The Morgan City daily review. (Morgan City, La.) 1916-1920, 1919-01-31
Warren B. Reed, Consulting En-
gineer Presents Status Of
the Atchafalaya Bay
Ship Channel
Reprint Of Valuable vata Presented by Cham
Der Of Commerce Before the U. S. Ship
ping Board As Part Of Claims for Com
pletion Of Contracts Awarded to
Morgan City Yard

schooners and st e m
ships, drawing from fifteen to twen-
ty feet of water, and consisted main
ly of the shipment of cypress lum-
Der to eastern ports. There was a
saving over the rail rate of from
Five to Seven and a Half Dollars
per thousand feet on lumber shipped
by ocean vessels, and as long as this
condition existed there was no ques-
tion about the maintenance of the
Channel.
In 1914 the European war began
and during 1915 change in ocean
shipping began to develop. Charters
even for coastwise craft rose to
premium, and consequently there was
not only no saving in freight, but
rail freight being fixed by law, main
tanned it's normal level, while ocean
freights climbed skyward. During
1915 ali shipments by large boats
through the Channel ceased, and there
being no demand for the maintenance
of the standard Channel depth of 20
#. the Government Engineers did not
think it provident to extend the an
nual appropriations that had been
made for its maintenance. The Chan
nei was therefore allowed to shoal
and the funds for It's maintenance
were allowed to accumulate.
This was the condition Of affairs
when the Union Bridge & Construc-
tion Co., hegan to launch their ships,
and the question arose as to whether
they could be taken out through the
Channel The Government Engi-
neers decided to clean out the Chan
mel to at least sufficient depth to ena-
bic these ships to be taken out with
out difficulty, and would have done
so in ample time if it had been pos
sible to obtain dredges to do the
work After considerable unsuccess-
full effort due to the war condition,
to obtain contractors for this work,
the Government Engineers decided
to give what relief they could with
their own dredges, constructed FOR
work on the Mississippi River and
not designed for outside work. After
several months of delay two of these
dredges are now at work on the
Channel, dredging the shoal places to
sufficient depth (sixteen feet) to in
sure the taking out without difficulty
any ships that are now being COM
pleted.
The two ships that were taken out
through the Channel after four years
of neglect, were taken out with diff
ficu1ty AMI unusual expense, but I
wish to point out that this was an
abnormal condition caused by abnor-
NAL happenings and should not be
taken as ceasure of the facilities
which this port possesses, and which
makes it one of the most desirable
locations on the Gulf Coast for the
building of ships.
It is my opinion, which opinion !.
upheld by facts, that the Atchafalaya
Bay Ship Channel can be maintained
to its specified depth at less annual
expenditure than any other Channel
to the sea, leading from any Gull
City. It cost the Atchafalaya Bay
Ship Channel Co. $25,OOOOO year
for three years to maintain it under
contract with the Government. The
annual expenditure at Pensacola. Fla.
at Mobile, Ala, at New Orleans, La.
at Beaumont, Houston and Galveston
Texas, far exceeds that necessary tc
keep up the Atchafalaya Bay Shit
Channel.
The money now being expended BY
the Government to reopen this Chan.
mel is being expended from emergen.
cy funds, solely as a war measure
for the purpose of getting these ships
to sea, but the regular appropriations
are made to maintain this Channe
at specified depth for further per
iod of three years, these appropria
tions having been made by Congress
and the money being on hand, Their
is no question regarding the main
tenance of this Channel for at leas
that additional period Of years.
| AS it is now evident that there viii
be no difficulty in taking out sue
ships as may be built here in tn
future, is it not pertinent to invest
gate the other facilities and advanta
lges Of this location?
1t has been the unanimous opinio
lof all the Shipbuiiding experts thu