The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-03-29
THE EADs PLAN.

In the Chicago Engneeyi,1g Ncr s. OF datt
February %, there is very interesting paper
from Mr.. r. +. McMath, civil engineer, il
reply to Capt. Eads address. delivered before
the ST. Louis Merchants Exchange and the
New Orleans Chamber Of Commerce, setting
forth his plan for the improvement Of the
navigation of the Mississippi.
AS the improvement of the Mississippi
river has, to a certain extent taken the form
Of discussion between military and civil en-
gineers, or between the Humphreys and
Eads schools, Mr.. McMath's professional
standpoint is most favorable one for fair
opinion, as he is a civil engineer in the employ
Of the government and proclaims himself a
dissenter, to greater Or less extent from
the views of either of these factions The
| writer begins by insisting upon a modifica-
ton OF Mr.. Eads' postulates, that the velocity
| of the current controls absolute the amount of
sediment carried, and that the relation be-
tween load and velocity is modified by depth.
He insists that the adjustment is not instan-
| taneous, nor even approximate. But, upon
this point, we prefer to refer our readers to
the extracts from Mr.. McMath's article
which appears in another column.
After combating the theories and science
Of Mr. Eads in detail, the writer finally in
dorses his theory Of concentration and con-
servation of the river volume" as opposed to
the outlet theory Of Humphreys and Abbot,
and he states Mr. Eads' theory as follows:
From the above it will be clearly seen that
he proposes to regulate the. river bed by making
the width uniform. narrowing wide place. and
closing island chutts; rs result Of snch regu~
lation the waterway will be deepened and the
Gil adm mr. hr fhn nod
line lowered"
This, which Mr.. McMath says comprehends
the Eads theory, he AYERS was stolen bodily
from a report made by himself to select
committee of Congress in 1873, except that the
most important part of the theory advanced
in his report is omitted, viz: the protection of
caving bends and exposed points, whose
debris tends to overload the current. The
following quotation from the report made by
Mr.. McMath in 1873 is offered in substantial
ton Of his claim:
The system PROPOSED is, then. in general
terms. to contract the width where it is excess
ing bends and exposed points. To carry out
this system fully will require both time and
moneF-how much it is impossible to estimate
with certainty. The problem is enunciated only;
its arithmetic cal answer is not now in reach and
this generation must be content with knowing
only the first terms Of the series When
more be com puted then than the cost now will
be assured and also the final solution Of the
question Of protection against overflow AS the
mississippi will then be comparatively a clear
stream, flowing in a permanent bed. with
banks relatively ,auch higher Man no'r as the
scOur being confined. the bed OF the stream 2CiU
be permanently lonered
With this point we have no concern, for If
the theory is correct, it matters little who |
II
details we care as little, and we are perfectly |
willing for Eads and McMath, Humphreys |
and the Levee Commission to discuss these to |
their hearts content, if they do not interfere |
with our levees, which experience proves to |
be the only protection against overhows.
With the general conclusions of this article |
Of Mr. McMaths we are bound to concur,
and these are that thu improvement of the
navigation OF the Mississippi river involves
the study and labor of generations and the
expenditure of tens of millions Of dollars
Therefore, when Mr.. Eads talks about putting
Cairo on a HILL" and obtaining a twenty
foot channel and ocean navigation to St.
Louis we must earnestly protest against
his being encouraged in any such projects at
The expense of our certain and reliable system
IF levees. Ii these propositions are true,
then such projects as are proposed by Mr..
Eads, ard in the bills introduced in the Sen
ste by Mr.. Cockrell, Of Missouri, and in the
House by Mr.. Gibson, are practically worth
ess as measures for the reclamation or pro-
ection from overflow Of the Mississippi allu-
7ium.
AS for the mere theoretical questions at
ssue between Gen. Humphreys, Mr.. Eads,
Major Suter, Mr.. McMath and others. our
conclusion from their discussions is. that they