704 REPORT— 1878. 



Let me now put forward the following proposition : 



If in July, 1861, a month previous to the great flood, the Killaloe weir mound 

 had been wholly removed, and a removable weir constructed at a proper level, and 

 subsequently properly manoeuvred, during the month of August none of the crops 

 in the level of the Shannon above that weir would have been materially injured. 



No other flood of so great a quantity of water as that of August, 1861, has 

 occurred during the last thirty years. It has been estimated to be 900,000 cubic feet 

 per minute from a rain basin of 2,600,000 acres, being one-third cubic foot of flood 

 water from each acre of land per minute. 



To prevent all floods of that magnitude — all summer and harvest floods from 

 going on these lands — all that is necessary is, to make a channel that will let off that 

 quantity of water at a level of 1 foot 9 inches lower than it was in August, 1861. 

 The removal of the weir mound and constructing a movable weir would accomplish 



that. 



To have the crops quite safe from saturation the flood should pass off at a foot 

 lower level. That must be done by excavation 210 feet wide, 3 feejt deep, and 2,400 

 feet long; 56,000 cubic yards, at 4s. =£11,200, will accomplish that. 



The Navigation. — From Limerick to Portumna, Meelick, Banagher, and Shannon 

 Harbour at the junction of the Grand Canal from Dublin, there was a good naviga- 

 tion before the Shannon works were planned. There was a large trade, and many 

 passengers travelled in the steamboats. I was myself a passenger many times, and a 

 very pleasant passage it was. 



The parties then using the navigation were the Grand Canal Company and the 

 City of Dublin Steam Packet Company. When the Shannon improvement project 

 went before a Select Committee of the House of Commons those parties were repre- 

 sented by the Chan-man of the Canal Company and the Manager of the Steam Packet 

 Company, Charles Wye Williams. They gave very strong evidence that the boats 

 then on those waters were sufficient, and that great new locks and canals were not 

 necessary. The Commissioners thinking they knew what was wanted better than 

 the navigation companies, built" new canals and locks at great expense.* _ 



The results are : The state of the navigation at Killaloe and Meelick is now a 

 little better in summer and low-water times than it was before. But in floods it is 

 worse at Killaloe, and at Meelick in the new sailing channel. In high floods at 

 Meelick the current is too strong for the steamboats in the new channel ; they cannot 

 jro against it, they go up through the old canal and the old lock. Of course where 

 they°go up with ease they may come down. Therefore the great new lock may be 

 left unused during floods. Therefore the great weir mound by it is then doing no 

 good for navigation. It might be all out of the river during floods. Therefore a 

 movable weir there open more or less to keep sufficient depth of water in the old 

 canal would cause no injury to the navigation. It might be wholly shut in summer 

 without injuring the land. The weir mound stops 5 feet of water in floods. Of 

 course if these °5 feet of fall were distributed along the surface of the river, the 

 velocity would be increased and more water would pass off much quicker. 



The Killaloe Rapid. — At Killaloe the old navigation channel was a canal, pro- 

 tected from the rapid river "by a strong permanent embankment, which was one of 

 the public walks there. 



The Commissioners cut away a large portion of that embankment, and let the 

 river run into and along the old canal, which made it a very dangerous rapid in 

 mid floods and in high floods it stops the navigation for weeks. No steamboat 

 could go against it, nor with it. 



I saw steamboats going up it with several men and horses hauling in aid of the 



steam power. , 



In going down the boats go stern first, with cables from the stem to great posts 

 which the Commissioners fixed in the bank. One rope is wrapped round a post, 

 eased off to let the boat go down opposite another post, round which another rope 

 is wrapped, and so on. 



I have read in the annual reports of the Canal Company's directors that the 



* See evidence reported by Select Committee of the House of Commons. Printed 

 by order of Parliament, July 29, 1834. Questions 409, 419, 422, 423. 



