The St. Louis Republic., 1903-12-31
PROFESSOR LEWIS HAUPT
ON MISSISSIPPI FLOODS,

Levees have demonstrated that they are
failure as means of deepening rivers
and preventing floods. according to the pa
per read by Professor Lewis II. Haupt be-
fore the Engineering Section of the Amer
lean Association for the Advancement of
Science last night.
Professor Haupt, who has been mem
ber of the Panama Canal Commission
twice, is one of the leading authorities in
the world of hydraulic engineering. having
won many medals ard awards from va
riouS scientific societies.
The, American Philosophical Society
awarded the Magelianic premium in 1857
to him: the National Export Exposition
received a gold medal at the Paris Expo
sition. He also received the Elliott Cres-
son gold medal of the Franklin Institute
IN l90l. He is the inventor of the reaction
breakwater system. which promises to
revolutioniZe the methods of deepening
harbor approaches. He also is an author
ity on river engineering. and of the Mis-
sissip2i River he said:
''Tha leyees have an1ply demonstrated
that they are failure as mode OF deep
ening your river. The reports and statis-
tics OF the last twenty years prove con-
ciusiyely that they merely result in rais-
ing the bed of the stream as fast as the
leyees are heightened.
What you need are efforts expended at
the shallow and tortuous parts of the
stream. By deepening and Strengthening
the channel at these points, you will carry
of the water at a much faster rate, thus
preventing congestion and consequent de-
posting of bars further up
After recountinR the efforts that have
been made in the last twenty years TO
prevent the disastrous floods of the Mis-
dikes. Professor Haupt said, in part, IL
Illustrating his talk with stereopticon views
showing the phycical conditions existing
in the Mississippi River valley:
HYDRAULIC DREDGES.
'Tt is reasonable TO conclude that the
effect of the ievee system upon the navi-
gable channel is at least negative, and
hence the Mississippi River Commission has
at length been forced to resort to the Use
OF powerful hydraulic dredges for the pur-
pose of temporarily increasing the depths
across the bars during the season of low
water. But so unstable are these cuts
that in some instances they are redredged
from three to four times within few
months during the low-water season and
the plant is of little use during the re-
mainder of the year
Moreover, under the act of 1892 there
would seem to be no authority for Federal
appropriations for the levees, unless they
are found TO afford ease and safety to
the navigation and commerce of the river
and to deepen the channel 1t would also
appear that the transient dredging of the
bars does not fall within the require
ments OF creating permanent channel.
nor does 1t operate to prevent destructive
floods
but 'self-preservation Is the first law of
nature and the local belief in the eff
cheney of embankments for the purpose Of
reclaiming lands or preventing injury to
the lands or private property from over
flow.' is so innate that the occupants of
such tracts are almost unit in their de-
mands for national aid for protection and
not without reason, since they have a
right to be protected in their lives, homes
and property from the ravages of a COM
IT Sinra
existing conditions there appears to be
no warrant for the application of the
funds to reclamation works pure and SIM
pie, the law should be amended and an
appropriation should be made directly for
this purpose Independently OF the COM
mercfaf or navigation requirements.
the most fertile and desirable within the
Federal domain and would become the
source of a large volume OF staple com,
modities for manufactures and food
products. There Is quite as strong an
argument for the development of this
portion of our territory by the exclusion
of foods and their dsvastations at the
expense of the general Government as
there is for the fertilization of the arid
lands of the western plains by the app!i-
cation of irrigation. While one section
the other was too little. and 1t is unques-
tionably the function of a natcTiiai gov
ernment to equaiiZs and regulate the dis
tr:butfon of this life-g1ving element for
the general welfare.
ITO this extent and for ,this purpose
levees are unquestionably useful, yet they
are not the only resource of tine engineer
ing. profession in alleviating floods and
reclaiming lands. Drainage Is an impor-
tant factor and this Is based upon the
principle of drawing down the water by
gravity TO lower levels and voiding 1t as
rapidly as the topography will permit
but. this important exped ent has been
vigorously opposed by levee advocates
and set aside untrled as purely theoret,
troI 1an G a ic tod
to few physical facts as to the direct
benefits TO be derived from the opening
of all possible avenues of escape of the
flood waters.
THE OUTLET SYSTEM.
There has been much misunderstanding
as to the practical application of this sys-
tenn, and erroneous impressions prevail as
to its results in consequence of the deduc-
tions drawn from natural crevasses
LAS the discharge from these openings
returns to the main trunk lower down,
through the tributaries. where the confiu-
ence of waters further obstructs the flow
and causes deposits, II Is claimed that
outlets would be harmful. But this is not
the condition which would prevail IL
properly constructed weirs and regulating
works were placed SO as to permit the
discharge of a portion of the excess of
the floods into suitably located impound-
ing reservoirs. remote from the erosive
action Of the river currents.
1T is also claimed that the navfgable
channel would be injured by the reduc-
ton of volume below the crevasses and
that the bed would rise in consequence
thereof. This conclusion does not appear
to be sustained either in theory or prac-
! ticc. On this point Generals Humphreys
ana Abbot state page 5N. Physics and
HydraulicsD, under the head OF Outlets:
This plan consists in reducing the food
discharge by waste-weiTs. and conveying
the surplus water 10 the Gulf by chan
neis other than that of the main river.
"'The advantages of this system have
been stoutly contested % A by many tsa y,l wri.ers