INTERC OASTAL, or INTRACOASTAL, CANAL, The, of Louisiana and Texas, a government project in process of construction for the purpose of providing an inland water way around the coast of those States, and con necting the Mississippi River with the Rio Grande. An act of Congress of 3 March 1873 ordered a survey with a view to connecting the Mississippi River with the Rio Grande by cuts and canals, joining the lakes, bays, bayous and lagunas along the margin of the Gulf of Mexico. No action was taken on the report by Congress at that time. The project was re vived by Texas and Louisiana interests and a new survey was authorized by the act of 3 .March 1905 and the examination from the Mis sissippi River at Donaldsonville, La., to the Rio Grande was made by Maj. Edgar Jadwin, of the United States Engineers. Subsequently the Donaldsonville exit was changed to Plaque mine by reason of the locks at that place. The Mississippi-Rio Grande waterway is divided by the United States Engineers into sections as follows —each section being considered as a distinct project: Mississippi River' to Bayou Teche, Bayou Teche to Mermentau River, Mermentau River to Sabine River, Port Arthur, Tex., to Galveston Bay, Galveston to Brazos River, Brazos River to Pass Cavallo, Pass Cavallo to Aransas Pass, Aransas Pass to Brazos Santiago, Brazos Santiago to the Rio Grande. The section between the Mississippi River and the Sabine River embraces practically all of southern Louisiana and lies well within the region of alluvial deposit made by the' Mississippi River. It consists of wide areas of marsh, numerous cypress swamps and many lakes which are from one-half to 30 miles in length. Many bayous, having a general north and south direction, intersect and these bayous are all deep, most of them having 20 to 30 feet for miles in succession. There are no eleva tions, thus making it possible to construct a tide-level canal across the entire section. Al though the bayous are deep, the bays and lakes are usually shallow, ranging from 6 to 12 feet in depth. From the Sabine River to the Rio Grande the route follows mainly the lagunas, or bays, lying behind the islands which parallel the Texas mainland. The canal passes through the cypress, salt, sugar, rice, oil and pine sections of Louisiana and serves the great sulphur mines of Louisiana as well as those of Texas at Free port. These two mines, the Louisiana deposit
being found at Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish, furnish practically the entire supply of sulphur to the United States. The status of the canal is as follows: Mississippi River to Mermentau River completed with a ruling depth of five feet, reached either through the locks on the Mississippi River at Plaquemine, La., to the Atchafalaya River, or through one of the pri vately owned canals opposite New Orleans. Mermentau River to Sabine River, work in progress; depth, Mermentau-Calcasieu stretch, seven feet; Calcasieu-Sabine, 12 feet. Sabine River to Port Arthur and Port Sabine, 25 feet. Sabine to Galveston, approved on a depth of nine feet. Galveston to Corpus Christi, com pleted on five foot depth. Corpus Christi to Brazos Santiago, not yet undertaken. Brazos Santiago to the Rio Grande at Brownsville, Tex., work in progress. The five foot depth has a bottom width of 40 feet; the seven foot depth a bottom width of 75 feet and the 9 and 12 foot depths have a bottom width of 100 feet.
With the completion of the canal all the markets of the Mississippi and its navigable tributaries can be reached safely and cheaply, and the communication afforded opens to the Mississippi River more than 1,000 miles of the navigable rivers of Louisiana and Texas. The commercial need of the waterway has been well established; its military value is obvious.
In the marsh areas of southern Louisiana are many so-called islands which are fertile strips of higher land in the marsh ; these are served by the waterway and railroad construc tion is impractical. The bestproof of the need and practicability of the canal is found in the fact that many private canals exist and are ex tensively used, serving a triple purpose— trans portation, irrigation and reclamation. The last feature has been greatly stimulated by the in tercoastal canal, and in southern Louisiana there are more than 50 extensive reclamation districts embracing a total area of over 300,000 acres. The appropriations made by the United States thus far are in excess of $2,000,000. It is esti mated that $10,000,000 more will be required to complete the work. In some sections of Louis iana the local community has contributed to the cost and in all sections the rights-of-way, 300 feet in width, are furnished without cost to the United States.