The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-06-11
WATERWAY PLANS
 GET SEVERE BLOW
Report of Engineers Is Against
 Fourteen Foot Channel
KAVANAUGH IS CONFIDENT
President of Waterways Association Says That So Long as Engineers Declare the Plan Is Feas-
 Ibe 1t Is Sufficient.

Washington, June 10.-The proposed 14- feet deep waterways project from St. Louis to the gulf received a blow today when the board of engineers reported to Congress that such a waterway is not de- sirable The waterway would cost s18,000.- l 900 for construction and $6,0O0,0OO annually 1 for maintenance, the engineers say. The report was based on a survey of the Mississippi river by a special board of engineers. created by act of Congress. The conclusion reached by both the spe- cial board and the regular board of en- | gineers are practically the same.
 The report of the regular board that it is not desirable to construct navigable channel IA feet deep from St. Louis or from Chicago to the mouth of the Missis- sippi was based on the conclusion of the special board that only commerce origi- hating from sources that do not at pres- ent ship by river would justify the great cost of a 14-foot waterway.
 It is claimed that the present demands | of the commerce between St. Louis and the gulf will be adequately met by an l eight-foot channel from St. Louis to the mouth of the Ohio, and channel of not less than nine feet in depth below the mouth of the Ohio. The boards belief is that an eight-foot channel from Chicago l to St. Louis corresponding with the pres ent eight-foot project from St. Louis to | Cairo is the least that would adequately meet the demands of commerce. It adds that such waterway would be desirable l iu a fal Present and prospective demands of commerce be- | tween Chicago and the gulf would be ade- quately served, the board reports, by a | through nine-foot channel to the gulf. | Estimates for the channel have not been l completed, but promised to Congress by next December. MT. Marshall, chief of 1 engineers, informed Congress in trans- hitting the report that he could not state definitely whether either of these | channels was desirable until after &C., curate estimates were made.
 Present Depth.
 The special board found that by means | of constant dredging a depth of eight feet is now practically maintained in the | channel from St. Louis to Cairo and of ! nine feet from Cairo to the gulf. River regularizatron is counted on by the | board to make permanent an eight-foot | channel from St. Louis to Cairo. By dredging d 14-foot channel may be ob- | tained.
 | The board rejected, as opposed to all reason, all preparations requiring the abandonment of the already good open river navigation or the substitution of a lateral canal for any part of the river below Cairo. Dredging and bank pro- l tection with the addition at certain locali- ties of contract works as an auxiliary will achieve permanence of the channel, which cannot be obtained by dredging alone, the report declared.
 | In considering the commercial phases | of the purposes, the report said it had sought to obtain from commercial or | ganizations facts as to the prospective commerce which requires a 14-foot 1 channel, it has received very little definite information. It added that no actual large future developments of commerce are yet in sight.
 Cost of Vessels.
 The position was taken that ocean and lake vessels, such as would re- quire a 14-foot instead of 9-foot chan l mel, would not be an economic means Ol lIdHSpOI lluS pIOQuClS On lue IlNtI Due to the necessity of building an ocean vessel of sufficient strength to | resist storms, it's cost in the United States was estimated at $41.50 per ton l of freight. The Mississippi river steam boats and barges capable of transport hing 10,000Atons of freight on an Sk : foot draft can be built for about SIP per ton of freight carried 1t was esti- mated.
 Furthermore the board pointed out, d modern lake freighter is poorly con- structed for navigating a tortuous river with a swift current. When Q new type of vessel has been designed, the board suggested, there will be an immediate demand for a channel of greater depth than IA feet.
 The decline in the commerce of the river has not arisen, the board con- cluded, from its lack of navigability, but from the reduction in the amount of material available for shipment by river. In this connection it is stated that the present condition of this wa terway appears to have been generally overlooked, "and few people who have not specially examined it realize what has been accomplish ed there already. | Nine-Foot Channel.
 The board says a 9<foot channel would not necessitate the diversion from the great lakes of a water supply which will injuriously affect the chan nels through which its immense com merce passes"
 Estimates of the cost of constructing the 14foot channel were given but the combined method of regularization and bank protection and dredging is deemed more practical than the method of dredging alone.
 General Marshall. chief of engineers, approved the opinions in regard to the meth hods of improvement, except that he did not consider it practicable to obtain a minimum depth of IA feet be- tween St. Louis and Cairo by means of locks and movable dams. A long study of the sediment bearing features of the Mississippi river influenced him to reach this conclusion.