San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-11-19
ARKANSAS PASS.
PROF. HAUPTS PLAN FOR JET
TIES-wHAT "OLD ARKANSAS
PASS" SAYS OF THIS PLAN.
Some Pertinent Suggestions for the
Consideration of the Improve
ment Company-Food for
Reflection.

Now that congress has been liberal
to both Galveston and Aransas-In
money to the first, and liberty to the
second-it becomes of essential inn
portance to both, that plans suitable
- the peculiarities of each, should be
discussed and the best Judgment Of
experts, who have attained eminence
in civil engineering, availed of before
the money of the government,
or of private capital, is vast
ed in fruitless efforts.
the great Importance of securing q
deepwater terminal ON the Gulf coast
west of the Mississippi, has long been
felt, and the attention of the pu0lic
has been frequently and pointedly
directed to this problem; notedly in
the paper Of Professor Lewis M
Haupt, on the "Great Transportation
Areas of the United States, ""Harbor
Bar Improvements" SHOW to Obtain
Deep Water on the Gulf and others
that have been frequently quoted,
but as yet, after score of years in
futile efforts and the expenditure of
millions of dollars, no material re-
suits nave been obtained.
Hence, now that the full amount Of
money estimated to be necessary to
complete one point has been made
available by congress, there is appar-
emit cause for congratulatiOn.
But may not this be only delu-
sion? Is 1t possible to obtain the re-
qulsite channel as prescribed by the
Board of Engineers of 1889 under the
plans already approved, and for the
amount of money estimated to COM
plete the work? 1t is said that money
and time will remove mountains,
whilst this may be true of physical
distractions, it is not true of sand
bars, when the incessant and tireless
snsgy of the ocean is continuously
supplying material as fast as machin-
cry can remove it, unless the physi-
cal conditions existing at the site are
fully understood and the natural
forces are economical, aided, and
guided in their action, it is
utterly futile to expect improvement.
The twenty years of experiment at
Galveston, and the frequent changes
of plans and personnel in the work
already done, are sufficient evidence
that the government methods of con-
Quoting such works are radically
defective and the principles upon
which the plans have been based
were incorrect-the result has been to
push the bar over one mile farther
from the city.
1t has been stated that the sand
movements are nearly equal in a
northeasterly and southeasterly di-
rection, and OH this assumption, and
the uncertainty as to the littoral cur
rent, the original plans of
Major Howell were two par
allel jetties, two miles apart,
and "for the greater portion of their
length submerged at mean low wa
ter" to be constructed of gabions of
concrete filled with sand.
After 9707 feet of such work had
been completed on the line of the
north jetty, the official board of 1880
reported after Inspections by one of it's
members, that sit had failed to gath
or sand drift and to constitute pier,n
adding as reason sin fact the gabion-
ade has essentially gone down below
the original bottom"
Mattress and rock, jetty work, was
then commenced OH the south side of
the entrance and extending across the
main ship channel to the bar. This
proved to be serious mistake, as it's
location intercepted the southwark
ly movement of the sand as impelled
by the resultant forces, and the effect
has been to obstruct the old channel
by sand bar, and to increase the re-
sistance to the escaping waters at ebb
tide to such an extent as to endanger
ial N Nf h
bay had cut several passages across
Fort Point south of the jetty and
threatened to ignore the work entire
ly and make new inlet between the
old one and the city.
To prevent this sea wall or in
tended extension of the jetty has been
built along the inner flank OF the is
land. Another effect of the present
work has been to push the crest of the
bar IA miles Outward, thus adding
IL miles to the ultimate length of
the works, in deep water, at a cost of
several millions, the estimates hav-
ing increased from S1,300,0O0 to over
S., 100000.
This method of construction has
been freely criticised by Prot. Haupt,
one of the most conscientious stu
dents of maritime constructions in
the United States. In the Franklin
Institute Journal of July, 1889, he
SAYS: "The course from whence
comes the sand being known, the
remedy would seem to be simple, and
the first requirement would be to
keep it out while not obstructing the
entrance of the tide. The barrier
rnnat Ia rnlacad hatMeen the main