Protecting River Sides. 



By W. LIPSCOMB, Heath, Wakefield. 



It is no uncommon thing to see on the sides of rapid running rivers 

 very costly experiments in the way of protection against floods en- 

 tirely fail in arresting the damage done to the banks ; or if they 

 succeed at the particular spot on which the barrier is erected, fresh 

 mischief is created by the reflux of the stream a little below this 

 point. 



Having successfully arrested most serious inroads made by such 

 a river, I will point out the principle which I have adopted. The 

 ordinary method, where land has been washed away, is to erect jetties 

 just above the breach, and inclining at an angle vntJi the stream. I 

 know of scores of such projecting weirs, or jetties, composed prin- 

 cipally of stone, but I have never seen an inch of land recovered by 

 them, and unless they are repeated at close intervals fresh breaches 

 will be made lower down. I have found that making the weir 

 tcloiv the breach, and inclining it upwards, at an acute angle to meet 

 the stream, is an unfailing expedient, both for recovering lost land and 

 stopping further mischief anywhere near the point protected. The 

 materials I have used are boughs of trees and saplings, gravel, sand, 

 and stone. Any such wood, from about 4 to 14 inches in diameter, 

 and from 10 to 20 feet long, can be utilized. It should be cut with the 

 axe, and the whole of the small branches and twigs should be left on. 

 The extent to which the jetty should project must, of course, be 

 regulated by the size of the breach made. Commence by laying, 

 when the water is at its lowest level, at the point immediately below 

 the breach, a layer of the boughs with their thick ends facing the 

 stream, and at an angle of 45°, or thereabouts ; then barrow a layer of 

 gravel, sand, or stone upon these boughs, leaving a yard of the thick 

 ends uncovered; and continue this system to the required height, 

 making the weir slope from the foot upwards to its junction with the 

 bank. It wiU be found that at the first flood the projecting ends of 

 these branches have gathered a quantity of silt and debris of all sorts, 

 and that the whole mass of your materials have become immovably 

 fastened together. If the breach is very large it is advisable to extend 

 the weir by degrees, and not attempt the whole at once. I have re- 

 covered half an acre in one place by this process, and in no instance 

 have I known a jetty constructed of these unusually cheap and 

 ready materials washed away. 



