254 THE RIVER-ROUTES 



this were done, the ports of the Parana de las Palmas 

 would have direct access to the sea. Moreover, the 

 new route from the Parana to the Atlantic would be 

 entirely within Argentine territory, out of range of 

 the Uruguayan shore, and Buenos Aires would become 

 a necessary port of call both on departure and return. 



Above the estuary, the work for the improvement 

 of the Parana began in 1904 and 1905. Since 1910 

 the material dredged from the bed of the river has 

 risen to 3,500,000 cubic metres a year on the average. 

 The experience gained in the course of this work has 

 enabled the Argentine hydrographic service to adjust 

 its methods to the incomparable force of the river. 

 It is impossible to maintain a general rectification of 

 the bed and the banks, as is possible with European 

 rivers. The only thing to do is to submit quietly to 

 the plan which the river sketches for itself, and be 

 content to deepen the difficult passages on the line 

 of the main arm. Suction dredges, which work easily 

 in the sand, attack each ridge or paso from below, 

 making a channel into which the waters flow, so that 

 it tends to enlarge itself up stream. The dredges are 

 shifted from bank to bank according as the soundings 

 tell of the formation of fresh obstacles to navigation. 

 They were at first concentrated below Rosario, where 

 the Argentine Government had to carry out certain 

 engagements contracted with the Port Company ; 

 then they were scattered as far up as Santa Fe. The 

 actual equipment suffices to carry out the programme 

 that had been drawn up — to maintain a depth of 

 twenty-one feet as far as Rosario and of nineteen 

 feet as far as Santa Fe. 



As regards the section above Santa Fe, the engineer 

 Repossini advises that, instead of adopting a pro- 

 gramme of expensive dredging with uncertain results, 

 they should first think of adjusting navigation to the 

 natural conditions, and they are such as would be 

 considered very favourable in Europe. The hydro- 



