154 Yarra Floods. 



for its whole width, sufficiently deep to afford passage and 

 harbourage for vessels. In suggesting a wide shallow 

 channel for discharging the flood-waters, I contemplate the 

 ultimate deepening of the cutting, for a limited width, along 

 its entire length between the Bay and Queen's Wharf, and 

 the running out of jetties at suitable intervals for vessels to 

 lie alongside and to discharge and take in cargoes. 



Dr. Crooke has propounded a scheme which, although I 

 believe it to be impracticable, has the merit of striking at the 

 root of the disease. He boldly proposes to abandon the 

 present course of the Yarra between Dight's Mills and the 

 junction of the Yarra and Saltwater River, and to bring the 

 flood- waters by an artificial channel to be dug along the line 

 of the Reilly-street drain and by way of North Melbourne 

 into the lower part Of the river. This project has a tempting 

 aspect at first sight ; carefully examined into, however, its 

 objectionable features become strikingly apparent. The 

 intersection of Melbourne and its suburbs, from east to 

 west, by two rivers instead of one, as at present, would 

 obviously prove inconvenient. If a channel, capable of dis- 

 charoinD- the flood-waters of the Yarra, were to be cut, on 

 the line suggested by Dr. Crooke, a number of expensive 

 viaducts would have to be built across it, otherwise com- 

 munication between Melbourne and the interior would be 

 embarrassed. The limits of the city would, in fact, be 

 confined between the present course of the Yarra and the 

 new channel. Again, the flood-waters would have to pass 

 through the high land at North Melbourne either by means 

 of a deep cutting or a tunnel. A cutting would obviously 

 exile all properties immediately north of the city, unless a 

 considerable number of expensive bridges were to be built 

 over the channel at this point. A cutting would likewise 

 render necessary the destruction of a large extent of property 

 to provide space for it. On the other hand, to attempt to 

 pass the flood-waters of the Yarra through a tunnel would 

 be absurd I do not hesitate to say that to build a tunnel, 

 capable of giving safe exit to the waters of the Yarra during 

 such storms as that of last December, is practically impos- 

 sible. There is no example of such a tunnel in Great 

 Britain, nor, I think I may. say, in any other part of the 

 world. The danger that would result from an attempt to 

 confine the flood- waters of the Yarra within the limits of a 

 tunnel, is such, that I am sure no engineer would seriously 

 propose to attempt it. One of the beuefits on which Dr. 



