THE OHIO RIVER PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS The Ohio River is formed by the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers at Pittsburgh, Pa. The course of the stream is generally southwesterly to its confluence with the Mississippi River at Cairo, Ill. The watershed embraces portions of the following 14 states: New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Length from junction of Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers to Mississippi River... Drainage area _____miles__ -square miles- Total fall, surface of pool at Pittsburgh, Pa. to low-water surface of _feet__ Slope per mile at low-water stage, average: _feet__ Wheeling, W. Va. to Cincinnati, Ohio, 379.7 miles Falls of the Ohio River, 3 miles Cincinnati, Ohio, to head of falls at Louisville, Ky., 133.7 miles.. ._feet__ do. Foot of falls to Cairo, Ill., 374.1 miles. Width between banks at normal pool level: Varies from about 700 feet at a point 105 miles below Pittsburgh to about 5,000 feet at a point 956 miles below Pittsburgh and 25 miles above the mouth of the river. 981 203, 900 429. 4 1. 02 0.47 0. 22 8.0 0.28 At head of river (Pittsburgh, Pa.)___cubic feet per second.. IMPROVEMENT OF THE OHIO RIVER FOR NAVIGATION . (War Department supervision) General supervision of all navigation improvement in the United States executed under appropriations made by Congress is committed to the Secretary of War and the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, whose offices are in Washington, D. C. For the purpose of supervising the construction, maintenance, and operation of locks and dams and other works of river improvement, the Ohio River is divided into districts, each under the immediate charge of a District Engineer who is an officer of the Corps of Engineers, United States Army, with limits as follows: In its original condition, the Ohio River was much obstructed throughout its entire length by snags, rocks, and gravel and sand bars, rendering navigation difficult and hazardous. The width of channel was exceedingly variable. The depth available for navigation over the worst shoals at extreme low water varied from a minimum of 1 foot between Pittsburgh, Pa. and Cincinnati, Ohio (470 miles), to 2 feet between Cincinnati and the mouth of the river (511 miles). When the depth over the worst shoals was 3 feet or more, the river was navigable throughout its entire length for steamboats and other craft, except as its use was affected by floods or ice. By act approved May 24, 1824, Congress provided for the improvement of certain bars in the Ohio River, and for this purpose made an appropriation of $75,000. The act appears to have been directed more particularly to the removal of trees, commonly called "planters, sawyers, or snags"; if Congress then proposed a more extensive improvement of the river, the method to be employed was wisely left to executive officers. President Monroe in his annual message to Congress dated December 7, 1824, alludes to the Federal act of the prior session which contained provisions for the improvement of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, stating that "the superintendence of them has been assigned to officers of the Corps of Engineers." By act of May 13, 1826, the Secretary of the Treasury was authorized to subscribe for or purchase: not exceeding one thousand shares of the capital stock of the Louisville and Portland Canal Company, * * * Provided, Said shares can be procured for a sum not exceeding one hundred dollars each. In the act of March 3, 1827, besides providing for the removal of "all snags, sawyers, stumps, logs, and obstructions of every description", it was directed that the channel at Grand Chain should "be deepened by a proper channel formed, that at the usual state of the water, steamboats may be enabled safely to pass and repass the same." The Secretary of War, under date of January 15, 1829, transmitted to Congress a report from Colonel Gratiot stating that operations for improving the navigation of the Ohio River had: been prosecuted with advantage as far down the river as Bethlehem, within about 30 miles of Louisville; that no measures had been taken to deepen the channel at the Grand Chain. The early period of river improvement included the removal from the channel of many snags and the construction of stone training dikes at various bars for the purpose of contracting the channel and increasing the scouring action of the river. The first dike was built near Henderson in 1825. The removal of rocks from Grand Chain was begun in 1830. Dikes were built at Scuffletown and Sisters Islands in 1831, and at French and Cumberland Islands in 1832. Mr. Milnor Roberts, "Superintending engineer Ohio River improvement", submitted a preliminary special report on the progress of work in 1866 in which he alludes to the construction of stone wing dams by Captain Sanders between the years of 1837 and 1844. Subsequent to 1844 work was stopped for want of further appropriations, and was apparently not resumed until 1866. The work of open-channel improvement has been continued since 1866. Snags and wrecks are now promptly removed from the channel. At certain localities the channel has been materially improved by the building of wing dikes and dams across the back channels and the revetting of banks subject to scour. Maj. William E. Merrill, Corps of Engineers, made a careful study of the inland waterways of France, with the result that as early as 1874 he recommended for use on the Ohio the so-called "movable dam", which had been in successful operation for some years on the Seine, Yonne, Marne, Meuse, and other rivers of France. The distinctive feature of the dams on these French streams is the navigable pass provided with wickets which may be raised or lowered at will. Thus in time of high water the wickets may be thrown down and the pass for its entire width made available for the passage of craft. This feature was considered especially adaptable to the Ohio River, with its known tendency toward sudden floods, as not only would the damage of creating local floods be avoided, but when the river was high the passes could be opened and the great coal tows could then navigate without the delay due to lockages. In 1875 Major Merrill made a comprehensive report on the number and location of movable dams required to secure slackwater navigation for the entire length of the Ohio River. He adopted, tentatively, a lift of about 6 feet, and on this basis proposed the construction of 68 dams, of which No. 1 was to be located at Davis Island, 4.7 miles below Pittsburgh, Pa., and No. 68 just above the mouth of Cache River above Cairo, Ill. The construction of the first movable dam on the Ohio River at Davis Island, as contemplated in Major Merrill's plan, was begun on August 19, 1878, and was opened to commerce on October 7, 1885. Whatever fears the towboat men of the Ohio had felt in regard to this dam were quickly dissipated. Pittsburgh enjoyed for the first time in her history an ample low-water harbor for steamboats and waiting coal fleets. After repeated modifications of design, involving an increase in the lifts of the locks and changes in the locations of the dams, the existing project was adopted which includes 54 dams. Dams Nos. 40, 42, and 54 were not constructed in the final adjustment. The construction of the Emsworth and Dashield's Dams in 1921 and 1929 eliminated Nos. 1, 2, and 3. With the completion of Montgomery Island and Gallipolis Dams, now under construction, Dams Nos. 4, 5, 6, 24, 25, and 26 will also be eliminated, reducing the number of dams on the Ohio River to 46. While the average lift has been increased it is still quite moderate, about 72 percent of the locks included in the project having a lift of less than 8.5 feet. Emsworth and Dashield's are fixed dams. Montgomery Island: and Gallipolis are fixed dams with movable crests. The remainder are movable dams, each including a lock or locks, navigable pass, weirs, and an abutment. DESCRIPTION OF NAVIGATION FACILITIES Locks.-The available size of the main lock chamber is uniform throughout the entire series of Ohio River dams, with a length of 600 feet and a width of 110 feet. The lock chamber is closed at both ends by gates of either the rolling or swinging type. The difference between the levels of the upper and lower pools is overcome by admitting water to, or discharging water from, the closed lock chamber by means of valves. Auxiliary locks with available. dimensions 56 by 360 feet are provided at the Emsworth and Dashield's Dams, and at the Louisville and Portland Canal (Dam 41) at Louisville, Ky. An auxiliary lock with similar dimensions will likewise be provided at the Montgomery Island Dam, while one with available dimensions of 110 by 360 feet will be constructed at the new Gallipolis Dam. Navigable pass.-The width of the navigable pass varies at the different movable dams between limits of 600 and 1,248 feet as shown in the tabular statement on page 166. The function of the pass is to provide a channel for open-river navigation when the use of the dam is not required and the wickets are down, and also to, form a part of the dam by the raising of the wickets with which the pass is provided. Each wicket is 3.75 feet in width and from 15 to 20 feet in length (varying at different dams). The wickets are so arranged that there is an open space of 3 inches between adjoining wickets, these open spaces being closed when necessary by small square timbers called "needles." The wicket proper is a heavytimber shutter pivoted to a link-like frame called a "horse", which in turn is pivoted to the foundation of the pass. Attached to the "horse" is a long, heavy forging called the "prop", the lower end of which rests in a groove formed of cast iron and provided with a shoulder or step. When not in use the wicket lies flat on the pass foundation at such depth below low water as to offer no obstruction to free navigation through the pass. When the wickets are to be raised for the purpose of closing the navigable pass, they are grappled for and raised one at a time by means of devices on a derrick, or, as termed, a maneuver boat. As the wicket is pulled upward and forward (i. e., upstream) the prop attached to the horse follows in its cast-iron groove until its lower end drops into place against the shoulder or step already alluded to. The prop being set in place, the wicket is tipped down from a nearly horizontal to a vertical |