CHAPTER V. 



BLACK WARRIOR RIVER AND TRIBUTARIES 

 1. TUSCALOOSA STATION ON BLACK WARRIOR RIVER, 



This gage was placed in position by the United States Corps 

 of Engineers in 1888. It is about three-fourths of a mile from 

 the business center of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and is reached by 

 passing down Bridge street to the river, thence down the east 

 bank 1,800 feet to the gage. It consists of an inclined timber, 

 2x6 inches, supported on posts and graduated by means of 

 notches placed i foot vertically apart. The observer is \Y. S. 

 Wyman, Jr., Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Mr. Wyman is observer 

 for the Corps of Engineers, and has been kind enough to send 

 weekly reports to this office. Observations are taken daily at 7 

 A. M. The area draining past this point is 4,900 square miles. 



The bench marks are fixed, one on a willow 10 feet west of 

 gage, 97.84 feet above Mobile datum, the other on a small hack- 

 berry 30 feet south of the upper end of the gage and 139.36 feet 

 above Mobile datum. The current here is rather sluggish, being 

 almost imperceptible at low stages. Both banks are of earth, 

 and subject to overflow. Observations of gage heights have 

 been obtained through the courtesy of Mr. R. C. McCalla, Jr., 

 of the United States Engineers in charge of the Black Warrior 

 River, from the time the gage was established until December 

 31, 1896. A measurement made by Mr. McCalla September 14, 

 1896, showed a gage height of 0.60 foot area, 1,022 square 

 feet, mean velocity 0.16, discharge 164 second-feet. 



The following list of measurements at the same place has 

 been furnished by Mr. Horace Harding, C. E., United States 

 assistant enginee, 2016 Quinlan avenue, Birmingham, Alabama. 

 Velocities were obtained by means of rod floats reaching from 

 the water surface to near the bottom. The highest flood occur- 

 red on April 8, 1892. The gage height was 62.5, the sectional 

 area 33,600 square feet, and the estimated mean velocity 4.5 feet 

 per second. This gave a discharge of 151,200 cubic feet per 

 second. From this estimate and the following list of measure- 

 ments a curve has been plotted and a rating table constructed, 

 and this rating table applied to all gage heights observed. The 

 estimates of discharge thus obtained are shown in diagrammatic 

 form in Plate V. The highest discharges are merely approxi- 

 mations, but the discharges shown by the diagrams serve as a 

 basis for comparison of the state of the river during the vari- 

 ous years. 



