The Tennessee, 652 miles long and formed by the junction of the French Broad and Holston rivers, four and one-half miles above Knoxville, Tenn., flows south westerly into Alabama and westerly across the northern part of that State and thence northerly into and across Tennessee and north westerly into and across Kentucky into the Ohio River about 36 miles above the outlet of the latter into the Mississippi. Above Chatta nooga it is 700 feet wide, but below it is 1,000 feet wide and at Muscle and Colbert Shoals it is more than 1,000 feet wide. From its head to Chattanooga, a distance of miles, it is to have a channel 150 feet wide and three feet deep. A concrete dam and lock 265 feet long and 60 feet wide with six and one-half feet of water over mitre sills and with a lift of 25.7 feet is at the foot of Caney Creek Shoals, which sets the water back for 24.6 miles, making a navigable depth of six feet. That 188-mile sec tion is navigable for boats of three-feet draft, however, only when the water is at high stages from January to June. For short periods boats of four-feet draft may navigate parts of that section, but boats of only one foot draft can navigate that section all the year. Both Knox ville and Chattanooga have a wharf with a warehouse equipment with conveyors. The shoals in the upper reaches of the Tennessee are being dredged. The total river tonnage above Chattanooga for the year 1917 was 613, 243 tons. Chattanooga is 464 miles above the mouth of the Tennessee. At Hale's Bar, 33 miles below Chattanooga and 431 miles above the mouth of the Tennessee, is another concrete dam and lock, 267 feet long and 60 feet wide, with six and one-half feet of water over the mi tre sills and with a lift of 37Y2 feet. That sets the water in the river back and affords a navigable depth of six feet as far as Chat The tonnage through that lock in 1917 was 15,681 tons. Concrete dams and locks are to be con structed at Widow's Bar, 56.1 miles below Chattanooga and Bellefonte Island, 72.1 miles below Chattanooga, or one concrete darn 17.9 feet high and a lock at the latter place to pro vide a navigable channel of six feet depth. The locks are to be 265 feet long and 60 feet wide with six feet of water over the mitre sills. The project announced by the War Department in 1917 provides for an open channel, 150 feet wide and five feet deep at extreme low water be tween Hale's Bar and Brown's Island, that sec tion being 138 miles long, except in those parts of that section that may be canalized. The Muscle Shoals Canal opened in 1890 and com prises two sections, aggregating about 18 miles iti length. It had 11 locks from 275 to 283 feet in length and all 57 feet in wiAth with different lifts, ranging from three and nine-tenths to 13.1 feet and having from two and two-tenths to seven and five-tenths feet of water over the mitre sills. The locks in the 36.6 miles of rapids above Florence overcome 134 feet of fall in the river. The existing project provides for the construc tion by the United States government of new locks, dams and apower-house, securing nine and one-half feet of water for 14.7 miles and a depth of five feet of water in the canals at ex• creme low water. The construction of dam No. 2 was approved in 1918. It is two and seven-tenths miles above Florence with locks 300 feet long, 60 feet wide and total lift of 90 feet. When the new project is completed, old locks Nos. 3 to 9, inclusive, will be submerged, but old locks Nos. 1 and 2 and locks A and B on the Elk River Shoals section will remain in service. This improvement not only provided for the navigation of the Muscle Shoals sec tion of the Tennessee, but also for the genera tion of electric power for the production of some of the nitrates used during the World War. A bill is now pending in Congress for the nationalization of that nitrate plant.
From Florence, 208 miles below Chattanooga and 256.5 above the mouth of the river to Col bert Shoals, the available depth of channel at extreme low water is five feet throughout the year. In that section is the Colbert Shoals
Canal on the left bank of the river and nearly eight miles long with a depth of six feet over mitre sills. Its width is 140 feet. Its single lock is 350 feet long and 80 feet wide with a lift of 26 feet. The river tonnage between Chattanooga and Florence in 1917, was 170,968 tons and through that canal was 38,286 tons.
The Tennessee from Riverton to its mouth, a distance of 226.5 miles, is to have a channel 150 feet wide and six feet deep at ordinary stages of water and at five feet deep at extreme low stages. The draft of boats in that section of the river varies from two to six feet. The tonnage below Florence in 1917 was 416,304 tons. The French Broad River has been made navigable for steamboats of two-feet draft up to Dandridge, miles above its mouth, and at stages of high water as far as Leadvale, 69Y2 miles above its mouth. The tonnage thereon in 1917 was 129201 tons.
Clinch River, a tributary of die Tennessee 103% miles above Chattanooga, is being pro vided with a navigable channel two feet deep from its mouth to Clinton, Tenn., a distance of 60 miles, and a channel one and one-half feet deep from Clinton to Walker's Ferry, a dis tance of 66 miles. The usual draft of boats varies from 15 inches to three feet, but during periods of low water there is little or no navi gation of parts of the river. Its tonnage in 1917 was 8,983 tons. The United States Engineers have recommended that no further moneys be expended in its improvement. The Hiawassee River rises in northern Georgia and empties into the Tennessee, 361A miles above Chatta nooga. Its channel is being improved for 3S miles above its mouth and is to have a width of 154 feet and a depth of three feet in the cen tre and two and one-half feet the entire width of the channel. It has been navigated as far as Savannah Ford, though its present steamboat traffic does not extend above Charleston, 19 miles above its mouth. Its tonnage In 1917 was 2,152 tons.
North Middle next great water way of the United States is the Ohio River, which is formed by the junction of the Alle gheny and Monongahela rivers at Pittsburgh, Pa. Thence it flows southwesterly 968;4 miles into the Mississippi River at Cairo. The sec tion between Pittsburgh and Steubenville, Ohio, a distance of 65.7 miles, has dams Nos. 1 to 10, the section from Steubenville to a point two miles below Huntington, W. Va., a distance of 2452 miles, has dams Nos. 11 to 28 and the sec tion from the last-named place to a point two miles above Madison, Ind., a distance of 242.7 miles, has dams Nos. 29 to 40 and the section extends from the last-named place to Mound City, Ill., a distance of 408 miles, and has dams Nos. 41 to 54, inclusive. The Louisville and Portland Canal was completed in 1830 by a Kentucky corporation to overcome the falls in that part of the river. It had three combined lift locks, each of eight and two-thirds feet lift, a width of 50 feet and a length of 200 feet. That has been enlarged and under the existing project it is to be again enlarged. The im provement of the Ohto involves the construc tion of locks and movable dams so as to pro vide a minimum channel of nine feet of water in the pools formed thereby and the widening of the Louisville-Portland Canal from 90 to 200 feet. Shoals form in the river and annual dredging is necessary to keep the channel cleared of obstruction and deposits. There are to be 53 locks which are to have usable dimen sions of 600 feet in length and 110 feet in width, and having varying lifts from three and one tenth to 29 feet, most of them having seven and three-tenths to nine feet lifts. Down to 30 June 1918 the total expenditures under the ex isting adopted project aggregated $28,578,032.38 on new work and the amount expended on all projects in the improvement of the Ohio for new work aggregated $46,235,306.16. The ton nage on the Ohio River including that over fer ries for 1916 was 7,917,112.61 short tons, and for 1917 was 6,149,213.32 short tons.