Sugar planter. [volume] (West Baton Rouge [i.e. Port Allen, West Baton Rouge Parish, La.]) 1856-1925, 1866-05-26
IA NEW LEVEE SYSTEM.
PLAouEn1xE, May Oath, 1866

adopt new ideas upon the subject of lev
ees, and as great misfortunes are apt t.
suggest new schemes OF re1ned,
for the future, we find that the mint
of the public is beginning to sug
gest the building Of levees out Of some
durable material 50 as to prevent, if pos
sible, future foundations. The levees should
be put back far enough to make them
last fifty years, and when this is done,
the people conscious Of security for the
future, will not only return to their homes
which they have abandoned in dispair,
but a large migration must take place
to our a%lluvial lands, which will fill up and
develop their resources, the fertility of
which is not cxcelled by any in the
world. 7
You suggested in your last issue the
building Of brick walls along the dan.
gerous localities. and this subject, in my
opinion, should be fully canvassed. This
plan had already suggested itself to my
mind. Permit me to lay down a plan
by which, l think, the brick system would
be carried out on a cheap scale. Let the
quantity Of brick to make an acre of
wall, of such thickness az should be
adopted, be made upon every acre Of the
base of the levee. The soil and water
could be had or the ground and the wood
at q very short distance. In building
the levee, the mechanic would only have
to carry his brick, at the farthest a hun
dred feet on each side of the kiln. The
next question that arises is, which would
be the best position to build the wall
FIRST, q brick wall starting four feet under
the ground, in the centre of the levee, a
foot thick and rising two feet higher
than the highest water, with dirt thrown
as a support on each side. Now a ques-
ton arises-would the crayish undermine
This, of course, q only be tested
by experience. At all events, should this
occur, it would entirely prevent them
from boring into the body Of the levee,
and by the percolating of a swift stream
of water, often concealed from the eye
cause crevasses. This is shown from
the fact Of following up their holes in
water, in our old l~evees, and finding
holes as large al a hogshead. The sec
ond plan, and one l think feasible, perhaps
The best, would be to build a cemented
brick wall in front of the levee, accord.
to the depth of the water to be resisted,
and starting, say four feet under the
Let us take, say eight feet of
to be provided against, the wall to
be two feet higher than the highest
water, making fourteen feet in height al
together,--and say six feet thick
Throw in support Of it, one half the dirt
make the levee according to the base
low laid down by the Levee Board, on
The land side, and I think you would have a
stronger levee than any that could be made
# dirt. The immense advantage would
that the dirt portion would be always
dry and no sloughing in wet weather,
md we would not have the labor con-
called from the field to prevent
crevasses.
A four foot wall might answer as we'll,
out these plans are matters of estimates
md costs. It is high time that some i'm
orovement were made in our levee sys-
tem. Old fogyism has held sway long
Will some of your friends en-
courage this matter by giving us the ben
Eft of their experience ?-Of what it
would cost. on a large contract, say TWEEN
y acres, in length of a brick wall four
teen feet high and four, five or six feet
thick-throw in support say one-half the
lirt to make the dirt as required under
he present levee laws, and what would.
% the difference in cost?
d'IBERVILLE