Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-10-29
ITO be Continued.
"FATHER OF WATERS"
Difficulties In the Way of Fourteen
| Foot Mississippi Channel.

Foot Mississippi Channel.
The journey of President Roosevelt
down the Mississippi river and his ad-
dress before the Deep Waterways Con-
vention at Memphis have attracted the
attention of the whole nation to the
project for a deep waterway between
the Great Lakes and the Gulf.
Mr.. L. E. Cooley, who has been
among engineers the most prominent
advocate Of this waterway, divides 1t
into three sections as follows:
The Illinois-Chicago to st. Louis
with a length Of 367 miles and a fall
of 1876 feet.
The middle Missssippi-St. Louis to
Cairo-1S6 miles long, with a fall OF
los feet.
The lower Mississippi-Cairot to Red
Rock-764 miles long, with a fall OF
275 feet.
The first section, the improvement OF
the Illinois river, offers no particular
difficulties 1t is merely a matter OF
creating slack water navigation by a
system Of locks and dams: and as rock
foundations are available for these, the
work can be carried out without seri-
Gus difficulty. We believe the prelim-
mary estimates of the government en-
gineers indicated a total cost of some
$50 ,000,0 900 for a fourteen-foot water
way from the lower end of the Chicago
drainage canal, near Joliet, to st.
Louis.
But when the problem of deep wa
terway down the Mississippi is pre-
sented. no such easy solution is possi-
BILE. No engineer who looks on the
Father Of Waters" in it's flood stage
could dream of confining that turbu-
lent flood by any dams ever erected by
man. The Mississippi below st. Louis
is like a huge rainwater spout carry
ing vast volumes Of flood water when
the rainfall is heavy, but with a flow
dwindling to very small proportions in
the dry weather Of summer and fall.
And forces that man can set at work
are puny compared with the size of
Ethis great river; and to make matters
still more difficult the river flows
through an alluvial plain, with no bot
tom anywhere to give foundation on
which possible works for river control
might be founded.
For ten years past the Mississippi
river commission has maintained a
minimum depth Of 81 feet in the low
water channel from st. Louis to the
gulf by hydraulic dredging on the bars
between the pools. At its low water
stage. of course the river is a success
sion of pools Of good depth. connected
| by stretches Of comparatively rapid
and shallow water. BY deepening these
shallow rapiCs with hydraulic dredges
during the low water months, lasting
usually from September to January.
it is possible to afford about 81 to 9
feet in depth. This work is, of course,
merely temporary and has to be done
over and over again, every season, and
in fact has to be continued during the
whole Of the low water period.
As can be readily understood. this
plan of river improvement is of linn
tied scope. Increasing the amount of
dredging cannot greatly increase the
depth of water; for as the rapids con-
Meeting two pools is deepened, the
water in the upper pool is lowered.
1t has been suggested that the low
water depth could be increased by
turning more water into the MISSISSIPPI
pi from the Great Lakes and from
reservoirs on the headwaters of the
Mississippi on Minnesota. The diff
Guilty with this is tha great size OF
the Mississippfs channel and its rapid
fall, particularly IL the section from
st. Louis to Cairo. 1t takes an enor-
nous volume Of water to have much
effect in increasing the navigable
depth. Further, Il heavy draft is al
ready being made on Lake Michigan
through the Chicago drainage canal
and to a considerable extent the lakes
in Minncc ota are actually in use fol
river regulation. How to get an addi-
tional five-feet of depth for low water
navigation below st. Louis is there
fore an unsolved problem.
Proposals have been made to con-
struct an artificial waterway alongside
the Mississippi, following the natural
bayous so far as possible. Such a wa
terway, however. would have all the
disadvantages of canal navigation, In
the way of restricted speed; and it Is
more than doubtful whether it would
be feasible to construct and maintain
it, even with unlimited outlay, in the
alluvial soil Of the lower Mississippi
valley.-Engineering News.