The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-10-03

attention 10 this department Of our social COON
omy.
There Is smother thing that is most injurious
thst would not occur II We had proper drainage
system. aud hat lie The daily efsping OF our gut
tiers Of mornings and the deposition or the matter
on the streets In piles. that the snn may heat |
them, breeding malaria. All this should be
Active measures will have to be taken and pnr.
sued without change every time a new admin |
istrsiion c1mes In. II must be adopted and then
In.
PRor. FoHTAtFEs PLAN.
Knowing that Prof. Fen,aine had devoted
much time aud study 10 the drainage question Of
our CITY, and appreeisti1g how much weight
would be given 10 his OPINIONS. o representative
Of the DEMOCRAT called upon him, with the FOL.
lowing result.
Between New Orleans and The Baz7 there can
be no doubt but that at is bottom tho MissEs-
aippi river is now running NJ hill. as The bottom
here is greater than at the bar.
The surface current Ia greater than below, Tor
there is little or none there, ard hence what we
zee In ,epid motion above is not at all indicative
Of that below. Reasoning from this, other out
let's would increase the bottom current and afford
a more speedy outflow Of the river. Nature has
already indicated that she intends now, as she
has before, TO Effect an outlet to ths sea through
Lake pontehartrain, and the Bonnet Care Gre
vase is the result.
Taking this ss a Fixed fact in nature, the Pro-
fessots Idea to avail himself Of IL with refer
ence TO the drainage Of New Orleans. His plan
lie TO open and guide the mississippi current rnn.
ming through the Bonnet Oafre crevasse 80 that
IL might course along near the edge Of the lake
nearest The city. forming there
DEEP CHANNEL
into which through several outlets from the city
sewers they might be emptiei.
The eiteng current Of The river would at once
carry II tbe malaiious drainage This canal
might cause a large deposit In The lake itself,
which al o tut,trp date wtIjd rpn1nr That
broad expanse q marsh. and afterwards dry
plain with small body Of water in the centre,
but In matters III which the health Of great
city s involved ibis would amount TO mere
ttife. OF course this plan would come IN con.
tact and opposition with several industries and
interests. aud would epgender much i'll feeling,
but this must be expected.
The Professor was satisfied that this opening
Of The Bonnet Care erevssse snd the formation
a rear canal or river channel wculd be Of tht
greatest benefit as 1t could be led back into the
river down #""
NEAR rHE ENGLISH TuhN,
ard thus steady current surrounding our city
would be insured. The Professor had made
neatly drawn map showing more fully than our
space would admit the details OF his ideas. but
We regret we cannot present 1t TO our readers.
~ SURVEYOR j. A. p'HBmHoouR1's OPINION.
In response to the reporter our City Surveyor
presented the following report as embodyipg his
views:
OFFICE Cry euRvHyoH.
New Orleans, May lB. 1877 !
Hon Jno. McCaffrey, Administrator Of Improve
nenta:
!sif.--At your request have made thorough
examination of the protection levee along the
lake ahore. from the New canal to the upper line
protection levee, distance Of 22g0 feet. That
levee being built with very fine sand, s easily
washed away by the least movement OF the lake
water. The reve,ment on the outside consists of
double row Of three planks, buried at the time
If construction about three feet into the sand.
During every N rh. northwest and west wind
the waves roll np TO The very top of The revet.
| ment. and going on an incline plane of - de-
greea, gradually carries away the pand from the
footing OF the plapkH, and undermines the revet.
| ment TO such an extent ss to allow the swelling
10 paes under IL. thereby reaching the levee,
| FROM which 1t quickly washes away the fine sand
Of which 1t IL mad.
TO OVERCOME THis EVIL
aud save from destruction that embanhmert
which has coat the city, several hundred thou
eand dollars, | pronose TO prevent any further
digging nj the foot Of the vetrnsnt by building
at about ITO feet fron, the erd sbf said revetment
| double row Of close ppg q feet 6 inches apart
| secured together by means Of a Longitudinal
piece, lied through the space Of q feet O inches
| attvery feet with q inch round iron bars, with
head st one end and screw and nut st the other.
The epace between the bottom Of the lake
which Al that distance is about 21s feet from the
fascihes, on the top of which brick bats ballast
tthe latter being better on account Of lite weight,
will be put to keep down the fascines.
The waves beating against this breastwork,
built with piles inches wide planted at dis-
tan of or az inches from each other, will dig
the sand from under the fasones, which. on 90
count of the weight of the ballast. will sink grad
ualy, thus forming at all times q perfect joint
on the bottom,
The experience have acquired in this kind of
work enables me to cay that in the course of 3
or 4 ysara, those fssoines and brckbsts will 20
down something like 3 or feet,
work similar to the one now propose
built 81 years ago on the west side of The Port
ohartrsin railroad, at least 800 feet further in the
lake than the ~ election levee and though no
taken of it, II stll exists. and s the only
protection Of that portion Of land advancing into
the lake on the said western eide of the railroad
As have stated sbove. | propose planting a
double DOW of piles by inches, Is feet long.
driven 10 feet into the rand and at feet inches
! apart, with apace OF or az Inches between
them, bolted t.gether through the feet inches
to prevent their spreading open with q inch iron
bolts on stripgers by inches inches, placed
OUTSIDE THE ROWS or FILING,
as shown on the accompanying plan aud section.
The o. at Of the above work will be as follows
for each s feet in length:
Lumber. GAO feet. counting piles ond stringerH,
At SIS per 1000 Observation-Disclosures 80 30
One Y inch iron round bolt feet 6 inches
long. Observation-Disclosures. 90
One quarter cord OF faBcineH, at So ..... 50
Ballast, 2 tons. $500. OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. 100
Labor required for planting piles, LAYING
suingere, bolts. fascines and ballast,
about Is 90
-
Total. Observation-Disclosures 1877 so
Say S. SO per running foot
The above price Of material ia very nearly
what IL will cost, but The workmanship might
differ, az 1t Ia very difficult to calculate very cor
reotly the labor required for new kind of work.
About 400 feet Of the upper end OF the proec-
ton levee ia now in a dangerous condition, and
ought to be attended to at once. In order TO
know exactly the cost price of the work, think
II would be well to have constructed by reliable
men those 200 feet. The balance could then be
done by contract.
This work would not only be beneficial In pro-
tecting the protection levee, but we're 1t to be
continued eastward 10 the Peoples avenue canal
on the line adopted by Mr.. b II for his protection
levee 1t would prevent any further cutting of the