Lower coast gazette., 1913-05-31
would further advise tt
klorer, Assistant State E. y
Member of the Board of
neers, has been Designated d
DRY engineer to your Board, in a
tiers Of further detail,

DRY engineer, to your BOARD, in a e
tiers Of further detail. q
Respectfully, :
THE BOARD OF STAT
ENGINEERS.
"Per (Signed) Frank NJ, Kerr,
Chief State Engineer"
And WHEREAS, The report of R.
S. Daniels to the Board of State En-.
gineers is as follows:
New Orleans, La, January 20, 1918.
Board of State Engineers,
Hon. Frank N. Kerr,
Chief State Engineer,
New Orleans, La.
Gentlemen:
Pursuant to your letter of December
Sth, 1912, employing me at the ex-
pense of the Board of Commissioners
for the Venice Drainage District, Of
Plaquemines Parish, La, to do GER
tain work for you in connection with
the said District, beg to say that l
have made a complete survey of the
land in said District and have run
lines and levels for the purpose of as
pertaining the feasibility of draining
and retaining all of said land, and I
submit to you herewith a complete
map of said District with notes, etc.
find that all the land embraced
within the Venice Drainage District is
OF such character that 1t must be
leveed and pumped in order to be
drained and reclaimed; that the drain.
age and reclamation of said entire
area is feasible; that the cost of drain
Ing and retaining said land, includ-
ing the installation of the necessary
pumping plant is estimated at the sum
Of Forty-six Thousand, Nine Hundred
and Four Dollars and F%orty-eight
Gents ($46,904.48), or the sum of Thir-
ty.one Dollars and Ninety-two Cents
($3l.92) per acre upon the 1,469.56
acres within said Venice Drainage Dis
trict to be drained and taxed. In con.
nection with this the following is here
with submitted for your considera-
ton:
The land embraced in the District is
located on the right descending bank
of the Mississippi River, commencing
at the lower boundary Of Fort Jack
son Reservation, about &c miles below
New Orleans, and extending down the
river about 8k miles, or to the Jump
at the head of Spanish Pass; and is
more particularly described as being
in T. 81 and %, S. R., 80 E., and T. 81,
S. R., 81 E., S, E. District of Louisi-
ana, west Of river, and is bounded on
the upper side by the. Fort Jackson
Military Reservation, in front by the
Mississippi River, below by the Jump,
and in the rear by marsh lands owned
by the various owners of land included
within the district.
From the Fort boundary to the
Jump, a distance of approximately s
miles, the front lands are planted to |
citrus fruit trees, and is populated,
there being about $50 families, or 600
people, living within the limits Of the
District.
However, these lands are low and
subject to overflow during high tides,
or flood periods in the Mississippi, and
with the exception Of a very narrow
strip close to the river, cannot be sue !
c~essfully cultivated without artificial |
drainage, and the various property.
holders are therefore DESTROYS Of a
back levee which will not only pro- 1
tect their front land, but enable them
to plant a considerably larger area,
thus enhancing the value of the lands
within the District, increasing Parish
and State revenues, and contributing
largely to the upbuilding Of the Coast
country in general.
There are 8 merchandise stores,
schools and 2 Post Offices (Boothville
and Venice) also within the limits of
the District.
The lands and property in the Dis
trict land to the Forty-Arpent line
in the rear) are assessed at $751; 90.
The soil is river sand and silt ada
cent to the river, and in the a is a |
silt and clay deposit with about IL
inches Of humus on top.
It is proposed to construct a back
levee from the lower end of the Gov
eminent Levee at the mouth of Span
ish Pass, extending in a northwesterly |
direction, approximately parallel to the
Mississippi River, and I OF 8 arpents
in the rear thereof, to the upper end,
thence along the lower line Of the Fort
Jackson Reservation to the intersec-
ton with the Mississippi River Leyee.
This levee will be 8 feet above sea
level and 6 feet above the level Of the
marsh land, these elevations being as
certained from water gauges recently
placed by the United States Engineer
Corps.
The levee will have a crown of G
feet, with side slopes 3 horizontal to /
vertical.
A reservoir or storage canal will be
located on the inside or in front of
the levee, the earth from which will
furnish material for construction of
the back levee.
The storage canal will have a capa-
city of 2.7G inches of rainfall for the
entire area.
At intervals Of i arpent the proper |
ty-holders will dig lateral drains lead |
ing from the MISSISSIPPI River back
to the storage canal. A number of
these have already been dug for a dis
lance of from / to 4 arpents for drain.
age for the front lands, ald will be ex-
tended by the owners at their individ-
ual expense to the storage canal.
These laterals, when completed, will
have a capacity or U.yl inches of rain
fall for the entire area.
The pumping plant will be installed
in the rear about midway between the
upper and lower boundaries as indicat-
ed on the accompanying map, and will
consist of 1876" Double Suction Cen.
trifugal Pump, direct connected to a
Is" K IA" Vertical Engine. The pump
will have a capacity of
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