Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-08-07
A NOVEL WAY OF cLKAaIsa A CHANNEL.

An important test, calculated to demon.
strate the feasibility Of maintaining navi-
gable channel throug hout the entire length
of the Mississippi and other great Western
rivers, at comparatively small expense, is
about to be entered upon at st. Paul,
ostensibly. though not directly, under
Government auspices, by the inventor, N.
J. Adams The invention is nothing more
nor less than hydraulic Submarine bat.
terry, consisting of tubing triangular in
shape and arranged with two chambers
The main chamber, intended to contain
the water with which the battery is fed,
occupies the upper or wide part of the
tuhe. and takes up fully two-thirds OF the
interior space. The lower chamber, or
narrow part OF the tube, forms the battery,
which consists of perforations four inches
apart on opposite sides OF the cone.
Through these perforations jets of water
will operate upon bars of sand and other
deposits, displacing them and holding them
in suspense until the natural current of the
stream can carry them away to seek
some other place of rest, which ma
turally will be in sloughs and low
places, thereby forming banks in nearly
straight line and shaping the river channel
similar to a canal. By the introduction of
communicating cylinders at intervals of
enc hundred feet, which can be opened or
closed by means of drop leaves on the out.
side, easily reached and operated, the
battery may be used at any point where its
services may be required. Thus channel
of uniform depth can easily be main.
tanned. The design of Mr.. Adams is to
lay the pipe in the center of the river, in
one unbroken length, and operate it with
powerful hydraulic pumps, worked by
| steam, stationed at the initial point. A
pressure of thirty pounds to the square
inch is to be maintained in the main
chamber, which in turn will exert prer.
sure of fifteen pounds per square inch
upon the lower or battery chamber. This
will provide jets of sufficient strength to
remove sand, mud, and even clay, and cut
a channel to any required depth. Mr.. Ad-
ans maintains that single line of tubing
will create of itself, without the assistance
of the river current beyond carrying away
the materials held in suspense, channel
two hundred feet wide where a navigable
depth of ten feet of water is sought.
The invention, which promises to accom-
! plish so much and at comparatively trifling
expense, is the result of six years study Of
bar formations and river currents while en-.
gagged as a civil engineer along the banks
of the Mississippi. Mr.. Adams took out q
patent in 1875, and shortly thereafter was
solicited by French engineer named Der.
geron to allow the apparatus to be tested
in the harbor at Boulogne. sur Mer, at the
mouth of the river Seine, France, where
existed dangerous bar 300 feet in length,
effectuaily blockading entrance to any but
vessels of light draft. The French Gov
L. IL. l. - >
placed on the bar, and they have accom-.
plished the work intended for them SO
thoroughly that the harbor is accounted
one of the best on the coast of France.
Similar experiments in England have also
| proved successful; so he claims there can
be little doubt that the experiment about
to be made at st. Paul, where a bar two
miles long extends across the bed OF the
Mississippi, will also be accompanied with
equally satisfactory results. The tubes
for this experiment were constructed in
Milwaukee during the winter and spring
months. They are composed of No. Is
sheet iron, ten feet long and thirty inches
wide, bent into triangular shape, and
strongly fastened, each length of ten feet
containing 1867 riyets. The width of the
sheets used is mentioned to give the
lSauci du lucd VI Vic slZc Oh the COm-
pleted tubes. At the ends of the tubes are
cast.iron fanges for fastening them to.
gether, gutta.percha caskets being inserted
between the hanges to render the Joints
water.tight. The length of tubing com.
pleted and forwarded to st. Paul is 5, 600
feet. The present intention of the Govern.
ment is to commence on the bar at that
point, and lay the tubing to st. Louis.
Should it be deemed necessary the extern.
sion may be carried to New Orleans, and
even out into the gulf through the jetties,
to accomplish what the latter have failed to
do-namely, maintain deep.water channel
for the largest ocean ships. Mr.. A lams
claims for his principle that it will enable
shipbuilders and shippers to determine
with absolute certainty the draught Of
water at their disposal from one end OF the
Mississippi river to the other, so that they
may govern themselves accordingly. Thus
far he has expended about $40, 600 in carry.
ing ON his work. Mr.. Adams left for st.
Paul to-day to personally superintend
the erection of his submarine battery
! milwaukee Correspondence Chicago Times.