The evening times., 1897-07-06
Outline of the Work Of the Big
River Commission.
COST OF THE UNDERTAKING
Protection of the Banks With
"yicker Mattresses" to Prevent
ErosiOn-A Task That Will Extend
Over Many Years and Tax the Re-
sources of the, Next Generation.


to Congress, to distribute among the various
districts In its care the money appropriated
for the new fiscal year I, and to hear leading
representatives OF the lower Mississippi
Valley on The latter subject naturally brings
up for review the work Of this organization
and the policy which II has adopted.
By those who haYe fpnowe ed the matter
closely Il will be remembered that just
eighteen years ago Congress authorized
the creation OF e permanent commission 10
consider and mature such plan or plans
and estimates as will correct, permanently
locate and deepen the channel, and protect
the banks OF the Mississippi River, iin-
prove and Give ease TO the navigation there
of, prevent destructive floods and promote
and facilitate commerce, trade and the pos
tai rervioe'' The President, In selecting
the original seven members, and there after
In filling vacancies, was required to see that
at lrast three men were taken from the
engineer corps OF the Army and the Coast
SurveJ, ard that ut least three should e
taken from civil life, with the precaution
that two of them were engineers From
first to last the COMPOSITION OF this coinflis-
son has been OF a high character In the
past James B Eads, Benjamin Harrison,
Gen. G. B. COustock and Lieut. Col Sutef
have been members Of ~. At present the
fonowing gentlemen oompose u. Col q. l.
Gillespie. Lieut.. Col Amos Stickney and
Major T. II HandbUTy. Army engineers.
Henry L. Manndin. OF the Coast survey.
Is NJ. Harrpd. of New Orhans. and Henry
FIad. OF st LOUIS Civil engineers. and Judge
n Taylor. OF For, Wayne, Ind
After a thorough investigation of the
subject, tie commission reported to Con
IreSs In 1881, In emphatic terms and with
convincing argument, against any system
OF additional outlets. They say that when
ever a CnyaSse occurs, and the water e.
capes inland. a shoal is formed In the river
bed 'u>t lelow the break. The vcio'tty Of
the current az that point having been less
ened. there must be a deposit or sand and
other matter carried in suspension. sub
sequeut reports reaffirm this doctrine, anI
shCw W that experience Is uniform In regard
to theill effect sof extra outlets. TEepOlicy
OF concentration, therefore, is the one
adopted Said the commissionin 1881:
Bad navigation OF the riveT il caused by
excessive widths and bars and shoals re-
sultins directly theTefrom. The
work to be done, therefore, is to scour out
AMI maintain a channel through the shoals
and bars, and develop new shore lines, so
as to establish DIS far as practicable the
requisite conditions of uniform velocity
for all stages of the river" whether high
or low. The eating away of banks WAS
most active in the great bends on the
Conc3ve side. Whole plantations have
thus been destroyed. and the course OF the
stream has been greatly changed. As soon
as broadening OF the channel occurred,
the velocity would be lessened. and the
enormous masses OF excavated material
would be deposited
The width OF Ct tannel decided upon as
best suited TO the WORK in hand is about
5000 feet. Where the river is broader
than this, ii is proposed to build out a
series Of low dikes from the old shore for
the proper distance TO check the flow, to
promote the deposit " silt where the
current is thus made sluggish, and by
natural processes gradually to build up
new shores. The main channel would be
narrowed, and the current in IL improved
by these means While ID is still necessary
in order to secure, temporary relief TO
dredge a passage through the sh oals
here and there, The great aim OF the com
mission is TO cut off the supply If material
by preventing erosion For this purpose it
is proposed to protect the banks with
wicker mattresses" covered with stone
work
Experiments with this system were made
reaches of tie river. the Lake Providence
and Plum Point. each thirty or forty
miles long. Exhaustion Of appropriations
and the occurrence Of floods before the
work could be completed made the venture
something of d failure. b,t the commission
feels that the valle of the general plan
has been fairly demonstrated Last sum
mer, for instance, at low water stage,
the commission went over the river in :,
tug aud took soGndings A nd almost the
only places in the river which had hit hsrtO
horne a reputation for difficult navigation
where they got through easily were the
above places
In last years report the Commission made
Some estimates of the probable cost OF the
reyetiieEt of the river hank. In che r
earlier exper iments they had been led to
believe that the work would not cost over
S12 per running foot They now estimate
IL at $50 per foot, or $50 900 per mile.
Although the distance from Cairo TO New
Orleans BY wa'eris $50 miles, aud there are
two shores to be considered, it is believed
that uot over 500 miles of revetmeDt would
be needed Possibly this could be con-
s'ructed for $63 900 900, but 1t might re
quire S95.OO0 .0OOor 500. 900, 900, and, in
any case, the maintenance of the work after
completion would probably cost 10 per cent
in addition. These are startling figures.
Still, the work would extend over period
OF nearly forty yearssthe Commission says,
lnasmcch as the present annual supply Of
material for the wicker mattresses is suffi-
cient for the construction of only fifteen
miles The burden of taxation, therefore.
would fall mainly on the next generation
AT any tie, the plan of making the channel
permanent, giving it uniform width and
compelling the water to scour out the bed,
is, from purely engineering point Of view,
the one favored by. the ablest experts in
the country. If Congress should ever
sanction the undertaking work will be
hegun in the vicinity of Cairo and extended
down stream as fast az circumstances VII
permit
The levee system of the Mississippi has of
course, received great deal Of attention
from the commission. As TO the value Of
levees, apart from other protective works.
for keeping the channel oDen atlow water,
engineers are divided. There has always
been majority, usually large majority,
of the commission favorable to the theory
that levCes are usefut in promoting naviga-
tiop NavprfholesS ~ fsFtmpoSSihlp IN taJI