560 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1916. 



fied so as not to be in the way of vessels navigating the river. The 

 commerce of this river for five-year periods is shown as follows : 



Tons. 

 1900 2, 570, 900 



Tons. 

 1910 1, 181, 963 



1905 1, 230, 352 \ 1912 1, 667, 126 



Nearly all of the tributaries of the Ohio of any considerable size 

 have been canalized, manj^ within the last two decades. The Mus- 

 kingum Eiver had been provided with locks and dams for 6-foot 

 navigation by the State of Ohio and a private corporation between 

 1837 and 1841. This system was in a dilapidated state when taken 

 over by the United States, in 1888, for rehabilitation, and at that 

 time 10 new locks were authorized, in addition to the repairs, and, 

 later, another lock, known as No. 11, was provided for. This project 

 has been completed for several years. The total cost for repajrs and 

 maintenance since 1888 has been $2,050,000. The commerce has been 

 slight, as is shown below : 



Tons. I Tons. 



1910 58, 956 I 1912 64, 214 



The Little Kanawha, too, was equipped with locks and dams at 

 an early date by a private corporation. It was not until 1905 that the 

 United States purchased the four locks in the lower river, at a cost of 

 $163,000. Before this, a fifth lock had been built by the Government, 

 in 1891, above the lower locks. The total money expended on this 

 river was $281,000, by which the 4-foot navigation of the river has 

 been restored and extended up-stream for 48 miles. Commerce has 

 not been important, and consists principally of logs and railroad ties, 

 materials best transported in rafts at high stages without the aid of 

 locks and dams. During the last 24 years, the commerce has been 

 as shown below, during 5-year intervals: 



Tons. 



1890 140, 115 



1895 179, 240 



1900 119, 439 



During the year 1912, $14,500 was expended in maintenance alone. 



The Big Sandy River is another tributary where locks and dams 

 have been built within comparatively recent years, but where the 

 commerce has always been unimportant. Three locks and dams of 

 the movable needle type have already been built in the main river, 

 27 miles long, and the present project provides for the continuance 

 of the work up-stream by building eight locks and dams on the Tug 

 Fork and on the Levisa Fork, the two branches forming the river. 

 These ff^rks are also to be provided with 6-foot depths of channel, 

 under the project. One lock and dam has been built on each fork, 

 but it is now very unlikely that the others will ever be built — cer- 

 tainly not for many years — as a reexamination into the worthiness of 



Tons. 



1905 106, 510 



1910 84, 475 



1912 89, 202 



