Lower coast gazette., 1914-05-09
The CarnaervOn Levee.

The CarnaervOn Levee.
THE big U. S. government levee at Carnaer-
von inst below the St. Bernard line, continues
n oive considerable trouble at some points along
the line. At one point on the field side the
earth p~arallel to the new levee for = hundred
feet or more had risen up on the land side bod
;lv lust as occurred during Capt. John Mills
control of the U. S. Levees at that point some
twenty wears ago. In the work done this sea-
son the rising of the bottom first began to &C.
cur on the river side of the new levee in the
bottom Of the excavations, the bottoms rising
ny and the earth work of the new levee tiatten-
;nq down. AS this only occurs at a certain
point, or points, in the levee, it would seem 10
he very exceptional in its character and to PROD
ahlv have some relation to beds of quicksand
lying below.
With the rising river the water was let IN
against the levee and this has apparently sup
messed the putting up Of the land on the river
aide. but the singular phenomenon on the road
side. or land side, referred to above, is very
conspicuously present.
Considerable alarm was created last week
by the report that the she'll road was blockaded
and there seemed to be no plantation roads pre-
nared for any emergency that might turn the
travel off the shell road. Information was re-
ceived later to the effect that the shell road was
!, not impossible and that the dredge that had
been throwing earth thereon had ceased opera
tons and had been taken away and that the
whole work was entirely safe for any water
that was in sight so far as this season is con-
earned. It is thought that as soon as the levee
shall have settled and become drier there VIII
he no difficulty in the land holdingu up its weight.
It will be remembered that two years age
during the high water season in the third DIS.
tr;ct in New Orleans, where a large amount OF
earth had been put upon the levees, a certain
leyee showed signs of sinking under the super
incumbent weightand some Of the earth was
taken away and utilized elsewhere, in order to
lessen the weight on the river bank supporting
the levee.
When we remember than the Cotton Ex.
change in New Orleans settled. into the grouno
some two or three feet and that the Custom
House. built fifty or sixty years or more ago
has settled to even a greater distance below tn
level of the adjacent earth, we can readily SCI
that where the present large levees are bull
and the earth out Of which they are built ]
comparatively wet, there comes q INIT TO IN
height at which such earth will stand up with
out very big slopes on both sides and all thl
apart from the question OF the foundat'o
whereon the earth is thrown.
We are now inclined to think, and it IS ver
much to be hoped that there will be no turtle
trouble with the levee during the present h'g
water season. It would be = pity to bottle Y
the Parish Of Plaquemine5, as would be done
the road way was cut off. An immense trait
Of sightseers and others is now going on dal
along the line Of the shell road from New =
leans to Pointe-a-la- Hache, it being the longe
, operating shell road in the state. Every eito
! will be made to keep the roadway open and 3
fore the Gazette goes to press this week y
shall hope to give still later news from Carnae
Won.