Wheeling compiler. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [i.e. W. Va.]) 1829-1831, 1830-12-22

IS deeply to be regretted-Butit is, never.
heless, confidently believed, that by q ju-
i.,ious change in the mode of conducting
.his work, steam boat navigation could be
accomplished 10 Lyhchburgh, for about the
sum Of SIX hundred thousand dollars.
That part Of the improvement which
forms the road 20 Coviugton and kanawha,
was never well located, graduated or con-
siructed, but with the exception Of few
miles, which 1t viii be indispensably ne
ccssary 20 pave, no expenditure will be
required, other than TO keep It IN proper re-
pair fl some time.
The road which lies between the great
falls &C Kanavha and Charleston has not
been flushed, owing TO the failure Of the
10 comply with their engage
meuts The rear approach TO your session
induced he james River Company to re-
l,ain from entering into new contacts,
until tie subject could be fully presented
60 YOU.
The location OF the residue Of this road
from Charlestowu to Sandy, does a great
credit to the Judgment and skill OF the
Pnncinal Engineer, and will be a work
which the State may advert to with plea
sure. Yet there Is IN the arrangement,
growing cut Of the terms of the law, some
defect: ass The comuicrclgl point on that
frontier may be thrown beyond the jurls-
diction of the State, and thus loose many
of the contemplated benefits. This can
easily be remedied new legislative en-.
actmeut.
The construction ofthe western part OF
the Turnpike has been contracted for, and
is ia progress. Messrs Cotiman, Royce
and ChappeN, the under;akers, had finish
ed about Is miles Of il early IN October
last, 10 q manner highly satisfactory, and
every expectation is confidently entertain
ed, that they win faithfully and Punctualiy
perform their engagements.
The expenditures made for the improve
mcatofthe Kenawba river, tIe DINER branch
OF this channel to the west, have not been
attended with all the benefits which were
expected TO flow from them.
IN attempting to improve the bed of the
river, It Is perfectly obvious that all the
work would be performed whilst the river
was at IFS greatest depression. At 'hs
stare of the water, the channel is often DIFF
lerent from that observed by the current,
when there Is but an iuconsiderable lreshet
Whilstthe navigation through sloals and
r.pples is benefited at this stage Of de-
preston by deepening the bed Of the river,
and by the construction Of wing dams de-
signed and calculated to throw ID greater
column of wafer into it, is frequently in
jured at a point of greater eleyutjou-be-
cause the natural channel is often found ON
the one side observing its course near the
shore, while the artificial channel IS most
commonly attempted in the direct hoe' By
excavations made in the ripple or natural
dam.
By this means, there is danger Of injur-
inc or destroying boats on the wing dams,
when there Is an inconsiderable rise in the
water, which sometime floats the boat upon
these dams, and compels The boaimen to
tear away the work to suffer the vessel to
pass; aud when there is a more considera-
ble reshet the work becomes useless
Moreover, the swiGuess Of the current in
those sluices Is often such, as TO require
many hours to pass them, with a small
cargo on board, with the assistance de-
rived from cords fastened to rings at fixed
points. drawn by a double complement of
men. Since the introduction of steamboats,
on that river, it Is asceriained that to pass
these sluices at one stage of the water, Is
so tedious and difficult, that the attempt Is
sometimes altogether abandoned. When
the boat enters the chautel. her width, IN
c'udug her wheels, fills up so much Of the
way, that the whole forms a kind of dam
TO the swiftly descending current, which
rises IN front, and so increases tho resist
auce, that the navigators are obliged very
often TO stop to permit The water to flow by.
The whole is a work of much la5our.
II, then, the disbursements on this river
have not conferred all the benefits expect
ed to flow from them, it is owing to the
kind of improvement which has been re-
sorted to. Il is believed that sIuice navi-
cation. whichever attempted, viii be found
oaIly inadequate 90 The attainment OF any
thing permanent OF important
If further expenditures should be deem
ed expedleut, It becomes a matter Of earn
est consideration, whether a damacross the
river below Elk Shoals, with a lock on the
right banks, would not In the end be the
cheapest, and it is certainly the best mode
of overcoming the difficulty presented by
that obstacle.
Tho communication by canal, or rail-
road, from James River to the New River.
or Upper haoawha, is a subject too i'm
porlant not to occupy a prominent place
10 the arrangement of these public works.