Milford chronicle., 1912-06-14

lWdFes
the river more material than was taken
out, and sometimes sinking vertically
In the latter case, lateral pressure may
| cause the bed of the river to rise above
the water surface, an action which is in.
creased sometimes by the expansion of
the highly cOmpressible material when
relieved of the weight of mud formerly
pressing it down. We have thus present.
ed the curious phenomenon of reduction
OF depth due to the removal of material.
Although not connected with the I'm.
provement OF this river, it may be inter
esting to note that under certain cOudi
! tions the depth might be increased by
| dumping material into the channel, as
was shown by an attempt to buId a road
across a marsh similar to that through
which the Murderkill River flows. A
till of gravel, usually excellent for an EN-
bankment, so compressed the marsh as
to produce canal instead of a road, and
great expense was incurred in correcting
the mishap.
From Fig /, which shows the original
course of the river, it will be seen that
the l3 miles Of channel presented many
difficult turns. To eliminate these ana at
the same time shorten the route. SIX
canals were dug by private enterprise,
which were located where primitive
methods and lack of funds demanded,
generally without proper regard for the
flow OF the tides. This work reduced the
length of the route by little more than
miles, but did not fully rectify the river
even when cutoffs were made, aud the
effect of improperly located cutOffs was
frequently to produce eddies which caused
shOaling.
Fig. ? shows the general effect of the
word done prior to the beginning of Gov.
ernment work. The project adopted by
the Government in 1892 provided for a
lOw-water channel feet deep and so feet
wide at the bottom from Frederick to
Delaware Bay. The full width has not
been secured, but one cutoff has been
made near Lower Landing, old cutoffs
have been corrected as far as possible, and /
the channel throughout has been made !
uniform and free from irregularities which |
might cause shoaling.
"Fig. shows the condition which the |
river Is approaching and which it has ac-
tually reached except for one cutoff west |
OF Webb's Landing and another south |
OF Postle's Landing, which yet remain to
be dug. The old bends have been omit
ted from the map. They still exist but
gradually till up, some of those earliest
CutOffs being now impossible for small
boats. The river has been shortened to
81 miles and the remaining work will
further shorten it to rs miles, or about
05 per cent of its original length.
'The result OF the work done has been
to provide free navigation for steam and
gasoline cargo carriers OF convenient and
economical size. Not only is the river
route shortened, but most Of the difficult
bends have been eliminated. 1t was
common for steamer to drive
her nose deep into the soft bank and lose
much time in eXtricating herself, so that
lnubbng posts were used to assist boats
N making the turns. Saving time is al.
ways important, even where it does not
enable more trips to be made in a given
period; but the chief value of the improve.
nent from the view point of navigation
les IN the possibility of using larger and
more economical carriers and operating
he m regularly.
"The construction of cutOffs has largely
increased the slope by diminishing the
distance between the upper
liver and the mouth and has produced a ,
more rapid flow of the tide, which assists
u maintaining the channel aud at the
ame time the cutOffs enlarge the tidal
'rism. The freer movements OF the water
q their turn increase the range of the
ldes at the head waters of the river so
hat to day the range is three feet. The
let result IS a greatly increased volume
1 tidal flow and more effective securing =.
elocities. Thus the cutoffs are practically
lways elf-maintaDing.
The increased tidal range in the upper
lver has also had a beneficial effect on 4
he drainage of adjacent low land, enabl- .
lg tracts, formerly unprOductive, to yield
rops and increase in value. A marked
Improvement in the health of the COM
lunity has been observed since the drain
ge has been effective
''The final effect of the simple improve
tents made in this and other similar
vers OF this region is a rapid develop
lent OF the country. Food products are
Oured into the markets of Philadelphia
nd other cities. Canneries spring up and
sw farms are established to supply the
)rn, tomatoes and other vegetables and u
uits for canning. Fertilizer factories are .
nilt to supply the farms. Various in
lstries develop. Stores are opened to 4
'ovide the products of other States and
terstate commerce grows and hourishes.
and increases in value =
In view of the benefits obtained, the
st OF the Improvements seems slight.
n the Murderkill River only S72, 600 has
'en expended in twenty years, sum a
ual to considerably less than one third
per cent. Of the value Of the comm erce Il
nefited.