St. Landry democrat., 1891-05-16
Report of NEr. p. HI. Thompson, AssIs.
tant Engineer ON the Improve.
ment Of Bayou Teche.
Naw NrIaops Ia Ian. 81. 1879

New Orleans, La jan ~, 1891.
Sir: I respectfully submit the following re-
port of my examination OF Bayou Teche from
st. Martinsville to Port Barre :
The distance from ST. MartinsVllle 70 fOrI
Barre is stated by persons familiar "tln lio
stream to be about IS miles Tire bayou Is
navigable throughout its entire lengtn wnen
ever the Mississippi River reaches stage tnaC
is 10 feet above low water at New orleans as
at such times the water flows freely lnto LILO
Teche from the COurtaDledu.
Assuming such stage Of water the depths at
various points would be as follows:
Port Barre. .....-..-..----.-.--'''''
Arnaudvlle -......-....---
Breaux Bridge -...--.-..---..-......
st. Mari instllle.
This is the least stage of water that would
render the navigation practicable at all tlnles
TO secure it and at the same time preserve
the connection with the CourUableau would re-
Quire the construction or two locks, one ut ST.
Martinsvlle and the other at Port Barre.
At Arnaudvie, 80 miles above 81. Martins
Vile the bayou Fuselier empties into the
Teche This is d short stream, not more IMAM
3 miles in length, and it Is d fork or Bayou
BUurbeux, which latter Is the source OF Bay ou
VernilslOu.
The Bourbeux was formerly an outlet OF the
COurtableau, leaving the latter Il stance
| above the Teche, ana forms the outlet for the
drainage of Il large portion VI the parish VI Ht.
Landry. The lower portion OF Tile bouIpeuA
has become much obstructeu, ana, as eonso
| qutnce, the flow down the Fuselier is constant
| aud large 1t is, think, enough 50 TO supply
| the proposed slack water navigation -.:.,
A very serious objection to tile construction
| of the proposed locks is found III the existence
! OF large draInage dltcheS by which all the ram
tall is thrown INTO the Itche. Should The pro
| posed Improvement be made and the current
| destroyed, there would be d bar formed at the
| mouth of each OF the bitches which in u few
years would seriously interfere Win haVlsa-
| ton.
Between St. Martinsville and Port Barre
| there 10 about 40 OF these bitches.
! swell Of about feet, from excessive ram,
is not uncommon i'll the upper Teche
| lean see nothing i'll the interests involved 10
| Justify the expenditure required for the locks.
1t il true the country is extremely fertile. Is
| well populated, and the area III cultivation IL
expanding largely every year; also tnat they
| are now compelled either to haul the crops ana
supplies to aud from the railroad OF Walt LOT
| the annual rise i'll the Mississippi.
The great complaint OF the people is the I'M
certainty of their communications. "neh Ih9
| veal her is bad the road, are llnpaesanle' anu
| the crops cannot be moved before the oay Oh
rises.
| i think the best solution for this question
would be to build a low water dam at 81. Mdf-
tlusyille OF such height lis to back The water 10
Leonvllle: this could easily be done at an e1-
lense OF $4,000.
as the head OF navigation Tor large steamers
in fact they have recently declined 10 20 ABOVE
New Iberia. 80,
At the present time the crops from both
above and below st Martinsvlle are brought
to that point i'll barges aud transferred 10 the
railroad.
The construction of a low-water dam would
interfere but slightly with the current and mol
al all with the traffic. 1t would give all the up
per portion Of the Teche permanent and re
| liable means of communication and fully mee
all present and future demands.
STATISTICS.
The area OF the country tributary to the up
per Teche is well settled and extends for sew
eral miles back from the stream. 1T produces
annually about rs follows
| Cotton seed UoLs.- wv
, | R1ce pe'l ioio. AA'oo
This constitutes the outward tonnage. TIT
> inward, consisting of lumber and family sup
plies, is correspondingly large.
In my opinion, unless some measures ar
adopted for closing the drainage canals ant
t preventing the leaving of sunken logs i'll tn
bayou, it will not be many years before tn
L Teche will cease to be a navigabIe stream.
=, ANY improvement which does not include
l. remedy for these two evils would be vast
: OF money. ,
+ Herewith please find map to accompany Thu
report
| P. Il. THOMPSON,
. Assistant Engineer
!. Capt. W. L. Fisk, Corps of Engineers, U. :. A.