The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1909-12-02
Address by Mr.. Cooley.

SNNN'SSS ~ w. OSOiSy'
Mr.. Cooley, in his address OF nalf
an hour on the engineering features
of the lakes-to.the-gulf waterway, sad,
in part:
The dominant feature Of this con-
tinent is the water trail 1900 miles
long, from the Gulf of st. Lawrence
to the Gulf Of Mexico, with Chicago
at the midway summit and only 579
feet above ocean level. Along this
line are comprehended the greatest
possibilities; a waterway for shippers
not less than "a feet deep; an inter-
ior seaboard extending through the
core of the continent. Such a water
way can be produced today for the
probable cost of the Panama canal,
Isay $500,O00,000, and it will be trib-
utary to all the waterways between
the two mountain chains, as water
ways are now tributary to the Allan
tic and Pacific seaboards. Sucn a
route is not to be considered as a
part of the waterway system, but as
a condition precedent to the develop
/ ment OF waterway systems that should
reach east and west and north and
south, until they comprehend the
/ limits of the great Mississippi valley.
The capacity of the lakes and gulf
waterway will be that of many rail-
ways, and it will reach territory the
equivalent of many thousand miles
of railway. Specifically, the lakes and
gulf waterway is 1925 miles in length,
i from the entrance Of the Chicago river
on Lake Michigan to the head of the
| Eads jetties in the Gulf of Mexico,
and the total descent is $40 feet from
low water of Lake Michigan to mean
gulf level.
i Mr.. Cooley explained the proposed
waterway system which the state OF
Illinois is developing, and with which
he is intimately connected He said
that any depth of water desired can
be produced between Chicago and st.
i Louis, worked out with the same GER
tanity as any other building construc-
ton. Continuing, he said:
The lower Mississippi from Cairo
to the Red river carries navigable
depth Of ~ to IA feet for eight months
of the year, and it has been expert
mentally determined that Ia feet can
be maintained at all seasons by the
aid of hydraulic dredging.
The middle Mississippi between st.
Louis and Cairo is the criterion of the
possibilities of the route This divis-
ion has declivity Of inches per
mile, and food volumes on such a
slope dissipate the river bed SO that
a water depth of 3 to feet may obtain
in some years. The official plan dis
cussed six methods of Improvement:
One of these is for regulation at a
cost of s21, 100000 and for depth of
8 to feet, the IA feet to be secured
and maintained at a large annual cost
by hydraulic dredging.
Another project is for locks and
dams of the removable type, some ten
in number, to have permanent
depth of Ia feet. for s25,o00,o00 with
only 100000 per year for operating
and maintenance.
& The third plan is for regulation by
the German method, producing per.
manent open channel with a depth of
IA feet, at cost of s53,ooO,o0o, and
still smaller sum for maintenance.
1t will thus be seen that the pro-
vision for IA feet is practicable, at
no uniustifiable cost. for the best plan
as the board of engineers admit, will
probably be combination of features
in the several plans considered
If we take such plan at s25,000,0of
then the total cost to the United
States for IA feet from Lake Michi
gan to Cairo, designed for an ultimate
depth of "a feet, will be s4s,5O0,o00
or nearly s15,0oO,o00 less than is es
timated for the Ohio river scheme