181.7 I ^Jjjf Report on the Dismal Sv/anp Canal Ely Samuel Parker I UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES REPORT DISMAL SWAMP CANAL, COST, CONDITION, AND RESOURCES. COL. ELY S. PARKER, A. . C., U. S. A. RENDERED BY REQUEST OF THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY, WASHINGTON: 1SG7. TC REPORT n WASHINGTON, D. C., OctoJer 24, 1867. SIR : In compliance with Special Orders, No. 458, Headquarters of the Army, and with your letter of instructions dated October 5, 1867, I proceeded to Norfolk, Virginia, "for the purpose of instituting an examination into the condition of the Dismal Swamp Canal," and I now have the honor to submit the following report of its condition and its present and prospective value, all being the result of a careful personal inspection of the entire work : Originally this canal extended from Deep Creek, Norfolk county, Va., to a point on the Pasquotank, near South Mills, in North Carolina, a distance of 22 T 8 D 9 miles, and had six stone locks, two single and two combined. About the year 1840, the northern end of the canal was extended from Deep creek to the Elizabeth river, a distance of 2- i ^ } 3 5 miles, and a tide-lock put in at its terminus on the said river. Subsequently again, but previous to 1861, a further extension was made at the south end by cutting across a heavy bend of the Pasquotank river, a distance of 3 j^ miles, making its present length from the Elizabeth river to its terminus on the Pasquotank 28 T 9 2 C miles. This distance may be divided into five levels. Beginning at the north end, the first level runs from the Gilmorton lock to the combined locks at Deep creek. The next level extends to the Northwest lock, where the summit level is reached, making a lift or rise of 18J feet from the Elizabeth river to the summit. This summit is fed by a feeder from Lake Drummond. From this sum- ; mit the next level extends to the South locks, from which a last descent I is made into the Pasquotank. The whole fall or descent from the sum- mit level to the Pasquotank is 17| feet. The different levels are in very bad condition, principally owing to the formation of frequent sand bars, mud sediments, and other obstructions, reducing the navigable stage of water in the summit level, at a fair stage of water in Lake Drum- mond, to less than four feet. In seasons of drought, navigation through the summit level is generally suspended for want of a requisite supply 471939 of water through the feeder. The prism of the canal varies in width at bottom from 20 to 25 feet, and at water surface from 35 to 40 feet. It was intended that the canal should carry 5-J feet depth of water, so as to pass boats having 5 feet draught. In its present condition this cannot be done. To carry out, therefore, the original intention, and put the present canal in condition to pass boats drawing 5 feet water, would require an average depth of cleaning out of the bottom of not less than one foot, throughout its entire length. This part of the work I estimate to cost $70, 000. Of the locks, all except the Gilmorton lock would have to be rebuilt. They number from the north, Gilmorton lock being No. 1, and was built in 1840 ; need not be rebuilt, but the gates will require frequent repairing. This lock will pass a boat 22| feet beam and 105 or 106 feet long, and is the widest one on the canal. Locks 2 and 3, or the Deep Creek locks, are combined, and should be rebuilt entire. Originally constructed in 1818, these locks will only pass boats of 17 feet beam and 95 or 100 feet long. The earth bank in rear of the chamber walls, owing to the open joints of the face-work, which was originally laid in ordinary quick-lime, is constantly caving in, daily endangering the stability and continuance of the work. It should re- ceive immediate attention. The next structure is the Northwest lock, built in 1830. It will pass a boat of 21 J feet beam and about 100 feet long. The walls are in toler- able condition, but the banks and gates are bad, and the whole should be rebuilt. This lock is at the north end of the summit level. Culpepper lock is located at the south end of the summit level, and was built in 1820. The greatest width of boats this lock will pass is 16|- feet, and about 100 feet length. At present the gates are new, but the walls are in a miserably dilapidated condition. Many of the face-stone in the chamber are only seven inches square, and are fast tumbling out into the lock. This lock should be immediately rebuilt. The next structures are the combined South locks, built in 1835. Each will pass a boat of 21|- feet beam. The upper lock, however, will only admit a boat of 100 to 105 feet in length, while the lower one will pass one over 110 feet in length. A portion of the gates are good, but the mitre-sills and quoins of both locks, and the earth banks backing the main walls, are all in a very bad condition. The main walls, though in quite a fair condition, I do not regard as safe or good. In my opinion it is essentially necessary that all but the Gilmorton lock should be rebuilt in order to properly maintain the continuance oi this canal as a navigable highway. In the rebuilding, these structures should all be made of the size of the Gilmorton lock, which has the greatest breadth of chamber, but is a few feet shorter than the lowei South lock. No benefit arises to the navigation by having these locks of various sizes ; on the contrary it is a detriment. The enlargement of these locks might necessitate an increase in width of the prism of the canal, though this is not essential if the requisite depth can be obtained. These locks require pile foundations; and to obstruct the business of the canal as little as possible, they would require to be constructed to. one side of the present sites. To repair in the best manner possible the present locks would be but a temporary relief from present difficulties ; would be poor economy and bad engineering. My estimate for doing this work, as above suggested, is $120, 000. Most of the old stone can be used in the new work. There are also four single track swing-road bridges maintained by the canal, all of which require rebuilding. My estimate for said new bridges is 4, 000. There is a feeder from Lake Drummond which practically supplies all the water used by the canal. It is 3|- miles long, and has a feed and lift-lock one-half mile from its head. In seasons of drought it has not sufficient capacity to supply the canal, and as a consequence navigation is now and then suspended. This can only be remedied by deepening it, rebuilding a new lock with less lift, and cutting a channel farther into the lake, to get rid of a bad bar that has formed in the lake at the head of the feeder, and prevents a rapid and easy flow of water into the feeder. The lock is a dilapidated wooden structure, and is liable to fail at any moment, which would necessarily suspend operations on this route. My estimate for putting this feeder in good condition, upon its pres- ent plan, is $15,000. This line is used in connection with a slight canal running from the Lake to Suffolk, on the Nansemond river. The Northwest Canal is a lateral branch of the Dismal Swamp Canal, arid leaves the main trunk nearly one-half mile north of the Northwest lock. It runs in an easterly direction, and is finally emptied into the Northwest river, at a distance of GJ miles. The first lock is located about one mile from the main trunk, is a wooden structure, and in very bad condition. At the present time there is no navigation worth men- tioning below this point. Occasionally lighters or flat-boats of very light draught may pass. At the head of this lock is a very bad waste- Aveir. It is in such a poor condition that the slightest freshet may carry it out, and no water could pass the head of the canal for the levels north, and thus navigation be suspended, or at least be materially embarrassed. The Northwest river is one of the eastern outlets of Lake Drummond, and while the main canal cuts and takes in its waters on the west sides it revives itself in the drainage of the swamp upon the east side, becomes quite a river, and finally empties into Currituck Sound. This river in rainy seasons becomes easily overflowed, and when such an event occurs its surplus waters find their way over the banks into the canal below the above-named lock. They carry much debris and sand with them ; and this has been a fruitful cause of the lower part of this work filling up. The other two locks upon this canal are located near its entrance into the river. The entire lockage of the three locks is 14 T 7 4 fe'et. Since the opening of the Chesapeake and Albemarle Ship Canal the necessity of keeping this canal open seems to have ceased. It is not in itself a paying canal, and never will be. Before the opening of a competing route it accommodated the people of this particular region, and was a good feeder of freight to the Dismal Swamp route. It is a question of moment to determine whether an extensive outlay of money should be made to maintain 6J miles of unprofitable canal, or whether it would not be wiser to abandon it, and leave the people to use the Northwest river, as heretofore. My estimate to deepen this canal, rebuild the locks and other necessary structures, is $30,000. There are other incidental structures connected with this entire canal such as waste-weirs, lock-houses, and the repair and maintenance of the Deep Creek dam which adds expense to those sums already specified, the aggregate of which may be put down at $20,000. I have been thus particular in giving a detailed account of the vari- ous parts of the work, so that the honorable Secretary of the Treasury may have every necessary fact before him to determine the various ques- tions submitted to me. I have shown the present condition of the work. My estimates of repairing the several parts of the canal, and putting the whole in a good as well as permanent navigable condition, may seem at first glance too liberal, but from the present high rates of living and prices of labor, and more especially the difficult nature of the country in which this work is located, I am fully satisfied that it will cost every cent of my estimate. To the estimates herewith submitted should be added the approximate indebtedness of the Canal Company, which is about $96,000, making an aggregate of $355,000 as the sum immedi- ately required for the uses and improvement of this canal. During the past season the Canal Company have had examinations made with a view of improving still more the navigation of this route, by enlarging the canal to 68 feet water surface and 8 feet depth. The estimated cost of the improvement is over $600,000. I have not thought it necessary to report any views I might entertain upon the subject of enlargement, non have I discussed the advantages claimed by some of the necessity of cutting down and dispensing with the present summit level, with a view of getting more water from the lake. To do this would involve a yet additional expenditure to those specified as necessary to make the present canal good. This project embraces a consideration which I am not aware has yet been satisfac- torily settled. It is this : whether in depressing the canal and increas- ing the fall from the lake, the porous, spongy nature of the surface soil of the Dismal Swamp would not permit the lake to drain itself to the new level of the canal, and thus defeat the object of the depression of the high level. It is known that the whole surface of these swamps is of a loose, porous nature, resembling the general character of commer- cial peat, and if a low drain is cut through such soil it will certainly leave the surface dry. I am not prepared to say that this result would follow if the summit level were depressed, but the question is presented as one entitled to consideration. It would be highly advantageous to this navigation if a greater head of water could be had in the feeder to supply the summit level. The history, business, and financial condition of this canal are so well set forth in the papers I had the honor to receive from your Department, and which are herewith returned, that it is unnecessary for me to repeat them. The report of John Kimball and Jno. Jay Knox, dated April 23, 1866, is particularly noticeable upon these points. By that report and the books of the Company, the amount of money put into this work since its inception in 1787 to the present time has been over one and one-quarter million of dollars, and yet it is not in good condition and requires large expenditures of money to be made at once to save the large amount already invested and maintain the continuance 8 of this important navigable highway. The profits of all public works generally depend upon the amount of traffic they can command and con- trol, the expenses of their maintenance and management. Now, it can- not be doubted that Eastern Virginia, below Norfolk, and Eastern North Carolina must for a long time be dependent for their development and improvement upon water transportation. The swampy character of and the numerous streams in the county -will, for years, prevent the construc- tion and successful operation of railroads. I cannot say what area of country is open to a communication with Norfolk and other points on the Atlantic coast north by the construction of the Dismal Swamp and Chesapeake and Albemarle Canals. It may, however, be within bounds to estimate the region of country to 10,000 or 15,000 square miles. The soil yields abundant crops of corn, wheat, potatoes, cotton, and other products. Large amounts of naval stores consumed mostly by the United States, large quantities of lumber, shingles, staves, and timber are also produced in this region. The fisheries of this section are also quite a source of traffic. Until the completion of the Albemarle and Chesapeake Sfrip Canal, most of the articles above named found their way into the northern markets through the Dismal Swamp Canal. But since that canal has been opened, which is a rival route and of much larger capacity, and the continued deterioration of the Dismal Swamp Canal in every branch of its construction, much of the trade has been diverted to the new route, and the old canal must eventually lose all its trade unless something is immediately done to restore the same to good navigable condition. During the war the trade of both canals was practically suspended. In 1866 the toll receipts on the Dismal Swamp Canal were $1,415; in 1867, $8,615. Its usual current expenses are from $6,000 to $8,000. The receipts of the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal for 1866 were about $52,000; in 1867, $59,500. There passed over this canal in 1867, boats of all kinds, 4,243. I was unable to obtain the number that passed through the Dismal Swamp route for the year ending Sep- tember 30, 1867. The business of the South has been slowly reviving since the close of the war, and there is every reason to hope that it will greatly increase as governments and societies become once more settled and permanently established. With it will come an urgent demand for good, rapid, and direct routes of communication to the great commercial marts of the country. The Dismal Swamp Canal is an already-established route, but, as will be perceived, a large outlay is required to put it in a condi- tion to meet the increasing wants of the country. There has been already more money sunk in it than the other canal cost, and it is paying much less interest on the investment. It becomes, then, a simple question of finance, whether the Government will retain its stock and put in more money to keep open and maintain this route of navigation. My own conviction is, that this route can and should be maintained. It is the outlet of a large section of rich country. But I believe it can only be successfully managed by a responsible private corporation, who, themselves or by their agents having an interest, would be constantly on the ground to manage and improve it. The United States, by disposing of its stock, would have the same advantage as private individuals, to use either of the two routes in the movement of its stores, troops, or munitions of war. I do not see that Government has now any special privileges on account of owning stock in this canal, though it may have had at some earlier day. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, ELY S. PARKER, Col. and A. D. C., U. S. A. Hon. HUGH McCuLLOCH, Secretary of the Treasury. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY This book is DUE on the last date stamped below _ ^ -* DEC* JAN 2-1,1-10. 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