The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1909-06-11
ARMY ENGINEERS
PUBLISH REPORT
DECLARE DEEPENING OF THE
MISSISSIPPI RIVER Is I'M
PRACTICAL.
EIGHT FEET TO CAIRO
Maintained by Dredging $780,
000,0OO to Make Deep Water
way Proposed.

Washington, June l0-The report
CT the board of army engineers on tn"
deep waterway from ST. Louis to the
Gulf was published today. 1t is unfa
vcrable to the projects from various
points Of view. The engineers esti-
mated that such a waterway would
G00,000 a year afterwards for main
tainarce The board found that by
means Of constant dredging a depth
Of eight feet is now practically main
tanned 10 Cairo and Of feet from Cal.
10 10 the Gulf. River reeularizatiOn
is counted on by the board TO make
permanent an foot channel from 81
Louis OF Cairo. BY dredging II Zoo!
channel may be obtained. The board
rejected, as opposed to all reason, all
PROPOSITIONS requiring the abandon.
ment of the already good open river
navigation or the substitution of Il
lateral canal for any part OF tIe river
below Cairo
As IN Commerce.
lnCOnsidering the commercial
phases OF the question, the board re,
ported that although it had sought to
obtain from commercial organization
facts as to the prospective commerce
which requires fourteen foot chan
mel, it has received very little definite
information. II added that no actual
large future developments of com
merce are yet in sigh,.
The position was taken that the
ocean and lake vessels such as would
require a fourteen foot instead of q Q
foot channel would not 0e an occnl
ic means of transporting products
on the river, Due to the necessity OF
building an ocean vessel OF sufficient
strength to resist storms. its cost in
the United States was estimated a
about S7l for each ton of freight ear
red.
Cost of Boat Building.
On the great lakes the cost was es
timated at $41.50. Mississippi river
boats and barges capable of transport
irg 10000 tons OF freight on an 81
foot draft can be built for about sl2.
per ton of freight carried, it was esti.
mated. furthermore the board pom;
ed out that the modern lake freighter
Is poorly constructed for navigating
the tortuOus river with a swift cur
rent When new type OF vessel has
lng1I tlgCipnAI n, h14rl
there would be an Immediate demand
for a chanLel OF greater depth than /,
feet
The decline of commerce of tho
river not risen, the board concluded
from its lack of nayigability. but from
the reduction IN the amount of mate
rial available for shipment by river.
In this connection It is stated thai
the present cordition or this water
way appears To have been generally
overlooked and few people who have
not especially examined il realized
what has been accomplished there al
ready. Estimates Qf the cost of
constructing a II foot channel were
regularization and bank protection
and dredging is deemed more practi
cal than the method OF dredging
alone
General Marshal Approves.
General Marshal chief of the en-
gineers, approved the opinions in re-
gard TO the methods of improvement,
except that he did not consider it
practicable 10 obtain minimum
depth of II feet between st. Louis
and Cairo by means Of locks and mov-
able dams. \ long Study of the sedi-
ment bearing features OF the Missis.
sppi. influenced him to reach this
conclusion. Furthermore he said
that he is unable to recommend that
a II foot channel, at low water, can
be maintained below Cairo by open