone or gravel, but it is believed the lighter and less

cQstly works will generally suffice.

By a permeable dike located upon the new shore-1ineto be developed,

c9nnected with the old bank at suitable intervals'by ctoss-lines of like

character, or by jetties of hurdles or other permeable works projecting

fropl the bank with their channel ends terminating on the margin to

the proposed water-way, or by any other equivalent works, the area to

be reclaimed and raised will be converted into a series of silting basins,

from which the water, flowing through the barriers with diminisIled

velocity, will, after depositing its heavier material, pass oft' and give

place to a new supply. In this manner the accretion will go on continuously through thehigh-water season, or through two or more seasons

if necessary, the works being renewed on the higher level as occasion

requires.

Wherever necessary, the new bank must be protected by a mattress,

revetment, or some equivalent device.

That these methods of improvement are practicable, is shown by the

works already executed on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.

The plan submitted .by the Board of Engineers for the improvement

of the low- water navigation of the river below Cairo, in their report dated.

January 25, 1879 (see House Ex. Doc. No.41, Forty-fifth Congress,

third session), in which it is recommended that $600,000 be asked for

the improvement of the Plum Point Reach, and " that the impro'Te-

~
2736 REPORT oF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, U. S. ARMY.

ment be effected by naITowing the shoal and wide portions of the low- t\

water river to about 3,500 feet, and by protecting caving banks where

necessary ," is substantially adopted for the initial works submitted for construction in this report. .

An accurate estimate of the cost of properly improving the entire river

below Cairo cannot be made nntil after the completion of the surveys

now in progress. Moreover, estimates based upon the latest data from

those surveys will doubtless require modification in some particulars, to

meet subsequent changes in the river, and will perhaps be considerably

reduced in the aggregate amonnt by improved methods of construction

developed during the progress of the work.

INITIAI.;WORKS.

Under the authority conferred in section 5 of the act, estimates of

cost of certain initial works, constituting a componeut part of the general system of works contemplated, are submitted.

Those works of channel contraction and bank protection, which in

the judgment of this Commission may be advantageously undertaken

during the coming fiscal year or as soon as Congress supplies the

means, are confined to an aggregate Jength of nearly 200 miles of the

shoalest water below Cairo, embracing the following localities, viz :

New Madrid, Plum Point, Memphis, Helena, Choctaw Bend, and Lake

Providence. ,

The estimates are intended to cover the cost of works for contractinf!.

the channel and for securiu,g and protecting the banks; for the neces.

sary outfit of boats, tugs, tools, &c., to carryon the work for local sur.

veys, the salaries of engineers, superintendents, and inspectors, and the

necessaIjY office expenses. Further appropriations will be needed to

complete the works, secure their permanence, and develop the full benefit of the system.

As regards the final cost, the novelty of the devices to be employed

and the absence of experience with respect to the rapidity and degree

of their results, torbid any exact estimate; but it is believed that such

additional works as will ultimately be required to complete and render

permanent the improvement coutemplated in this system at the localities specified will not exceed the aIIiount hereinbelow stated as needed

for initial works.

It is considered necessary that a contingent sum, which is inserted in

the estimates for initial work, be appropriated for use in any emergenc;)'

that may arise for secliring or protecting the works at any point after

the specific appropriation may have been exhausted.

ESTIMATES.

$776,000

147,000

923,000

--

--

New Madrid Reach, 40 miles long :

For Works outfit, for contracting superintendence, the channel inspection, and protecting office expenses, the banks.. and local surveys..

Total for New MadridReach ~

559,000

137,000

--

736,000

----

Plum Point Reach, 38 miles long :

For Works outfit, for contracting superintenden\Je, the channel inspection, and protecting office expenses, the banks and local I!urveys ..

Total for Plum Point Reach 00 ...".

rfj;?

.

)4
APPENDIX s s. 2737

--

382, 000

--

515, 000

112,000

627,000

464, 000

ll:J,OOO

576,000

--

507, 000

112, 0,00

619,000

Memphis Reach, 16 miles long:

Works fQr contracting the channel and protecting the banks. $282, 000

For ontfit, snperintendence, inspection, office expenses, and local snrveys. .lOO, 000

Total Hclena for Reach, Memphis 30 miles Reaeh long :

Works For ontfit, for contractingthe~hannel snperintendence, inspection, and pr(}tectin~ office expens~s, the banks. and local snrveys ..

Totalfor Choctaw Bend, Helena 35 Reach miles long :

Works Forontfit,superintendence, Total Lake for contractin~ Providenoo for Choctaw the Reach, Bend channel inspection, 25 miles and protecting office long: expenses, the banks and snrveys 

For Works outfit, fl)r contracting sl1perintendence, the channel inspectioD, a,nd protl'cting olilce expenses! the banks. and local snrveys. .

Total for Providence Rea,c1l :..

I

Contingencie!l ;!50,000

Should it be determined not to appropriate the amounts estimated for

all the initial works, it is considered important that the reduction should

be made rather in the number of places at whieh work is proposed than

by reducing the estimates for anyone place.

JtSTIMATES FOR WORKS OF IMPROVEl\lENT FOR THE FIRST FISCAL YEAR.

Initial works for channel colltractioD and ballk protection. $4, 113, 000

Closing gaps i\llevees 1,010,000

Checking enlargement of Atcha,fal!\ya .; 10,000

RSTIM.~TES FOR SURVEYS AND FOR EXPENSES OF COMMISSION FOR FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 18!jl.

For surveys a-lld exa-mina-tions above and below Cairo, a-nd thl) necessary

salaries :tnd other expenses @f the Mississippi River Commission -.$200,000

If Congress shall authorize any extensive work~ of improvemeut on

the Mis~issippi, we would respectfully suggest that provision be made

by law for the appropriatiou of such land andmate,rials as may be needed

in the work when the same catlnot be obtained upon equitable terms by

purchase from the owner. We do not contemplate that a resort to such

proceedings would often be necessH,ry, but in the absence of any such

provision of law individual owners of the property required might

greatly and unjustly enhance the cost of the work.

Authority to file in the proper court of the United States an articl~

of appropriation describing the property to be taken, and to have an

assessment by competent appraisers of its value, would tend to prevent

extortion, and at the same time secure to the individual a just recompense for the property taken.

We venture to suggest further that, in case the Commission should 1

be continued in existence and the works recommended bJ' it be in whole

or in part authorized by 'Congress, the execution of the work and the ,

expenditure of the appropriations therefor shall not be made part of the

duty of the Commission. We think the duties of the Commission should

be limited to the preparation of plans, their modification when neces.

172 E

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2738 REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, U. S. ARMY.

sary, the advisory supervision of the work, and the completion of the

surveys and observations. This would secure unity of plan, greater

e.fficiency in the work, and a better system of checks upon the expenditures than we could hope to secure if the entire work of devising,

executing, and disbursing were cast upon the Commission.

All of which is respectfully submitted.

Q. ~-\.. GILLMORE,

Lieutenant-Colonelof Engineers, Bvt. Maj. Gen.,

President Mississippi River Commission.

CHAS. R. SUTER,

Major of Engineers, U. S. A.

HENRY MITCHELL,

Coast and Geodetic Survey.

J AS. B. EADS.

B. M. HARROD.

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Bon. ALEXANDER RAMSEY,

Secretaryof War, Washington, D. C.

APPENDix I.

FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

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WASHINGTON, D. C., February 16,1880.

Amount appropriated for expenses of the MissiS8ippi River Commission,byactapprovedJuue28,1879 $175,00000

Amount expended to February 16, 1880, including outstanding lia.

bilitiel1:

For surveys aud observations. 865,691 21

For salaries of Commissioners 5, 024 99

For mileage and inspection : 8,16788

For reduction of maps 1,92070

For office expenses : 4,19522

Balance which is estimated will be required dnring remainder of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1880. 90,000 00

-175,00000

SMITH S. LEACH.

First Lieutenant of Engineers, U. S. A.,

Secretal'Y Missi8sippi Ri1ler Commi88io1l.

I

I

THE MISSISSIPPI RIVEl1, COMMISSION,

PRESIDENT'S OFFICE, ARMY BUILDING,

33 WEST HOUSTON STREET,

New York, March 8, 1880.

SIl1,: I hi"ve the honor to transmit herewith the minority report of

General Comstock and Mr. Harrison, to be attached to the report of

the Mississippi River Commission forwarded with my letter of the 6th

instant.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Q. A. GILLMORE,

Lieutenant-Colonel of Engineers, Bvt. Mad. GC11,., U. S. A.,

President Mississippi River Co1nmission.

Hou. ALEXANDER RAMSEY,

Secretary of Wai', Washington, D. C.

I

c,c~ c ,
APPENDIX s s. 2739

[Indorsement. ]

OFFICE ORIEF OF ENGINEERS, U. S..ARMY,

March 9, 1880.

Respectfully forwarded to the honorable the Secretary of War, to

accompany report of MIssissippi River Oommission transmitted OIl the

8th instant.

H. G. WRIGHT,

Chief of Engineers,

Brig. and Bvt. Maj. Gen.

..

:MINORITY REPORT.

"Thile of the opinion that an ample depth of water for navigation on

the Mississippi River below Cairo can be obtained by contraction of the

low-water width at shoal places to about 3,OUO feet, erosion being aided

by dredging if necessary; and while of the opinion that levees are essential to prevent injllry to alluvial lands by destructive floods, and

tJ:1at outlets should not in general be used, there are some less important

points on which we do not concur in the views of the majority of the

Commission.

1. We cannot concur in the unqualified form of expression of certain

theoretical views, believing them to have too many exceptions to ftlrnish

safe bases for practical conclusions. One such statement is:

If the normal volume of water in a silt-bearing stream, flowing in an alluvial bed

of its own formatiou, be permanently increased, there will rtJsult * * * ultimately

a lowering of thesurlace slope,

While this statement and its converse are usually true, they yet omit

some factors which influence the relation between discharge and slope.

"One is the coarseness and qu"'tntity of the sediment which the increase

of volume brings; another is the ratio of flood to low-water discharge;

and another the varying coarseness of the material forminf!, the bed ot

Ithe river at t~e same plac~ at differe,nt tim~s o~ at different place~.

i When the rncrease of volume brrngs wIth It much coarse sedIment,

the slope may be increased instead of diminished, by increase of volnme.

This efi'ect has been frequently observed below the mouths of tribu.

taries.

Again, if the ratio of flood to low-water discharge could be made to

approach unity, the annual discharge remaining unchanged, it is probable that the Middle Mississippi would have a smaller slope than at

present, approaching that of the river below NewOrleans, where the

flood rise is small. In that case the annual discharge might be diminished without increasing the slope beyond its present value.

2. We do not concur with the majority of the Commission in their

I estimate of the value of the closure of gaps in e~isting levees as a factor

in the improvement of l:>w-water navigation; this estimate being derived

in part from the theoretical views already referred to.

Existing evidence seems to show that during low-water stages the

bars-below Cairo are usually cut Ollt by the river, and that when the

period of low river in the following season approaches, these low-water

channels are found filled up, the low-water bed of the river in these

shoal places having risen, to be again cut out by the low river. (See

Major Suter's report in Report of Chief of Engineer~, 1875.}

At the Horse Tail Bar, below Sftint Louis, the bed of the river has

been observed to rise 8 or 10 feet above low-w(\ter in the interval be.
2740 REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, U. S. ARMY.

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tw~en two low.river periods. (See General Simpson's report in Chief of

Engineers' report, 1876.) If, then, the final effect of a flood which qses from 30 to 50 feet above

low-water is to raise thl'.low-water bed of the river at shoal places, may

it not be possible that if the heiA'ht of this flood be some.what increased

by levees the bed may rise still further inst~ad of being depres8ed, thus

injuring instead of improving navigation.

But even if a rise or fall ot a foot or two in the. bed of the river were

produced by levees, it is difficult to see how this would sensibly aft'ect

the low-water width of the river. Bad navigatiun arises from excessive

"i low-water width at certain places, and is to be cured by contractin.e t!Iat \i low-water width to about 3,000 feet. This contraction must be eft'ected by works in the bed of the river, and not by levees on top of its banks, .

out of contact with the low-water river.

f For these reasons we are of the opinion that levees are of very little

value in improving the low-water navigation of the river. Of their

necessity in protecting alluvial lands against d(\structive floods thtJre

ca.n be no doubt, and to obtain such proteetion the first step would be

the closure of gaps in existing levees. The regulation of the low-water

river, including the fixation of the river banks, would be of the greatest

aid to the levees, since it would secure them from destruction by caving.

The majority report anticipates as a result of the proposed works a

lowering of the flood-Ievel to such an extent " as will ultimately render

the maintenance of the leyees as an aid to nl}vigation practically needless above Red River."

As to the larger question, whether the proposed works will make

levees uIlnecessaryto prevent destructive floods on this part of the river,

there are, in our opiuion, no sufficient data. for drawing reliable conclusions ; theore,tically they should in some degree lo,vl'.r the bed.

A reduction of the flood-level is very desirable, but where on other

riv,~rs this bas been effected, cut-offs have usually played an essential

part. For this reasou we are not pre.pared to absolutely reject their use,

after the banks of the river have been thoroughly protected for considerabledistances above and below the sites where they are about to occur.

3. From the lack of sufficient experience, either in this country or

abroa9, in the improvement of rivers by the means recommended in the

report, the estimates of cost can only be considered as rough approximations, since the strength needed for the work will have to be determined by trial. For this reason we think it in the interest of economy

that works should not in the first year be undertaken at more tllan one

or two of the points for which estimates are submitted.

C. B. COMSTOCK,

Major of Engineers and Bt't. Brig. Gen.'

BENJAMIN HARRISON.

REPORT..

,

OFFICE OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER COMMISSION,

Saint Louis, Ja'nuary 8,1881.

SIR: The Mississippi River Commission has the honor to submit the

following report, embracing1. A statement of the progress made in surveys, observations, and examinations. ' .

*H. R. Ex. Doc. 95, (6th Cong., 2d 86S8.

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