Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1907-12-22
CAPT. CONNER MAKES HIS / ANNUAL RIVER REPORT

terest of commerce. The said meth ods' referred to in the act were to remove rock and gravel reefs by blast ing and dredging to contract the chan nel by dykes and dams, permeable or solid, of such construction as the To- cal conditions require, and to hold the channel so obtained by revetment where necessary The improvement authorized by the act covers 771 miles, while estimates have been ren- dered for 70S miles, thus making the estimated cost of the improvement under this project indefinite. Act of August Is, 1894, authorized the opera tion of snagboats under this head in addition to similar operations under the project Removing Distractions in Arkansas River, Arkansas and Kan sas.' To the close Of the fiscal year ending June 30. 1902, there had been expended under the general project for improving Arkansas river Arkan- sas, $903,31l.9S for ofigina construc- tion, $314,119 for maintenance, and $63,397.32 for operating snagboats, making the total amount $1,2S0, ,S23.39.
 Merger of Projects.
 Act Of Congress approved June 13, 1902, merged these two general pro. Jects into one, which makes the exist ing project in substance: The im- provemnt of the river from it's mouth to the head of navigation by snagging operations, and by contraction works, holding the improved channel by re- vetment where necessary. No defi- mite estimate of cost can be given
 The river and harbor act of March ?, 1907, made available for mainten- ance of this improvement, amounts previously appropriated for work in the vicinity of Redfork Leyee or set apart for dredging. The act provided also for an examination of the river to Muskogee, l. T., by a board of en- gineers, with a view to devising a plan for further Improvement, and made conditional appropriation for work at Pine Bluff, if deema by the board to be necessary in the hterest of naviga- tion. Funds from this appropriation will be applied to wofk in pursuance of the boards recomm
 To June 30, 1907, there had been ex- pended under the consolidated pro- ject, $135,472.12, of which $1o6,37s.O7 was for operating snagboats, $S,624.O5 for operating hydraulic dredge, and $20,470 for maintaining works of per manent improvement. The total ex- penditure under all projects to June 90, 1907, is $2,384 ,557 .32, of which $1,- 13S,032.20 is for operating snagboats, $S,62405 for operating hydraulic dredge, $903,311.93 for original con- struction of works of permanent i'm provement ,and $334, ,589.14 for main. tenance of those works.
 The works erected for the perma- nent improvement of the stream were of no material benefit to navigation, they having been built in disconnected reaches. The snagging operations, which must be replaced each year, give immediate relief, but the benefits derived from them are in a large measure lost during the high-water seasons following the periods when the work is done. This is due to the continual caving of the banks and the consequent shifting of the channels.
 Fort Gibson, on Grand river, two miles above it's mouth and 463 miles
 from the mouth of the Arkansas river, is the head of steamboat navi- gation. The duration of the navigab,e period of the river varies greatly in different years. Occasionally there are periods of very low water, when navi- gaion will be suspended throughout the length of the river. and then there will be times when it is possible to
 maintain three-foot navigation through to Fort Gibson all the year. The nav igation periods are of about the fol- lowing averages, for months:
 4-foot 2-foot Draft Draft Mouth to Swan Lake
 (S0 miles) .............54 10 Mouth to Little Rock (174
 m1leS) ........ ........0 SE2 Mouth to Grand River (461
 miles) ........ ........4 The range between extreme high water and extreme low water at Fort Smith, Ark. 's 35 5 feet; at Little Rock, Ark. 28.5 feet, and at the mouth of the river where the stages are controlled by those of the Mississippi the extreme -anee Is 53.7 feet.
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