niles. On all this extent the right bank is far preferable to the other. Except in three or four places, where you meet with bluffs, it consists of flats or gentle slopes, where the canal can be run without difficulty. As to these bluffs, they consist of schistose rock, easy to work. The only stream of any importance which joins the Youghiogheny between Connellsville and Robstown is Jacob's Creek, and it gives but little water in dry seasons. That route is also intercepted by two or three deep ravines, which the canal must cross on aqueducts. The distance between Robstown and McKeesport is about sixteen miles. Along this route the right shore remains preferable to the other; it consists of a succession of flats and spurs, which, being of a schistose nature and moderate height, will offer no considerable obstructions to the canal. From McKeesport to Pittsburgh the right shore of the Monongahela offers a most favorable ground, except along the two spaces of about a mile each, where rugged bluffs close on the river. The first is below Judge Wallis' and the field of Braddock's defeat; the second before reaching Pittsburgh. The whole distance, in following the right bank of the river, is between McKeesport and Pittsburgh, from fifteen to sixteen miles. The highest floods of the Youghiogheny occur between Castleman's River and Connellsville; they rise to 18 feet. At Connellsville they rise from 12 to 15 feet. Salt-wells may be dug in its valley; coal and iron are abundant; and excellent materials for building, timber and stone, are found all along it. The preparatory surveys of this western section were not commenced during the last season, 1824. They can alone fix the general route of the canal; they will be directed on the following bases: From Bear Creek the canal must follow the right shore of the valley, descending along the Youghiogheny; and, though it is most favorable, (presenting a rugged bank only for four or five hundred yards,) when it reaches Selbysport bridge two lines of direction may be tried, one along the right and the other along the left bank, to the old salt-works. The depth and breadth of the valleys and ravines, which it will be necessary to cross on aqueducts, will be measured, and the location of these aqueducts and of the dams to form reservoirs will be fixed. If between Selbysport and the old salt-works the left shore presents any advantages over the other deserving the expense and trouble of crossing twice the Youghiogheny, the location and dimensions of two aqueducts, one at Selbysport and above the old saltworks, will be determined, and a feeder led from Castleman's River to the latter. From the old salt-works to the Ohiopyle Falls the canal must follow the right shore, which is most favorable, and then, crossing Indian Creek on an aqueduct, continue along the same bank to the paper-mill, four or five miles south of Connellsville. It will be proper to ascertain whether its line should not leave the valley of the Youghiogheny above the Ohiopyle Falls, and, running east, gain the southern branch of Indian Creek, to rejoin the Youghiogheny by descending Indian Creek Valley. From the paper-mill the canal should be run at a sufficient elevation above the river to leave the shore, and gain, if possible, the high level which lies east of Connellsville, in order to turn round the rugged bluff below that place. From thence, following the right shore, it will reach Robstown, after crossing on aqueducts Maunet's Creek and Jacob's Creek. The localities and dimensions of these aqueducts must be determined, as well as the resources which these streams may afford to supply the canal by turning them into reservoirs. From Robstown to McKeesport, keeping along the right shore, it must cross Sewickly Creek over an aqueduct, whose dimensions and location must be determined. As this creek has two considerable branches, they must be examined to determine whether reservoirs cannot be made in them. From McKeesport to Pittsburgh the canal will follow the right shore of the valley of the Monongahela, crossing in succession Crooked Run, Turtle Creek, and Nine-Mile Run on aqueducts. To ascertain whether from the paper-mill the right shores of the Youghiogheny and Monongahela are certainly the best, a level should be run along their valleys on the left shore, and the locations and dimensions of the dams or aqueducts which it would be necessary to run through the Youghiogheny at McKeesport and through the Monongahela near its confluence with the Youghiogheny, in case this route was adopted, should be fixed and calculated. It will also be essential to try whether the canal might not turn to the west of that narrow and rugged portion of the valley of the Youghiogheny where it forces its way through Briery Mountain and Laurel Hill. For this purpose a level should be run from Selbysport and some point of a proper elevation, and cross the Briery Mountain at the depression which it offers between the heads of Buffalo Marsh Run and the eastern branch of Sandy Creek. This level should then wind round the ravines of the head of the western branch of Sandy Creek till it met the Laurel Hill at the spot where it might be crossed by the shortest tunnel. When it reaches its western slope it should run northwardly along its foot, to descend by one of its ravines to the Youghiogheny opposite the paper-mills. On the whole, the western section of the canal, from the mouth of Bear Creek to that of the Monongahela at Pittsburgh, offers no obstacles which may not be surmounted at a reasonable expense; and the waters of the Youghiogheny, Bear Creek, and Castleman's River are amply sufficient to feed it. Large reservoirs may be formed in Bear Creek and Castleman's River by throwing dams across them, and on the route from Castleman's to the paper-mills, and at the mouth of the Youghiogheny in the Monongahela. The practicability of this section is out of the question. Its length will be about one hundred miles, and its descent from Bear Creek to Pittsburgh 5844 feet, as Pittsburgh is 756 feet above the level of the ocean. The investigation of the topography and water-courses of the country through which the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal should run, and the results of our preparatory surveys, obtained up to the present moment, demonstrate that this noble enterprise is practicable; and, although we have not yet sufficient data to calculate the expense of the work, there is every probability that it will not bear any comparison with the political, commercial, and military advantages which it will procure to the Union. The total result of the length, rise, and fall of the canal is as follows: Total tength: Miles. From the tide-water in the Potomac to Cumberland, (from Messrs. Moore and 182 From Cumberland to the mouth of Savage River, (from report of Major Abert, 27 From the mouth of Savage River to that of Bear Creek, by the Deep Creek 41 100 350 Total rise: Feet. From tide-water in the Potomac to Cumberland, (from the profile of Cumberland road) .. 537 From Cumberland to the mouth of Savage River, (from Major Abert's survey)... 327 From the mouth of Savage River to the base-mark on the Deep Creek summitlevel, (from Captain McNeill's survey) ... 1,432 2,296 REPORT OF THE BOARD OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT ON THE CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO CANAL, COMPRISING THE PLAN AND ESTIMATE OF THE SAME, OCTOBER 23, 1826. The operations which have been executed in the field in 1824 in relation to the contemplated Chesapeake and Ohio Canal had chiefly for object to ascertain the practicability of the undertaking. Those performed in 1825 were to determine the route to be recommended, as also to obtain the data necessary to frame a general plan of the work and a preparatory estimate of the expense. Another series of operations remains yet to be executed: 1. To locate accurately the canal on the ground, and to fix the final site of the locks, aqueducts, culverts, dams, bridges, &c. 2. To frame for each portion of canal the plans and profiles necessary for its execution. 3. To make on the spot the calculations of excavation and embankment. 4. To draw up the estimate of each individual work according to local circumstances. 5. To prepare the proper specifications to put the work under contract. This series of operations belongs more properly to the construction than to the general plan of the canal, and may be deferred until the execution shall have been decided. These operations will then keep pace with the execution of the work, and their results for each portion will improve by the experience gradually acquired during the construction of the canal. These considerations, the scarcity of means at our disposal at this time, and the expediency of affording a result as to this great important national work, have induced us to limit the surveys to those strictly necessary to enable us to frame a general plan and a preparatory estimate. In the report submitted by the board on the 2d of February, 1825, (marked A among the documents which accompanied the President's message of the 14th of February, 1825,) all the experimental lines surveyed in 1824 have been described, and mention has been made of several others which were yet to be surveyed. We have also presented, in the same report A, the considerations relative to the hydrography of the country in the general direction of the canal. We will, therefore, confine ourselves to the description of the experimental lines, which, on account of the advanced season in 1824, had been postponed to 1825; we will compare these lines to the others, and point out the route which seems to us entitled to preference. EXPERIMENTAL LINES. Summit-level by Deep Creek.-In the report A, it had been anticipated that the section of canal from the tunnel at Dewickman's Arm to the mouth of Bear Creek would follow the valley of Deep Creek as far as the Rapids, then turn Panther's Point, and descend to the mouth of Bear Creek, along the left side of the Youghiogheny. However, it became necessary to compare this route with another more direct, which, following the former as far as Deep Creek bridge, would continue to Rock Creek Run, a western tributary of Bear Creek. The survey has shown that, the bottom of canal being assumed three feet above the bottom of Deep Creek at the bridge, a tunnel would be necessary to cross the ridge which separates Buffalo Marsh Run from Rock Lick Run. The distance and descent are as follows: From the eastern end of the tunnel at Dewickman's Arm to the base-mark at Descent in this distance From the base-mark to the debouch into Rock Lick Run. Descent in this distance... From this debouch to the mouth of Bear Creek. Descent in this distance. Total.. In this total distance, two tunnels would be necessary: one at Dewickman's Arm, whose length would be one mile 568 yards, and whose bottom would be below the top of the ridge 233 feet; one at Buffalo Marsh Run, whose length would be two miles 254 yards, and whose bottom would be below the top of the ridge 343 feet; total length of tunnels three miles 822 yards. In order to remove all doubts as to the expediency of this portion of canal-route, and to lessen, as much as practicable, the length of the tunnels and the excavation at their deep cuts, a second line, 13 feet 9 inches higher than the preceding one, has been tried; the results of which are as follows: From the eastern end of the tunnel at Dewickman's Arm to the base-mark at Descent in this distance. As to the length of the tunnels and the height of the ridges above the bottom of tunnels, they are respectively: This arrangement would lessen the length of tunnels by 1,089 yards, and also the excavation through the valley of Deep Creek by at least 1,000,000 cubic yards. But the level of this route being 134 feet higher than that of the former route, the volume of available water in the reservoir of Deep Creek would be much diminished, and it would also become necessary to raise, by 134 feet, the dams recommended (in the report A) across the Youghiogheny, in order to feed the canal; a circumstance which would increase the expense and difficulty attending the erection of these dams. It must be observed that Deep Creek alone is altogether unable to feed a summit-level, while it scarcely yields, during the dry season, 5 cubic feet of water per second. Its tributaries are liable to become entirely dry, as happened in 1825. However, we will compare this direct route, running from Dewickman's Arm to the mouth of Bear Creek, with that through Deep Creek and the right side of the Youghiogheny, and whose distance and descent are as follows: Sections. From the eastern end of the tunnel at Dewickman's Arm to the base-mark at From the western end of the summit-level to the mouth of Bear Creek. Total. On this portion of route there would be one tunnel only, (at Dewickman's Arm,) whose length, as already stated, would be one mile 568 yards. The distance and descent in following the direct route would be, as above, nineteen miles 790 yards 9254 feet. The length of the two tunnels taken together would be, as above, two miles 1,493 yards. The direct route would, therefore, be eight miles 5624 yards shorter than the other, but it would require a greater length of tunnel by one mile 568 yards, and cause an increase of lockage of 274 feet, which, as to time and expense, gives a decided advantage to the other route. Again, the descent from the debouch into Rock Lick Run to the mouth of Bear Creek is 9254 feet, on a distance of seven miles 5354 yards, vach, on the supposition of a uniform declivity, could afford but 115 yards to the locat on of one lock, 8 feet lift, with its adjoining pond; but this declivity is far from being uniform, and in some places it will be so rapid as to oblige to locate the locks quite close to each other, a circumstance which would involve the expense of a double set of locks. All these considerations, added to the difficulty of feeding the upper level, induce us to reject this direct route, and to give the preference to that through the valleys of Deep Creek and of the Youghiogheny, as assumed in the report A, (February, 1825.) Summit-level by Flaugherty Creek.—But a much more important route was yet to be examined, which, having its summit-level at the source of Will's Creek, would commence at Cumberland, ascend this creek, cross the ridge which separates Will's Creek from Castleman's River, and descend the valley of this stream to debouch into the Youghiogheny at its junction with Castleman's River and Laurel Hill Run. Mention has been made of this route in report A, (pages 40 and 41.) Some experimental lines. were surveyed on the summit-ground in 1824, and some measurements of water were taken; but the season being then too far advanced to prosecute further the surveys and levelings relative to this route, the board were compelled to defer their execution until 1825; and as early as the 12th of March, 1825, they framed detailed instructions respecting the surveys and investigations necessary to ascertain the practicability of a route of canal in this direction. This route deserved so much the more a careful examination that it promised, by means of a tunnel, a shorter distance, but it became necessary to ascertain, in the first instance, the minimum length of the tunnel which should receive, at its western end, water enough from Castleman's River to supply the summit-level and a portion of the canal down Will's Creek. Upon this point rested the practicability of this route. Indeed, the survey made in 1824 had tried a tunnel of 1,43 yards in length, with a greatest height of ridge of 156 feet; but the essential condition of a sufficient supply of water had not been obtained at such an elevation. It therefore remained to find out, by surveys, a tunnel combining the shortest length with a competent supply of water. These surveys were intrusted to Capt. Wm. G. McNeill, of the Topographical Engineers, who carried them. in the most able manner, into execution. The result has been that a tunnel from the month of Bowman's Run, in Will's Creek, to the mouth of Flaugherty Creek, in Castleman's River, was the shortest which could water. be admitted to procure at the same time the other requisite as to the sufficiency of The length of this tunnel is four miles 80 yards, with a deep cut at each end; the eastern being 140 yards long, the western 1,060 yards; the greatest depth of each 35 feet, but the height of the top of the ridge above the bottom of the tunnel is not less than 856 feet. Let us now examine the resources afforded to feed this suminit-level. Castleman's River is the only stream upon which we can rely to fulfill this object. It yielded, on the 21st of June, 1825, at Pleucher's farm, twelve miles above the mouth of Flaugherty Creek, 18 cubic feet of water per second; on the 7th of the same month, it yielded at the same place 44 cubic feet per second; on the 10th of July, same year, it yielded 38 cubic feet per second, above the mouth of Flaugherty Creek. It must be observed, that in consequence of a freshet, the stream, on the 24th of June, 1825, yielded at Forney's Mill, five miles above Flaugherty Creek, 803 cubic feet per second; three days afterwards it still delivered 103 cubic feet. From all these results we adopt the smallest; and we assume 18 cubic feet as the minimum of water supplied by Casselman's above the mouth of Flaugherty Creek. Besides this supply of running water, two reservoirs can be made in the bed of the stream: one at Pleucher's farm, containing 4,679,029 cubic yards; the second, below Forney's Mill, containing 17,091,490 yards; together, about 22,000,000 yards. The dam of the first would be 40 feet high, 230 yards long at the top; the foot 114 feet above the summit-level; the dam to form the other would be 50 feet high, (to obtain a height of 40 feet of available water,) and from 140 to 160 yards long at the top. The feeder from the upper reservoir to the lower one would be about seven miles; but the feeder from the lower and larger reservoir to the summit-level would be three and one-third miles only. The area of the reservoir at Pleucher's farm will be 1,040,600 square yards; that of the great reservoir, 2,541,000 square yards; total, together, 3,581,600 square yards. We shall, in the sequel of this report, take into more minute consideration these supplies of water; for the moment we leave the subject to present a comparison between this route of canal and that by Deep Creek, as suggested in the report A, by and in consequence of the limited facts which then it had been in our power to ascertain. The first will be designated Castleman's route, the other Deep Creek route. The length, ascent, and descent of Castleman's route are as follows: From Cumberland bench-mark to the eastern end of the summit-level. Summit-level: eastern basin, 880 yards; eastern deep-cut, 140 yards; tunnel, four miles 80 yards; westeru deep-cut, 1,060 yards; western basin, 880 yards. From the western end of the summit-level to the Youghiogheny, 440 yards below the mouth of Castleman's River Descent in this distance 636 Total distance and lockage.. 70 1,010 1,961 The length, ascent, and descent of the Deep Creek route are as follows: From the mouth of Crabtree Creek to the eastern end of the summit-level. Total ascent, 1,7611⁄2 feet. 44 20 1, 7613 Summit-level: eastern deep-cut, 352 yards; tunnel, one mile 568 yards; west- From the mouth of Bear Creek to a point in the Youghiogheny 440 yards below the mouth of Castleman's 16 1,075 Both summits of these routes, being compared as to altitude to the Cumberland bench-mark, will show a difference of level of 436 feet in favor of the Castleman This difference would be 440 feet, if the level of comparison were assumed at route. |