The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1897-08-28
TO SPEND 100000
This Money is to be Used in I'm
proving the Monongahela
Maj. Powell Recommends the Rebuild
ing OF Lock No. 1, and the Enlarge.
ment Of Locks 2, 8, 4 and 5.-All the
the Dams Are to be Raised.

Maj. Powell Recommends the Rebuild
ing Of Lock No. 1, and the Enlarge.
ment Of Locks 2, 8, 4 and 5.-All the
the Dams Are to be Raised.
If the plans and wishes of Major
Charles +. Powell United States en-
gineer, are carried out the improve
ments which viii be made on the
Monongahela river will surpass the
best hopes OF the rivermen. In re-
port just completed and sen: to Gen.
John NJ. Wilson, chief of United
States engineers, Maj. Powell recon-
mends the building of new lock in
place Of present No. /, enlargement
of locks 2, 3, and 5, frightening of
all dams TO give an 9-foot depth in
all pools, dredging of the pool chan
nels and other improvements estima-
ted to cost nearly $2,000,000.
In the cours of his report Maj,
Powell gives history of the Monon-
gahela lock system, the late govern
ment purchase and the steady in
crease in traffic on the stream. The
following is taken from his report;
THE tendency to move up the riv-
er in developing the coal trade shown
in the necessity for charging the IA
ciities of dams 3, 4 and 5 has not
yet ceased, and with the new mines
now opened and being opened the
facilities of dam No. will in short
time be totally inadequate to meet
the demands of the trade 1t is a
fair presumption that with the free
ing of the river from tolls the bust
ness at the several locks will in
crease, and it, as has been asserted
by coal operators and others engaged
in the passenger and general freight
business, the traffic has suffered from
the lack of adequate facilities in the
past, and which seems correct. the
demand for the enlargement and
betterment of the works will become
more imperative.
FREE RIvEE INCREASED BUSINESS.
'Only little more than month
has passed since the purchase of the
property by the government, and
within that period there has already
been noticeable increase in the use
Of the locks especially by passenger
steamers, miscellaneous harbor tugs
and excursion barges New daily
lines of steamers from Pittsburg to
Morgantown, W. Va, and between
Pittsburg and Monongahela City
have already been put in operation.
The aggregate tonnage of freight
on the MonongaheIa for 1896 was s.
9S9,l59 tons. principally coal, and
iron and steel products, although
considerable amount of general
freight was also carried. This shows
a traffic on the interior waterways of
the United States next in order to
that Of st. Marys Falls canal.
Experience has shown that the
limit Of safety on eight feet draft is
5000 tons Of freight, which can be
most conveniently distributed in
fleet ofcoalboats, l75 feet long and 26
to q feet wide. As it is now no
lock on the river will pass such
fleet except at two or more lockages,
causing a separation Of the fleet, loss
OF time and detention to other crafts.
The need OF enlarged facilities at
dams Nos. and is more urgent
than elsewhere, although the neces-
sity for improvement at the other
locks cannot be overlooked and pro-
vision for satisfying which should
not be postponed
''To add an additional lock at each
dam would give only partial relief,
and to put third lock on the land
side or at the opposite end of the
dam would be impracticable. The
second locks at dams Nos. /, 2, 3,
and 4 have widths of Sc feet and
would require only lengthening at
one end to give an available cham
Der, $50 feet long in order to become
Immediately useful in passing a feet
of the proposed dimensions.
NEW LOCK AT NO. l.
THE position of the harbor line
and other restrictions about No. |
lock and the fact that here the most
numerous lockages are necessary,
would appear to dictate the con-
struction of new lock of the pro-
posed dimensions to take the place
of the existing small lock. The Mo-
nongahela Navigation Company was
restricted in its charter to fixed
height Of dams, but as no such re-
strictions now exist there is no rea-
son at present known why the crest
of the dams should not be raised to
a height sufficient to afford least
depth of s feet in the pools of dams
Nos. /, 2 and 3. Dam No. 4, afford
ing now a depth of only 4 feet at
the lower sill of lock No 5. might
be with much advantage raised per
manently about 2 feet and provided
with a form of iron or steel pcrma-
nent adjustable top to add 2 feet
more during the summer, so that 5
feet of depth would be maintained
at the upper end Of the pool and in
lock No. 5. The same comparative
ly inexpensive methods of increasing
the depth of pool Nos. 6 and 7 would
also be advisable. Besides raising
the dams, dredging of the pool chan
nels at certain places is recommend
ed. A desired improvement recon-
mended is the lengthening of the
tenders and mooring cribs IN the
vicinity of number of locks. To
extend the existing cribs on the
lines recommended will, of course,
require considerable dredging, but
the result would be a material
Strengthening Of the channel at the