Kentucky and Ohio.— The Green and Bar ren rivers in Kentucky are being improved by the construction of six locks and fixed dams in the former, a tributary of the Ohio, and one lock and dam in the latter, a tributary of the Green River. The locks are 138 to 142 feet long and 35 to 35.6 feet wide, with six to eight feet of water over the mitre sills and having lifts of 11 to 20 feet. That improvement renders the Green River navigable for boats of five-feet draft all the year from lock No. 1 at Spotts ville to Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, a distance of miles, or to Bowling Green, Ky., on Bar ren River, a distance of 171 miles from lock No. 1 on the Green River. The tonnage in 1917 was 252,841 tons. Rough River, Kentucky, 125 miles long, another tributary of the Green River at Livermore, has been cleared of ob structions and a lock and dam have been built near Livermore, Ky. The lock is 125 feet long and 27 feet wide, with four and nine-tenths feet of water over the lower mitre sills, and having a lift of nine and four-tenths feet. That struc ture sets the water back and affords slack water navigation to Hartford, Ky., miles from the mouth for boats of four-feet draft. Its tonnage in 1917 was 12,701 tons.
The Muskingum River is being improved from its outlet into the Ohio River at Mari etta up to Dresden, a distance of 91 miles, by the construction of 11 locks and dams and four short lateral canals, affording a minimum depth of five and one-half feet. All the locks are 35Y2 feet wide and 160 feet in length with the exception of lock No. 10 which is 159 feet long, and lock No. 1 which is 55Y2 feet wide and 360 feet long. The depth of water over the mitre sills is six feet or more and the lifts vary from four and eight-tenths feet to 15.1 feet. There are several warehouses along the river and its tonnage in 1917 was 92426 tons. The improvement may be extended through the val ley of the Cuyahoga to form the Ohio and Erie Canal. The Big Sandy River, on the boundary between Kentucky and West Vir ginia, formed by the junction of the Levisa and Tug Forks, flows north 27 miles and emp ties into the Ohio 10 miles below Huntington. Its improvement involves the constriction of three locks and dams. Two locks and dams are being constructed on each of the Levisa and Tug forks. The locks are about 158 feet long and 54% feet wide. The improvement has ren dered the Big Sandy River navigable by vessels of six-feet draft 27 miles to Levisa and the Levisa Fork navigable for 18 miles, and the Tug Fork navigable for 12 miles by vessels of six-feet draft. The tonnage on those rivers in 1917 was 88,344 tons.
Kentucky River, formed by the North, Middle and South forks, is 255 miles long and empties into the Ohio at Carrollton, Ky. it is being improved by the construction of 14 locks and fixed dams.
That affords slack-water navigation for ves sels of six-feet draft to points on the three forks above Beattyville, Ky., a distance of no miles. The lower five locks are 145 feet long and 37 to 38 feet wide, with six and one-tenth to six and eight-tenths feet of water over the mitre sills and having lifts of 1244 to 17 feet; these afford slack-water navigation for 88 miles. The remaining nine locks are 146 feet long and 52 feet wide, with six to seven feet of water over the mitre sills, and lifts from 14.4 to 18 feet.
Slack-water depth of five feet has been obtained for 260 miles up from the mouth of the river and the additional foot will be obtained as soon as the dredging is completed. In 1917 the ton nage was 148,981 tons. Some years ago, the Licking River was improved from its mouth into the Ohio 125 miles up to West Liberty.
Great Lakes System.— The Fox River. 176 miles king, in Wisconsin, is divided into the upper and lower Fox by Winnebago Lake. It has a depth of six feet from Depere to Mon tello, a distance of 125 miles, and a depth of four feet from Montello to Portage, a distance of 31 miles, and a width from Lake Winnebago to Montello of 100 feet. The lower Fox is from 300 to 3.000 feet wide and 39 miles long. In its course it has 27 locks and 16 dams. The locks are from 136.4 to 148.6 feet long and from 34.3 to 40 feet wide, the water over the mitre sills varies from one and two-tenths to 14 feet. The Wolf River, which flows into it 10 miles above Oshkosh, is being improved from its mouth to New London, a distance of 47 miles, to afford navigation for vessels of four-feet draft.
The head of navigation on the Upper Fox is Portage, except that during high water in the Wisconsin River, boats can proceed from Port age into Wisconsin River and thence down into the Mississippi. The tonnage on the river in 1917 was 161060 tons. The further improve ment of the Wisconsin River has been chiefly that of clearing the channel of obstructions. Formerly the Wisconsin River, a tributary of the Mississippi, 600 miles long, and the Fox River, 200 miles long, with a connecting canal, formed a continuous waterway from the Mis sissippi to Lake Michigan. It was declared by the courts a public highway. Grand River, Michigan, has also been declared a public high way. It has an improved channel, 100 feet wide and six feet deep, from Grand Haven, Mich., to Grand Rapids, a distance of 38 miles.