The St. Mary banner., 1922-11-25

u"'riHe, one cong down Grand River
enl Bayou Long 70 Berwick, Ra-
ard up the lower Atcaafalava ami
Bayou Teche, while the otnec travel
ing at the same speed goes u,
Grand River to LaRompe and dar.,
it and L'EmbarlaS, Lane Lone ami
Lake Round, Grand CeGle aad Ba..n
Portage to the cara! aad thcn.a
down Eovou Tech, would meet -
Oxford Plantation in I-sh Read. the
distance being ABORT u miles ~
ealh Instance New, IBERIA would ha
more than sixty miles nearer b. NJ.
ing through the canal Tra-:;c down
the upper Atchafalaya would aad it
nearer through the canal at all
points above MORGAN City. This. q
course presumcS that the route .s
open through Lake Long aad P9.a...
At present that country IS filing I'D
SO rapidly with sediment thac the
charncis change over night. l. :
certain, however, 1Aat ccaf..-la ..lus-
and will be maintained somewhere.
Taere is much timber il that terri
tory that can no. be got OH, now
without dredging. l. may prove ad-
vantageous to bring this timber in
throu h this canal. Packet boats
from Plaquamine would save much
time and money if they could con-
tinue around the circuit instead Of
backing down Bayou Teche when
they reach the end of their route.
The waterways Of Louisiana will
be developed and this can be made
a most important link. Bayou Teche
traverses the best of Louisiana ana
has the resources to enable the ex-
pcnse to accomplish this develop
ment. Even though this canal is cut
only as a matter Of sanitation and
removing the lilies, it should be 50
designed that it can without material
loss be enlarged to meet conditions
of navigation that will arise in the
future.
SUMMARY.
From the data which | have ex-
amined, | believe that it is safe to
conclude that canal with forty
foot bottom and carrying six feet
Of water at extreme low water stage
can be dug from Bayou Teche about
mile above Loreauville to Bayou
Portage about two miles above its
mouth at a cost of between $780,
600 to s150,000.
The current at extreme low water,
if not unduly influenced by tide, and
without the aid Of rain. will renew
the water in Bayou Teche about
every forty days. The effect of tide
will be to aid this condition because
owing to the shorter distance ard
larger area Of Grand Lake, rise in
tide, due to east wind, will be felt
in the lake sooner than in the upper
reaches of Bayou Teche, and will
cause an increase of flow through
the canal into Bayou Teche. Hence,
fresh water will be taken into Bayou
Teche through both ends. On a re
ceding tide, there may be slight
--,ers~l Of current in the canal foc
L~-Es .,u but | doubt it, because
the head water -v.-ag oo"N Miss;l tn1
Atchafalaya from ked am W ''''s
sippi Rivers will have been teHlrc'~
arily blocked and the swell due there
to must find relief. Even at extreme
ly low water, there is always enough
head water coming out of the Atcha-
falaya to be equivalent to a. least
two feet OF all which is sufilclent
to maintain a current, though not a
great one.
The benefits to sanitation mast
necessarily be great although uh~
fortunately the pollution due to
sugar houses will not be entirely
overcome until about December wnen
the current will stiffen up. From De
cember until August there should al
way be an abundance OF good pure
water in Bayou Teche and cnrren,
enough to run the lilies out ana
keep them out, besides supplying all
the rice pumps that can be installe1
and obviating the possibility OF salt
water.
This can all be done without any
danger whatsoever from excessive
current or high water in Bayou
Teche
If it is decided to 80 further, the
next step will be to locate the canal,
the cost of earthwors, rqad
and railroad crossings, right of way
and write specifications for doing the
work.
Respectfully submitted,
J. P. KEMPER, c. E.