French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1916-1919, 1919-04-17

flow will be very close to the sur
face of the ground. While this is
not as large a margin of safety as
be desirable, yet it is believed
that it will furnish fairly good drain
age. Larger bitches would increase
the cost considerably, and since the
bitches recommended will be costly.
the maximum flow line has been
raised. Furthermore, these dimen-I
sions are not based upon an a~ctuaTl
profile of the valley but upon an
average fall; a profile me- indicate
that the sizes should be changed
slightly.
Based upon the above ASSUMPTIONS.
for Mud Greek above the Edneyville
road a ditch of IA foot bottom width
will be required, below this road to
the junction of Clear Greek il will
be rs feet, below Clear Creek Is
feet increasing to SO feet near the
French Broad River. Ali the other
creeks will have bitches with IA foot
bottom widths, with the exception Of
Clear Greek which should probably
be Is feet wide.
The alignment Of the present chan
STRENGTHENING, and they would Drob-
aoly be followed to q l2rpe extent in
the location of the new bitches. thus
apparently making the actual GeD5h
of excavation Iess than 8 to 10 feet
SIS the case may be. Corsiderino.
however, that the highest land in the
valley is usually adjacent to the
streams, in order to obtain drainage
TO" the lowest parts It will be desir-
allie 10 ~eEcavate to The full depths as
described above, and those DEPTHS are
used in the estimate.
The food level OF the French Broad
River is probably around 8 feet above
the low water level, and in extreme
cases goes on high as IS or II feet.
Assuming a rate of fall at the lowest
end of Mud Greek OF 4 feet to the
mile, the creek would be subject to
inundaticn from the river for a dis
tanCe Of 2 miles above its mouth, and
IN extreme cases 5 or 4 miles. Hence.
the 2 miles OR so where the creek
bottoms merge those Of the river will
receive very little benefit from the
construction OF a ditch through Mud
Creek. Furthermore, since the rains
are more or less general in this Sec
ton of the State, Mud Creek and the
French Broad River will be in flood
at about the same time, and there
will be a tendency to retard the flow
of water III Mud Creek above, food
ing the lower bottom lands.
Cost
If the district is carried to the
French Broad River, it is estimated
that there will be required the re
moval of approximately $4,000 cubic
yards OF dirt, which perhaps could be
contracted for at 10 cents per cubic
yard. (At present, prices for dredge
work are very ~uncerGain.) Adding
10 per cent for engineering ard other
expenses, the total cost IS estimated
as ~$105,500. For 1900 acres of land
assessed uniformity, this would mean
about $53 an acre.
The principal value Of a ditch
through to the river will be to pro-
vide for a rapid removal of the water
above when that in the river begins
to subside. Therefore, special care
must be taken in assessing the bottom
lands at the lower end because Of the
damage these lands receive from back !
water. This condition should be care
fully considered, and the assessments
the river undoubtedly should be
small.
Effect OF Buck Shoals
AS stated before, according to a
survey by the War Department engi-
neers in 1873, there is a fall Of Ais
feet in the low water level of the
French Broad River, between the
OF Mud Greek and the head of
Buck Shoals, in a distance Of about |
8 IA miles. Buck Shoals, with a ,
Of $3.50 feet, have a drop in j
that distance of 2.78 feet. The aver
age rate of fall in the river between
Mud Creek and the head of Buck
Shoals is therefore 1.Z8 feet to the
The effect of the removal of Buck
Shoals, # the low water surface be
assumed as q straight line from Mud
Greek to the foot of Buck Shoals,
be to increase the rate OF fall
20 1.88 feet TO the mile, which it
is believed would not ~appreciabIy
lower either the dow or the high
water level in the French Broad
since the river has but a fall
Of about 200 feet for the mile be-
the Shoals and then hattens to al
most, level to the head of Long
Furthermore, the high water
discharge of the French Broad River
is so large that no increase in the
cross-section Of the river nor increase
in rate or fall, for short distances, :
viii improve conditions.
Other Plans of Improvement I
Should it seem desirable to eiimi-
nate from the proposed district those
lands along the lower end of Mud
Creek below the junction of Clear
Greek, the new ditch could be stop
ped n mile below Clear Creek and
need only 25 feet in bottom width.
This would make the total length of
ditch excavation in the district II 1-2
miles, and the excavation about 1885,
900 cubic yards. On the same basis
as before, 10 cents per yard, plus
10 percent, the cost is estimated $751;
$50, or an average Of SAP per acre
on 1920 estimated in the dis
So-called partial or incomplete
drainage for the lands below the
mouth of Clear Greek could be OBJ
tanned by continuing the 25-foot ditch