Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1824-02-13

and Kanawha rivers and for other purposes the
commissioner of the James and Jacksons river most
respectfully reports =
That after the necessary preparation for entering
on the duties of his Office he proceeded to the APP
ponment of MIR. Moncure Robinson as his engineer.
| Having then employed Mai. John Staples, as gene
raj superintendent of labor, and purchaser of mate
rails with instructions to engage competent force,
for widening and deepening the old canal, his next
and most important care was, to give thorough in
vcstigaton to the plan of operations then III pro-
;ess, under the direction of the James River Com
pany, and the alterations proposed by their engineer
Col. John G.. Gamble, which will be seen in the
campaigning report TO the Commissioner marked A,
well in his Inconsistencies to the j. X. c., refer
red to in the said report, also in the reply of the
President of that board whichlast will be
found in the Cd Auditors Office. The very high res
pcct which is due TO the opinions of these gem
tiencn, was well calculated to excite much anxiety
and uneasiness i'll the Commissioner, who de-
eide upon questions important to the navigation
The most mature dcliberation therefore used on
critical examination of himself and his engineer.
He will take occasion here to remark, that he
among the Commissioners who were required on the
18th OF July, 1890, to view the change which was
proposed in the original plan of Moore and Briggs,
according to report of Isaac Briggs, engineer to
the James River Company, which was laid before
them. Eight out of nine of the Commissioners were
present They employed two days in examining it,
, and unanimously approved Of it, except that part
which related to the plan of locking down into the
river at Balls sluice, which was rejected. This
was afterwards adopted another view, when
your Commissioner was not present, and contract
made with John Dalton, for the execution of the
locks from which he did not withhold his sanction
The saving of 10000, was to be sure, an impor-
tant consideration, but dceming it always bad poll
cy in canal navigation, to expose the main line of
commerce to the fluctuations of the river, the COM
missioner, after he came into Office, determined to
| r. tho h,1o
down under the protection of the guard gate. The
contract with Dalton was therefore annulled, new
one made, and twenty-five hundred dollars allowed
him for the work done, and the expense of removing
| his materials
With regard to the of Tuckahoc ravine as
part OF the canal, we were of opinion it would be
very impolitc to abandon it. The dam across James
river, at Fores fsh-dam, is calculated to furnish
supply of water to the principal line, from the arch
TO Wickham's bridge, distance off miles SO chains
viz: 3 miles 10 chains to the guard lock Fergu-
sons fish-pond; mile as chains from thence to the
middle mouth, and 2 miles II chains from thence to
Wickham's bridge.
The plan proposed By Coll Gamble, would retain
only miles 10 chains of this viz from the arch to
the fish-pond which would be altogether excavation
and emhankment, and consequently exposed to in
jury from freshes; and abandon miles and 43
chains OF natural banks, which cannot be broken,
though during freshcs the navigation may for short
time be impeded, it will in portion of every line
OF canal, where the water is received from the river
he idea of the Inconvenience which is so much
dreaded, of its being filled with sand and mud from
the adjacent lands, does not appear to be well foun-
ded' The high land generally is not much mixed
with sand; and that portion of the soil which is sand
when brought down by washing rains is, by its gra-
vly deposited before it reaches the ravne, which is
situated IN low grounds nearly all the way, at
considerable distance from the foot of the hill. And
tins effect will be rendered more certain by the fow
ing OF the water up the bays the mouths of the RI
vuets which descend from the high lands. This
reasoning is supported by the fact that in all the
excavation that has been done in the ravine, there
has been little sand seen. The auvion is al
! most entirely mud, which, when the ravine has been
once excavated, he carried off by exciting cur
rent all the way from Wickhams bridge, which will
rush through the large oodgates that placed at
the lower mouth four feet below the bottom of the
canal. And this can BE done as often occasion
requires. And if this operation should be neglected
TIL at any time the mud deposited, shall become in
little degree compact, is believed that an iron
drag attached to the stern of boat, and dragged
along while the current is flowing will produce the
desired effect. And here let it be remarked that the
water IN this portion of the canal is entirely under
control, by means of the guard locks Wickham's
bridge, and the shpond, and the guard gate at the
middle mouth. 1t may be drawn off entirely, or adj
mitted in whatever quantity is desired, to the surface
OF the water above the upper guard lock at Wick
hams bridge, SO as to scour the Channel, without
danger to those natural banks which time has form
ed INTO too solid mass, to be injured by any cur
rent that may be necessary TO effect this object. In
Short IT is not hazardng much to say, that this
4 miles and 43 chains can be kept clean at much
less expense than the same distance in any other
part OF the canal, from the basin to Peasantss Is
| land Another objection to the abandonment of
this portion of the principal line is, that this long
sheet of water from the fork of the middle mouth to
| the western mouth, miles and 20 chains, would
become stagnant, and produce a deleterious effect
upon the health of the neighbors.
But, the most important objection, so far as it re-
| CARDS the navigation, is not yet touched The ex-
pectations of that enlightened body of men in New
| York, who have furnished light our path, have
! been sadly disappointed in the distance to which
! full supply of water feeder will sustain their
navigation. The information derived from General
Cooke letter, hereto annexed, is conclusive upon
this subject, and shows that from Is to 18 miles is
as lar as they can deSend upon feeder. Would
1t not be bad policy, after building dam over James
river to supply miles SO chains of canal with wa
ter, TO cut off miles 43 chains of it, and add so
much to the next line, particularly when there is
| 100 much reason 10 apprehend that dam cannot
be located at Pleasantss Island, without the most
manifest danger of very great injury to the lands,
and health, of that neighborhood, Gin this opinion.
every engineer who has seen the site since it was
designated by Moore and Briggs, as well as your
commissioner, agree,) and when it is considered
| too that lateral canal up Tuckahoe creek, which
there is every believe will at future dav
be constructed, must be supplied with water from
the feeder up James river ?-This is five and half
miles.
The distance from Wickham's bridge TO Maiden's
Adventure falls, is nearly Is miles We must keep
IN view, also, that the we are to the great
mart, for the commerce that is to be carried on
through the whole line to the Kanavha, the more