14 



CANALS. 



embraces 22 locks; ascent from die Ohio, at low 

 \\ater, 108 feet; length of canal, 65; feeders, 2; 

 total, 67 miles ; cost, 746,852 dollars. From Dayton 

 the line is to be extended to lake Erie. The summit 

 level,. commencing 18 miles north of Dayton, extends 

 60 miles within a single lock ; and this level, toge- 

 ther with 75 miles of the line north of it, must 

 receive all its waters from feeders from the Mad and 

 Miami rivers. To aid the state in extending this 

 canal to lake Erie, there is assigned by congress, of 

 the public lands which the same shall pass tlirough, 

 a quantity equal to one-half of five sections in width, 

 on each side of the canal, between Dayton and the 

 Maumee river, at the mouth of the Auglaise, the 

 United States reserving each alternate section ; pro- 

 vided this extension be commenced within five years 

 from May, 1828, and finished witliin twenty; the 

 canal to be a highway for the United States, free 

 from toll. 



Virginia and North Carolina, Appomaitox river 

 canals. These canals are for the purpose of improv- 

 ing the navigation of the Upper and Lower Appo- 

 mattox. James river canals. The river is naviga- 

 ble, for vessels of 125 tons burthen, to a little below 

 Richmond. At the city, there are twelve locks, 

 overcoming an ascent of 80 feet, and connecting the 

 tide water with a basin on Shockoe hill. From this 

 basin proceeds a canal, 25 feet wide, 3 deep, for 2 5 

 miles, where it enters the stream ; at 3 miles farther 

 are 3 locks, overcoming an ascent of 34 feet, and a 

 short canal leading to Westham, at the upper end of 

 Great Falls. James and Jackson river canal and 

 navigation, from Richmond basin, by canal, up the 

 James river valley, to the head of Maiden Adven- 

 ture's falls, Goocldand county. Distance, 305 miles ; 

 width of canal, 40 feet; depth, 3^; finished in 1825; 

 cost, 623,295 dollars. Also from the lower end of 

 Irish falls, or Piney island, by canal, along the mar- 

 gin of James river to the mouth of North Branch, in 

 Rockland county. Distance, 7 miles. The fall is 

 overcome by lockage 96 feet; cost, 340,000 dollars. 

 Shenandoah canals, for the improvement of the 

 Shenandoah. They are situated near Port Republic. 

 A fall of 50 feet is overcome by six short canals with 

 stone locks. Dismal Swamp canal is 22^ miles in 

 length, 40 feet wide, and 6 deep, passes from Deep 

 creek to Joyce's creek, at the head of Pasquotank 

 river, connecting the waters of the Chesapeake and 

 Albemarle sound ; partly in Virginia and partly in 

 North Carolina. This canal was finished, upon a 

 circumscribed plan, in 1822. Its dimensions have 

 since been enlarged. Every quarter of a mile, the 

 canal is widened 60 feet, for turn-out stations. The 

 locks newly constructed correspond in dimensions 

 with those of the Chesapeake and Delaware canal ; 

 and the old ones may be so altered when necessary. 

 The summit level is 16^ feet above the Atlantic at 

 mid-tide, and is supplied by a feeder of five miles, 

 from lake Drummond. The basin, at Deep creek, 

 is half a mile in length, and 15 feet above the level 

 of tide water. The North-west canal connects North- 

 west river (which empties into Currituck sound in 

 North Carolina) with the main canal, requiring a cut 

 of 6 miles. This canal is 24 feet wide, 4 feet deep. 

 fVeldon canal is 12 miles in length, along the 

 Weldon or Great Falls in Roanoke river, in which 

 distance the river descends 100 feet. Danville anil 

 Dan river canals are a series of improvements on the 

 upper branches of Roanoke river. The expenditure 

 of the Roanoke navigation company, for these pur- 

 poses, has been about 350,000 dollars. Cape Fear 

 river canals, from New Inlet, at Smith's island, at the 

 mouth of Cape Fear river, up the stream to Wilming- 

 ton, and thence, by a course of lock and dam im- 

 provements, up to the head thereof, formed by the 



union of Deep and Haw rivers, below Haywoods- 

 borough, in Chatham county; distance, 200 miles. 

 These canals, &c., are for the purpose of improving 

 the navigation of the river. Tliis work is prosecuted 

 by the state of North Carolina. Wateree river and 

 Catawba river canals, from the confluence of the 

 Congaree and Wateree rivers, up the course of the 

 latter, as also of the Catawba river, across North 

 Carolina, to near the source thereof. Distance, by 

 the river channel improvements and lateral canals 

 together, 275 miles. Santee, Columbia, and Saluda 

 canals, from Columbia, tlirough the Columbia canal, 

 into Broad river, and through the Saluda canal, from 

 Broad into Saluda river, up which and through Drehr 

 and Lorick's canals, on to the Abbeville county line, 

 near Cambridge ; also from Santee river, by the San- 

 tee canal, into Cooper's river, and down this river to 

 the port of Charleston. Distance, by mixed naviga- 

 tion, 150 miles. These comprise 5 canals with 28 

 locks, overcoming falls of 217 feet. The Santee and 

 Cooper's river canal is 22 miles long, uniting Santee 

 river to the head of Cooper's river. The ground 

 rises, by an ascent of 35 feet to the summit level, by 

 4 locks. Towards Cooper's river, the descent is 68 

 feet, ov< rcome by 9 locks. The locks are 60 feet 

 long by 10 feet wide. The canal is 32 feet wide at 

 top, and 20 feet at the bottom ; 4 feet deep. It was 

 completed in 1802, at an expense of 650,6(57 dollars. 

 IVinyaw canal is 10 miles in length. It unites the 

 Santee river with the Winyaw bay. 



Kentucky. Louisville and Portland canal is about 

 two miles in length, 50 feet wide at the bottom, 

 with a lockage of 22^ feet. It was not fully com- 

 pleted in 1831. It passes from the Ohio, at Louis- 

 ville, to a point of the same below the rapids, near 

 Portland. Distance, by the bend of the river, three 

 miles; constructed by the Louisville and Portland 

 canal company, which was incorporated in 1825. 

 The canal is for the passage of large vessels. It 

 commences from the lower end of a basin or estuary, 

 which extends along the shore of the river for the 

 whole length of Louisville, and is connected with 

 the river at its upper end. From the lower part of 

 this basin, the canal traverses the point formed by 

 the bend of the river at the falls, and re-enters the 

 river at Shippingsport. The bottom is to be 50 feet 

 wide, sunk 4 feet below the level of the basin at 

 Louisville, at time of low water ; the banks to be 

 elevated two feet above the highest water mark 

 known at Louisville, which makes forty-two feet from 

 the bottom of the canal, and to be sloped as If base 

 to 1, so far as respects the upper or earthen portion ; 

 underneath there is a solid bed of stone for a founda- 

 tion the whole length of the canal, and this, cut per- 

 pendicularly, to the requisite depth, varying from 1 

 to 10 feet ; the slope above which, to the top of each 

 bank, faced with stone. There are 3 lift-locks, of 7 

 feet lift each, and a guard-lock at the lower end of 

 the canal ; dimensions, 190 feet long by 50 feet wide, 

 in the chamber. The United States have contri- 

 buted towards this important work. 



Georgia. SavannaA and Ogatchee canal is 1 6 miles 

 in length, 33 feet wide at the bottom, and 5 feet in 

 depth, passing from Savannah river, commencing at 

 Savannah, to the Ogatchee river ; lockage, 29 feet ; 

 estimate of cost, 162,276 dollars; locks 18 feet wide, 

 90 long. It is continued from the Ogatchee to the 

 Alatamaha. 



Louisiana. New Orleans and Teche river canal is 

 a projected navigation of 100 miles in length, from a 

 point on the Mississippi, opposite New Orleans, to the 

 waters which unite with the Teche river, at Berwick's 

 bay. A portion of this canal, from Lafourche to Ter- 

 rebonne, was completed by individual enterprise. 

 L'arondelet canal is l mile long, 30 feet wide, and 



