The Washington herald., 1913-05-25

dsters were Que TO the fallure OF reser
voirs: and as these reports were not gen
orally correct, later this impression M
doubt remains in the.nninds of some. Al
investigation made dpring the week fol
lowing the disasters showed this to bt
incorreo but the escape was so narrow
in some instances that the lesson Of the
reservoirs is driven home almost a.
strongly as If they had failed with enor-
n us destruction of life and property.
Most of the reservoirs in question be-
long TO the Ohio State Canal system
having been constructed to supply water
to the canal in dry seasons. In addition.
the Columbus water supply storage dam
4 on the Scioto River, was reported to
have failed, causing a panic in Colum-
| bus, and a number of power dams in
! various parts of the State were the sub
jects Of similar rumors. But these
| ruE~rs were either entirely without
| f. -ndation. ~ in the case of the Column
bus dam. or e ;e the dams Were relative
1 ly unimportant. so that for the purpose
of this article consideration may well be
ohio's Canal System.
The Ohio canal system. built in the
| second quarter of the last century, con-
sists of two main divisions-the Ohio
Canal, or eastern route, connecting Lake
Erie and the Ohio River by way of the
| Cuyahoga, Tuscarawas, Muskingum,
Licking and Seioto River valleys: and
the Miami and Erie Canal. or western
route, connecting Lake Erie and the
Ohic River by way of the Maumee
Auglaisc, and Miami River valleys. In
addition, the Muskigum River was slack
watered below GAINESVILLE. Numerous
lateral, feeder and tributary canals COM
pleted system which had cost total
of approximately si6.O00.OC0 and which
comprised in 1850 over l.CC0 miles of
canals, more than 800 lift locks and half
dozen reservoirs.
In the case of each of the main canal
routes. water was lacking on the sum-
nit level during the dry season, and the
reservoirs were constructed to supple
ment the normal flow at such times. The
Portage Lakes, just south of Akron,
were damned about Isis to supply the
summit Of the eastern route; Loramie
and Lewistown Reservoirs about 1s50-60
for the western route, and the Licking
Reservoir. or Buckeye Lake. about 1892.
for the Licking summit. In addition,
Grand Reservoir, the largest in the
State, was built about 1s41, TO supply the
northern slope of the Miami and Erie
Canal, entering just below the summit
level.
During the middle of the last century,
just prior to the civil war. these canals
were very active. and brought in a
gross revenue during some years Of
more than half a million dollars. In
1851 the gross earnings were more than
s799 900. and the net earnings almost
$4,000. But later the decline came, as It
did on all of the old canals, and as the
canal section and lock dimensions were
outgrown by the demands of modern
traffic, a gradual abandonment of navi-
CATION occurred, until now. and for
many years past, there has been no
canal freight traffic at all. Some of the
branch and feeder canals have been Of
fcially abandoned, and either left to de-
teriorate without attention or else flied
up. Several of the reservoirs were dedi- |
Gated by the Legislature by several acts |
passed since 1894 to use as public parks |
and pleasure resorts, with the provision. |
however. that they must be maintained |
for canal purposes.
Canal Revenues.
For the past few years, therefore, the |
only revenues from the canal have been |
from the leasing Of lands for oil-well |
driving and from the sale of water or
water power to private or municipal
and industrial plants. An
annual appropriation has been made, in
addition. to assist in meeting the ex-
penses of maintenance. There has there
fore been no great stimulus to compre-
hensive and thorough work. and probably
4 great deal of the maintenance has been
Of a very perfunctory order The canals
and reservoirs are in charge of board
Of public works of three members, but
neither this nor any other state body
Dr official appears to have had the spe-
,ific duty Of inspecting or Investigating
.hese reservoirs from the sole point of
view of public safety.
The earth dam at the Portage Lakes
mad no spillway whatever. The high wa
er washed out a crevass in one of the
and overfiowed a consider
lbIe area of farm land. At the Lewiston
-eservoir waves dashed over the south
oank. Both banks were despaired of.
md only the most strenuous work by q
arge force of men from nearby towns
saved them. The Loramie reservoir
and two crevasses in the en-
,ankment were washed out The Grand
Reservoir is one Of the largest artificial
,odies of water in the world, covering
8 100 acres. A large force of volunteers
worked with the laborers, filing and
,lacfng bags of sand, while a company
'reaks occurred at any point, but the
ituation was critical for two or three
lays.
These situations teach a lesson that
ught never to need repetition. 1t may
'e stated with certainty that reservoir
ailures did not contribute measurabiy to
he flood damage in Ohio. The trouble
Fas caused entirely by excessive rain,
excessive run-o1 and insult
cient channel capacity to carry the
Tater.
Insufficient SpillwRy Capacity.
But even If the reservoirs did not fan (
nth disastrous results, the margin was O
narrow one and the lesson is equally I
lain. 1t has long been one of the most {
rmly established engineering principles J
nat an earth embankment must not be &
vertopped. Twenty-fouS years ago. the
ohnstown disaster, due to insufficient !
pillway capacity, impressed this uponI A
he whole world. And it is an interesting 2
arallel that this was caused by an OLD .
originally built by the State a
'r canal purposes and later abandonedI A
nd used for pleasure purposes. Yet here y
Ohio were four earth embankment re-
,rvoirs, one of which has no spiIIwayI a,
nd far from sufficient discharge pipe; r
70 OF which flied up so that the banks a.
ere overfowed, and one which did not n,
Terfiow but filed up sufficiently so that :.
aves were driven over the embank- =
ents. Nor was the rainfar one beyond =,
e range of probability. The March :.
orm probably broke all records for COM n
ned intensity, duration. and extent. But
r small drainage areas such as these
to ia square miles) the rainfall was
t unprecedented, Al Least twp storms q