Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-03-23
100000 URGED
CHANNEL
,vor Moore Is Best Man to
Omen River Properly, De-
cIares Haupt
|vE YEARS WORK NEEDED

u,,,or Moore is the best man to
,hs Dcleware channel properly y
J, ~ prof Lewis Haupt, Of Cynwyd.
IN "He knows the river. and If he
IA Governor sproul get together on
i. we may look for results"
nan million dollars and four or five
80, time would make the Delaware
,roen Philadelphia and the sea river
IA a self maintaining thirty FIVE foot
kannel.. sp..s. ,,..
"rlv n member of the United States
..oceanic Canal Commission. who
Il Noon working on the problem of a
s1s.hle Delaware river channel for the
Ia forty years.
Millions Of dollars have been spent
building dykes and dams and in
E,sdaipg. The yearly appropriation for
6rdsing has run as high as million
EsIlars, and the report showed that an
E.sreasc Of one tenth Of yard in the
Esnth Of the channel had been the re :
vi The solution Of the situation. accord
|,s 10 Professor Haupt. must come
''h,oueh a proper canalization of the
'trsnm. The result of such a move will
thirty five foot channel in mid
|fream for the 103 miles Of the rivers
frgth between here and the sea.
The Delaware Is a tidal river, with n
~ and fall of about six feet at Phila
|clpbia. The first principle in the proper
'sndling of a tidal river Is to let the
;de in and out freely, because on this
tsture the depth of the channel very
arsely depends. "
Tidal Rise Decreased
But with all the dredging that has
zen going on for years the dams and
Mes that have been constructed have
sep so poorly placed that tidal rise has
ecreased about four fifths of foot.
The way to have proper canalization
4 The river is to let the incoming and
NJ ebb tides flow through the same
hsnnel. The natural tendency when
here Is an "S" curve in a river. as
here Is in the Delaware between Coop
Is Point and Gloucester. Is for the
coming tide to cut away the one bank
hd the ebbing tide the other. with IA
lmltant high deposit of mud In the
|iddle. 1t Is virtually useless to try to
|eet this condition with dredging, for
ben the mud is sucked up and emptied
10 the ebb tide il is only carried q lit
. distance away and returned to vir-
bally the same spot in the river bed by
be incoming tide.
The present method of keeping the
hannel open Is largely that of this sort
dredging, known as the "agitating
Istem." 1t keeps the river open after
fashion and temporarily, but its cost
hd the underlying method do not war
Int its practice, according to Professor
|aupt.
The one way In which to open up this
portant waterway, the economic and
sible one, liz the mind of this au-
bfity on the Delaware, Is to handle
incoming and outgoing tides so that
n will force their own natural chan
through the vital 1O3 miles.
This can be done, not by continued
|edeing, but by the construction of
lining walls that will throw the cur
pt at the various bends and fats and
)rrows into the path that viii cut q
Ian, deep channel for the rise and
Of the tides.
Little Dredging Necessary
I0nly little dredging, as a prelimi-
|ary measure, would be necessary, and
|fter the bull ling of the properly sit
Pated walls and dykes the passage
|ould be virtually natural and self
haintaning.
Professor IIaupt has arrived at this
|oncluslon, not from theory and map
york alone, but from forty years actual
Eare,
he states that the knowledge peces-
|ary to make this important stef sor the
||nture Development Of the port and the
[iy is available. and that IL only re-
ans 70 nut into practice the informa-
pon gained by years of work and study
10 tne part of men who have worked on
)de. 'A' p"'' uee
Professor Haupt's observations and
Ieeords show that it would be far more
oaomical in the long run, and not
Nn long run at that. to canalize the
uef than to keep dredging it every
I he believes II would have been
t,ar better plan to spend some of the
|%a millions appropriated to good
|utus |S,us in the state on improving the
|S,ure and prestige of Philadelphia
|u,Husn ,tsrS1. the proper handling of her