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INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 



bank-cutting is in those stretches of river valley where the river 

 has meandered extensively. The vicinity of Worthington is striking 

 for its meanders. The large irregular loop to the north, one and 

 one-half miles east of Worthington, is certainly needless and could 

 be corrected with a small outlay in comparison to the value of the 

 land it would redeem. But it is the series of long loops parallel to 

 each other south of Worthington which attract most attention. 

 In these long parallel loops eighteen acres of land was lost by bank- 

 cutting, and over one hundred acres so cut and denuded that it 

 cannot be used for farm land for many years to come. This is 

 speaking, of the damage done during the flood alone. Less than one 

 and one-fourth miles of actual dredging would remove every one 

 of these loops. The stream actually travels four miles to get one 

 and one-fourth miles. If this straightening were done, there would 

 be a long stretch of river from Worthington to near Bloomfield 

 with the exception of one meander in Section 9, three miles north- 

 west of Bloomfield. The meander which reaches westward in 

 Section 33 comes against a sandstone cliff, and consequently no 

 cutting occurred in rounding it. At this point the stream passes 

 over sandstone in a series of rapids known as 'Rocky Ripple. ' Another 

 noticeable feature of this series of meanders is the remarkable 

 width of the channel. It ranges from thirty to sixty rods in width. 



Attention has already been called to the remarkable loop just 

 below Bloomfield. There w^as but little land lost at this place; 

 perhaps not over an acre in actual bank-cutting was carried away, 

 but the loop itself has caused considerable land to be practically 

 worthless. The neck of the meander is badly cut and denuded; 

 it was cut more the year preceding the flood than during the flood. 

 The short distance across the neck of this meander and the pres- 

 ence of the cliff on the left bank where the water would come 

 against it in case a cut-off were made, present a practical situation 

 where a cut-off could be made, thus eliminating a meander at 

 little cost, much to the advantage of all concerned. 



Chart No. 5, shows the conditions of the river between Knox 

 and Daviess counties. As stated before, the river between these 

 counties is practically a continuous series of meanders, beginning 

 in the southern part of Greene County and ending at the junction 

 with the East Fork. The details of no particular place will be 

 given here, but special attention is called to the upper part of Chart 

 No. 5. It would seem that cut-offs are incipient in many places, 

 yet not a single one was made during the flood. Two were found 

 which had been made within the past few years, but two other 



