The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-02-06
Reason That Caused Them to
Prefer it to the Dismal
Swamp Canal
THEY SAY IT WOULD BE
MORE COSTLY TO BUILD

plIt'y l)cCldrC IL 10 DC lIlcf Op1IlOu
That tho Route Recommended Will
cost Three Million Dollars Less
Than the Dismal Swamp Canal
The Elizabeth City People Protest
against the Report Of the En-
.~inccrs.
Extracts from the report made by
General Bixby, chief of the Board Of
Army Engineers. which recommend
al the purchase Of the Albemarl4
ana Chesapeake Canal for the ex
tcntion of the deeper inland water
way throws much light or the selec-
ton Of the Albemarle and Chesapeake
over the Dismal Swamp route.
The deciding factor seemed to be
the cost at which a ~twelve-foot depth
c..nll could be constructed. The
engineers I'M thai the route rec
ummended will cost nearly $4,000 900
less than the Dismal Swamp Canal.
The report says that the Dismal
swamp route would be more costly
ttan any of the other three to con-
Eltlt' =, tNCH IL III vi IL Va
the canal was coded to the
Government free. To the claim
made by farmers owning land along
thc Dismal Swamp Canal that the Sc
lection OF the Albemarle and Chesa-
peitl<e route would damage their prop
CITY, rs the Dismal Swamp Canal
would be abandoned, resulting in the
tA,yirr nf 1roiroCa from 16ioCanf
land, Us is now the case, is denied.
Immediate Purchase Favored.
The repOrt says in part as follows:
The purchase of this canal and the
trccing of the present be-
tween Norfolk and Albemarle Sound
pf the tolls now charged will Of itself
alone be Of considerable aid to COM
!ncrcc. 1t is recommended that the
Improvement Of the entire section
from Norfolk, IA, to Inlet,
=. -, be commenced as soon as title
tu the canal property has been OBJ
tanned by the United States, with a
view 10 the completion Of the twelve
toni depth over the entire route within
SIX years"
Engineers Comment.
Tho comment of the Board Of En-
Sineers, through Colonel Rossell,
which held hearings in Norfolk and
elizabeth City, in part, is as follows:
- oNlOA ia
special board separates this section
INTO three divisions, first, Norfolk to
Albrinarle Sound; second, Albemarle
sound to Pamlico Sound; third. Pam
!ito Sound to Beaufort harbor.
Norfolk to Albemarle Sound-pro-
f"rted navigation between Norfolk
and Albemarle Sound was first at
iorded 10y the construction of the
DISMAL Swamp Canal and later by
construction Of the Albemarle AND
'~htstpeake Canal. The fact that
al passing through these
waterways was subject to tolls, easily
attracted attention to the d~eSirability
~ q GOvernment-Owned free water.
Way, and this question has been the
subject of several reports and in.
designations. The most recent wa:
Hade in compliance with the Act Of
9iareh 3, 1905, which ordered an ex'
ANIMATION Of the Norfolk-Beaufor
waterway. The report recommended
me construction Of a 12-foot waterwa,
betWeen the points named. The i'm.
troYement Of the part between Pamll
80 Sound and Beaufort Inlet to {
"grth Of 10 feet was adopted by Ac
~ March ,, 1907, and the canal Ia:
teen built.
-Four Routes Investigated.
tour routes for the Norfolk-Albc
- re send division are considered
possible and practicable by the specia
nodrn, as follows: O. the DiSlna
swamp Canal route; 90 the Able
marie and Chesapeake Canal route
- n Cooper Creek route; ca tn
~" cooper Creek route. Route 40
: - y modification of route No. 3.
II appears that there is no sourc,
~ water supply which would b,
huequate for q lock ANAL with a sum
'Hlt level. unless costly pumping plant
nc installed, and for this and othe
teasohs the special board believes tina
mt waterway should he a sea leye
Sanal. The plans submitted are fo
= :. ana 10 feet deep, having bottom
"tu'ns or 80 feet through dry land
20 feet in narrow parts of rivers. o5l
nee' IN wide portions Of rivers. il
nnss ana their entrances, and in Cur
ny SOUND, and 500 feet in ope,