Table of shoals from Camden, Ark., to the State line-Continued. Length. Available depth Remarks. Gravel-bar; channel very crooked; swift current. Crooked channel; swift current. Series of shoals, with pools between; gravel; channel narrow and near bank. Sand. REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS. The velocity of the current on the different shoals varies at low water from 1.5 to 3 miles per hour, but in times of flood it is often much greater. It will be seen by reference to the profile of the river and the list of shoals that ordinary methods of improvement, such as by dredging and rock-excavation or wing-dams, would involve enormous expense, even if practicable. A series of careful observations of floats of mid-depths shows the amount of water passing at Camden at low water to be about 353 cubic feet per second, which amount, though ample for the contemplated system of locks and dams, would be insufficient for any other exhaustive method of improvement of the upper river. The course of the river is extremely crooked, and a large number of the bends are very sharp. The width of the main channel ranges from 45 to 400 feet. The net-work of bayous and lakes in which the Ouachita country abounds, acts as a natural reservoir for the water in times of flood, thereby allowing the river to have a more contracted waste-way than would otherwise be the case. The chief source of danger to the navigation of the upper river, at navigable stages, arises from snags. A great part of these is the result of former ineffectual attempts to improve navigation by cutting down overhanging trees, or trees near the edge of the bank, sufficient precautions not having been taken to remove them; carried for a distance by a rise of water, they have been left as the water receded, on the shoals, where, becoming water-logged and imbedded in sand, they still remain. They are the most numerous and dangerous at the following localities: 73, Yæger's Tow-head. Distance from Camden, miles. 18 to 22, above and on Buffalo Flats. 24, near Newport. 27, Ingleby Shoals. 334, Leopard's Camp. 36, Haidee Shoals. 41 to 45, above and below Eldorado Landing. 48, Enterprise Shoals. 52, Franklin Shoals. 60, near Wilmington. 60 to 65, from Wilmington to Jack's Island. 88, near Cany Mary Landing. 93 to 140, from Belle Point to Ouachita City. 146, Loch Lomond Shoals. 149, Rock Row. Much work was done under your directions by the crane-boat Ouachita, during the fall of 1873, in removing snags and logs from the channel between Camden and Wilmington, but, owing to high water, no snagging of any importance was done below. On the lower river, between Monroe and Trinity, there are also many isolated snags and sawyers, the removal of which would be very beneficial. Another source of obstruction is in the leaning trees on the river-banks, the greater portion of which has been removed in previous operations, but considerable more work is necessary. The high-water channel hugs the bank very closely, especially at the bends, and a passing steamer runs great risk of losing her upper works at points where overhanging trees exist. On the upper part of the river, between Camden and Ouachita City, one or both banks of the river are invariably low, and a large portion of the adjacent country is annually overflowed. The high lines strike the river only at a few points, and there is but little land on the river under cultivation, most of the farms being situated at a distance and above or near high-water mark. Between Caryville and Alabama Landing, a distance of 56 miles, both banks are submerged at even moderate stages, and vast tracts of bottom-land, covered with forest and canebrake, are under water five or six months in the year. On the lower river, between Ouachita City and Trinity, the banks are generally high and the country near the river is tolerably well settled, although not cultivated to so great an extent as formerly, the reasons for which are not to be found in imperfect navigation, but await the solution of the labor question. There is sufficient depth of water for the use of the greater number of the boats to Camden during seven months, and to Monroe from nine to ten months in the year. During the season of 1873 navigation to Monroe was closed only about six weeks. The season of high water in the Ouachita is also the cotton-shipping season, during which some of the large Mississippi boats, together with those employed exclusively in the Ouachita trade, run upon the river, and long before it falls to its lower stages the cotton is almost entirely removed. ers and merchants resident upon and near the river, which supplies must also be made At the same time supplies are brought to the plantto cover the time during which the river is closed to navigation, a source of great inconvenience and distress, and the main argument in favor of continuous navigation. On the 23d of November, 1873, with the water only 24 feet above extreme low water, nearly all the boats which run the river were plying between New Orleans and Ouachita City, and carrying down cargoes of cotton. So soon as the cotton-crop is exhausted the boats cease running, or only a few at infrequent intervals, and this not always from lack of water, but from lack of trade; and it is difficult to see how, in the event of the establishment of slack-water navigation, this business would be adequately increased. As regards the present cost of shipping cotton via the Ouachita to New Orleans, it is but little, if any, greater than for equal distances on the Mississippi and Red Rivers, and during the season in which the cotton should be shipped there are ample facilities for doing so. Monroe, in addition to its river connections, has a railroad, (Northern Louisiana and Texas,) which runs to Delta, a point on the Mississippi nearly opposite Vicksburg. The greater portion of the cotton raised in this section of the country goes out by this route. Navigation during the entire year can be secured to this point and Trenton, two miles above, at comparatively small cost, as will be seen from estimates below submitted. There is a railroad under construction from Arkadelphia to Camden, tapping the Cairo and Fulton Railroad, which runs to Little Rock, thence connecting with Memphis and Saint Louis. By this route Camden and the up-river country can receive supplies quite as cheaply as by boat, and if necessary cotton can be shipped. Points above, and as far as Champagnolle, are easily reached by land, and can receive their supplies from Camden when navigation is closed. In the same manner Ouachita City and intermediate points can receive their necessaries from Monroe. Between Ouachita City, then, and Champagnolle, a distance of ninety-five miles by the river and about sixty by land, is the country which would be especially and chiefly benefited by carrying into effect the proposed project for slack-water navigation. There follows a list of the counties and parishes the interests and welfare of which are directly or indirectly connected with the navigation of the river. In the second column is given the population according to the census of 1870. The third column shows the assessed valuation of estate, real and personal, and the fourth exhibits the cotton-crop of 1870. Eighty-two thousand nine hundred and twenty bales, at $40 per bale, which is a fair average value, would give $3,316,800 as the valuation of the entire crop. It has been before remarked that the benefit to be derived from the slack-water projeet, or from any improvement in tended to furnish continuous navigation, would be in bringing supplies during the summer months. Putting the up-river freight at a value of say two-thirds that of the cotton, which is sufficiently high, we have as a total valuation of up-river freight $2,211,200; only a part of this, say five-twelfths, corresponding to that portion of the year in which navigation is more or less impeded, is to be taken into consideration, and we have the result $921,333. Should, however, the river below Monroe be improved, as below suggested and estimated for, there would remain only those counties and parts of counties on the river between Champagnolle and Ouachita City which would be greatly benefited by the improvement of the upper river. Camden, with its railroad, will have ample facilities for supplying itself and vicinity, and portions of the country have easy access to the Mississippi River. To furnish supplies daring four or five months in the year to this section appears to be the ultimate and principal object of such improvement. That the expense would be immeasurably out of proportion to the results to be obtained may be seen from the following table. It shows the names of the counties or parts of counties included in the section above re REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS. ferred to, their population, valuation, and average cotton-crop, according to census of 1870. Counties and parishes. 31, 748 Thirty-one thousand seven hundred and forty-eight bales, at $40 a bale, would give $1,269,920. Estimating value of supplies at two-thirds, we have $846,613. Taking five-twelfths of this as the average for the five months in which navigation is impeded we have $352,755. A single boat of average size could, if it were possible to run, meet all the demands. Owners of steamboats and others interested in the profits of navigation are dissatisfied with the project for slack-water, and call only for such measures as will render present navigation as free from danger as possible. In regard to the survey of 1871, made by Mr. Clement Smith, a Board of Engineers has passed upon it, and numerous errors were found, the existence of which is confirmed by the present survey, and, moreover, additional ones have been discovered, more than sufficient, in my opinion, to warrant a condemnation of the project recommended. I have made special examinations of those points at which locks are proposed to be constructed, or at least of the vicinity, no clew being given in the maps, notes, or report by which these sites could be exactly located. I have found them in every case defective. Insufficient soundings were made for determining the profile of the river-bed, and several shoals were neglected, some of which have an important bearing upon the result. Numerous errors have been found in the levels of 1871, which have doubtless led to the greater part of the faults discovered. The locks proposed are not of sufficient size to accommodate the larger boats, and new ones would have to be built, which would doubtless cause much dissatisfaction among present owners. During the cotton-shipping season some of the large Mississippi steamers use the river and carry the major part of the freight. Dams of the height proposed would practically bar them out of the river, or at least allow them to pass over only about two months in the year; and, aside from this drawback, it seems that wooden structures would hardly be secure, built to such a height in a very contracted water-way, completely surrounded and submerged at high water, as most of those proposed would be, and with no sufficient bank to offer security to the roots of the dams. It is not believed that the pools made by the proposed dams would cause any real damage to the adjacent country, or that the prolongation of the high stages would be in any way detrimental, although claims for supposititious damages might arise. The high-freshet line varies from 39.25 feet above low water at Camden to 53.4 at Trinity, while the ordinary high water ranges from 30 to 40 feet, and is prolonged for some months, so that no land much below these limits could be cultivated, unless protected by levees. A system of ten locks and dams, with lifts of 7 feet, would better fulfill the conditions of security, and would not bar the large steamers for so great a length of time. PLAN OF IMPROVEMENT. In view of what has been above said, I would respectfully recommend the following project for improvement, which, although partial, will afford great relief: 1st. The construction of a light-draught steamboat, fitted with the requisite machinery for removing snags, sunken logs, &c., to work between Camden and Trinity, but principally above Monroe, La. The cost of such a boat as estimated from plans in your possession would be about.... The cost of running per year as obtained from comparison of precedents on this and other rivers.. $30,000 26, 400 Total 56, 400 Such a boat would be of the utmost service to navigation in removing the chief sources of danger, and could be made effective during the entire year. 24. The widening and deepening of the channel between Monroe and Trinity by dredging and rock-excavation, so as to give at least 4 feet of water with 100 feet width of channel during the entire year. This width and depth will be ample for such craft as trade would justify in usl the river during the low stages. The following list shows the names of shoals, their situation, and the quantity of work required in that portion of the river the improvement of which is here proposed. Some of them are built on a nucleus of snags and sunken logs, which being removed, the causes of obstruction would be eliminated. These shoals have been plotted, and the results were obtained by calculation from the soundings made during the survey. They are presented as approximate, but are believed to be very near the truth. As the work is not of more than ordinary difficulty, I have estimated the rate per cubic yard for sand and gravel at 35 cents and for rock $2, which will give— 119,955 cubic yards of sand and gravel, at 35 cents.. 3,413 cubic yards of rock, at $2 Add 15 per cent. for contingencies... Total..... $41,984 25 6,826 00 48,810 25 7,321 54 56, 131 79 I have to state that there would be no guarantee for the permanence of the above work, inasmuch as the factors of danger are the same as for other rivers of this class, rivers of average rapidity of current, crooked, and with unstable bottoms of mud, sand, and gravel. Should, however, the work be determined upon, I would respectfully recommend that it be done by contract, as being cheaper and more expeditious in view of the comparatively small quantities, as not justifying the necessary outlay for machinery, &c., on the part of the Government. I have now to call your attention to the bars at the mouth of Red River, which I have not personally examined, but which I learn from various sources give but 18 inches at low water. They have, therefore, an important bearing upon any improvement intended to furnish low-water navigation on the Ouachita, inasmuch as its only outlet to the Mississippi is via Black and Red Rivers and over these bars. An examination of this locality seems imperatively needed, and its improvement would be of the utmost importance to the navigation of the Red, Black, and Ouachita Rivers. Some improvement of the principal tributaries of the Ouachita, viz: Bayous Moro, Bartholomew, and d'Arbonne, Bœuf and Saline Rivers, would be beneficial to the country concerned. |