The record-union., 1897-04-17

In his clear and concise manner, Chief
Engineer of the Commission of Public
Works, J r. Price has furnished for
the Record Union the following art1-
Gle on drainage, as applied to the Sac
,amento River, and the necessity of
operating dredgers to assist the riv-
er in clearing out its channel to the
same depth as was marked in 1904.
Though written from the standpoint of
an engineer, the practicability of the
methods to be used and the results to
be gained, are made so clear as to be
understood by all. The paper sub
mitted by Engineer Price is as follows:
DEEP STREAMS
In the consideration of the question of
drainage published in the Record
Union" Of April II, 1897, 1 concluded
from the reasons therein stated that
for good drainage we must have rap
idly descending streams or deep
streams. That we might expect ma
ture to assist US in the possible contin-
gency of our helping ourselves.
I infer from my reasoning in the ar
ticle of April 11th that much good can
be accomplished by the proper train
ing of our rivers.
This line of action seems to be indi-
Gated in this reasoning and therefore
if we constantly keep in mind the i'm
portance of deep channels with rea-
sonable width We cannot fail to reach
a better drainage, better navigation
and better conditions as a whole
ESTABLISHED PRINCIPLES.
River treatment is to a certain ex
tent experimental. Just what effect
will be produced by a certain cause is
often involved in questions of expert
ment, local influences and an incom-
plete knowledge of the question to be
considered. There are certain we'll es-
tablished principles, however, that have
been so thoroughly tested that to ques-
tion their accuracy or effect would be
equivalent to pronouncing the re-
searches of man a failure, and expe-
rtence of no avail.
A STRIKING EXAMPLE.
One of the most striking examples of
the possibility of the power of water
seems to be the most paradoXical, viz:
that a river can deepen its bed, scour
away the resisting material even at a
depth many feet below the surface of
bay or ocean into which it flows. Yet
engineers have demonstrated beyond a
possible doubt that this can be done
and is done by nature itself when the
conditions are proper for the work to
be performed.
EUROPEAN RIVERS.
Many insignificant rivers and streams
in Europe have been treated and rem
dered deep navigable waterways where
it was impossible for a craft of any
IL,
the work was completed.
PRACTICAL DEMONSTRATIONS.
1t is natural to presume that a body
Of water flowing out over or against
the ocean or a bay would so be retard
ed in its velocity that for some distance
before we reach the ocean or bay the
flow will gradually be SO reduced as
to produce an engagement of the riv-
er near its mouth. Yet experiment
shows that as long as the volume of
water is confined to reasonable width
of channel the elevation of it's surface
is very small to enable it to discharge
the contents of a river. 1t also indi-
Gates that the greater the volume of
water the smaller will be the grade of
the surface of moving water 1t has
been demonstrated not only by actual
experiment but by observation of the
action of streams, that a river or canal
will require only a slight elevation of
the surface of the water to produce
motion In other words if we desire
to discharge a body of water into Sui
sun Bay, the level of the surface of the
water in the bay might extend far up
the stream, yet when the water is put
in motion by the elevation of it's sur
face even one inch per mile, we OBJ
serve the whole body Of water below
as we'll as above the level of the water
in the bay will move with a given
velocity. But under this supposition
we might infer that we could pass a
given volume of water on the lower
reaches of the river, through much
smaller cross-sectionaI area than in
the upper reaches. This is far from
the truth Water with a, given velocity