The marked discrepancy between the oscillations at the head and at the foot of the falls is due to the tendency of all rivers, when in flood, to obliterate all irregularities in their beds, and to establish a regular surface slope. During low stages the rise below the falls is three feet for one foot above. This ratio gradually decreases as the river rises, until a depth of 18 feet is attained at the head of the falls, after which the rise is the same above that it is below. THE PADUCAH BRIDGE. The authority to construct a bridge at Paducah was granted by the joint resolution of Congress approved April 7, 1869, (Appendix A,) which is suplementary to the act of July 14, 1862. The authority is exactly the same as that for constructing the Newport and Cincinnati bridge, and if the company so elect it will permit the construction of a similar bridge to that which Congress has just ordered to be raised. In our report of February 7, 1871, which has been printed as Executive Document No. 128 of the third session of the Forty-first Congress, we recommended that the joint resolution of April 7, 1869, be repealed, and that a general act be passed to regulate the construction of all future bridges over the Ohio, a copy of which is embodied in the report. [See Appendix E.] If built under this act it is believed that the bridge at Paducah will not be injurious to navigation. As no steps have yet been taken toward building this bridge, the law can now be readily changed. There are no regular observations kept at Paducah of the rise and fall of the river, but the maximum oscillation is reported as 524 feet. As the duration of high stages is much longer in this portion of the river than it is above, there is a much greater necessity for a high bridge. The river slope in the lower Ohio is much more gentle than it is above the falls. From Pittsburgh to Beaver Shoals the fall averages 14 inches per mile, while from Portland to Cairo it is only 24 inches per mile. This reduced fall makes a more gentle current, and as the river is quite straight above and below the bridge site, there ought to be no difficulty in passing through a 400-foot channel space. It should be remarked, however, that, as the proposed bridge is below the mouths of the Cumberland and the Tennessee, there will probably be a greater number of boats to pass this bridge. A low draw-bridge at this locality would be an even greater obstruction than at Cincinnati, and therefore the law authorizing one should be repealed. The average duration of different stages of water, as reported by Mr. Harrington, the city engineer of Paducah, is as follows: The duration of high stages is quite variable, however. The river averages 40 feet and over twice in every three years, though there have been periods of four successive years in which it did not rise so high, and then again in the four following years it was over 40 feet each year; and in one year it exceeded this height four times. The highest water ever known was in 1867, which exceeded all previous floods by 3 feet. No definite location having been given to this bridge, we did not deem it necessary to take our surveying party to make current observations. A map accompanies this report showing the locality and the soundings as made by the bridge engineers in their preliminary surveys. CONCLUSION. The following tabular statement of the principal features of the bridges over the Ohio, together with the cost of each bridge as far as ascertained, is appended. Nothing but the actual cost between abutments has been taken, all land damages and connections with main track having been excluded : Newport and Cincinnati Railroad, as commenced. 864 4,001 60.3 5 39.3 90 40 50 4 20 90 40 50 719 624 Unfinished. $220 S 3264 (326) $1, 223, 550 400 : 10 Newport and Cincinnati Railroad, as 2. 400 1, 680 5, 861.5 66.0 10 altered. *820, 394 *1, 109, 089 1,480, 000 1,615, 120 Not begun. * Estimated. NOTE. The lengths of earthen embankments are not included in the above. The following maps and drawings accompany this report: Highway bridges at Wheeling and Bridgeport. Railroad bridge at Bellaire. Railroad bridge at Parkersburg. Railroad and highway bridge at Newport. On one sheet. Railroad bridge at Louisville. Site of proposed railway bridge at Paducah. Each sheet shows the plan of the bridge and a map of the river for at least half a mile above and the same distance below, on the scale of one inch to 200 feet, with all current observations accurately platted thereon. The profile of each bridge, and two elevations of a channel pier are given on a scale of one inch to 20 feet. Each sheet also contains a small map on a scale of two inches to the mile, showing the bends in the river for about five miles above and the same distance below. The Paducah sheet is like the others, excepting that no bridge is represented. Appendix A contains the United States laws appointing the board of engineers and those authorizing the construction of the various bridges. Appendix B contains a statement of the losses sustained by collision with the piers of these bridges. Appendix C contains a statement of the sums paid by various parties to secure an additional channel span in the bridge at Parkersburgh. Appendix D contains our special report on the Newport and Cincinnati bridge, with the errors corrected which were made in the printing of it as H. Ex. Doc. 32 of third session Forty-first Congress. Appendix E contains our report (H. Ex. Doc. 128, third session Forty-first Congress.) February 7, 1871, submitting a project for a general law in relation to bridging the Ohio River, and our reasons for its provisions. Respectfully submitted. G. K. WARREN, Major Engineers, and Bvt. Maj. Gen'l, U. S. A. Major Engineers, and Brevet Colonel. Brigadier General A. A. HUMPHREYS, Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., Washington, D. C. Appendix A. AN ACT making appropriations for the repair, preservation, and completion of certain public works on rivers and harbors, and for other purposes, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1871. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of War is hereby authorized and required to detail three engineers, whose duty it shall be to examine all bridges now erected or in process of erection across the Ohio River, and to report whether, in their opinion, such bridges, or any of them, as now constructed, or proposed to be constructed, do or will interfere with the free and safe navigation of said river; and if they do or will so interfere, to report also what extent of span and elevation above water will be required to prevent obstruction to navigation, and their estimate of the cost required to change such bridges now built, or being built, to such width of span and elevation above the water as will prevent obstruction to navigation, such report to be made and communicated to the next session of Congress. Approved July 11, 1870. AN ACT to establish certain post-roads. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the bridge partly constructed across the Ohio River at Steubenville, in the State of Ohio, abutting on the Virginia shore of said river, is hereby declared to be a lawful structure: Provided, That when completed, if constructed without a draw, it shall leave an unobstructed headway in the channel of the river, of not less than ninety feet above low-water mark, and such channel or water-way shall have an unobstructed width of not less than three hundred feet between the piers next to said channel or water-way, and one of the spaus next adjoining thereto shall not be less than two hundred and twenty feet in length; or said bridge, if constructed with a draw, the same to be constructed under the limitations and conditions provided in the fourth section of this act. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said bridge and Holliday's Cove Railroad are hereby declared a public highway, and established a post-road for the purpose of transmission of mails of the United States, and that the Steubenville and Indiana Railroad Company, chartered by the legislature of the State of Ohio, and the Holliday's Cove Railroad Company, chartered by the State of Virginia, or either of them, are authorized to complete, maintain, and operate said road and bridge when completed, as set forth in the preceding section, anything in any law or laws of the above-named States to the contrary notwithstanding. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for any other railroad company or companies whose line or lines of road may now or shall hereafter be built to the Ohio River, above the mouth of the Big Sandy River, in accordance with the terms of the charter or charters of such company or companies, to build a bridge across said river for the more perfect connection of any such roads and for the passage of trains thereof, under the limitations and conditions hereafter provided. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That any bridge erected under the privileges of this act may, at the option of the company or companies building the same, be built either as a draw-bridge, with a pivot or other form of draw, or with unbroken and continuous spans: Provided, That if the said bridge shall be made with unbroken and continuous spans, it shall not be of less elevation than ninety feet above low-water mark over the channel of the said river, nor in any case less than forty feet above extreme high water, as understood at the point of location, measuring for such elevation to the bottom of the bridge; nor shall the span of such bridge covering the main channel of the river be less than three hundred feet in length, with also one of the next adjoining spans of not less than two hundred and twenty feet in length, and the piers of said bridge shall be parallel with the current of the river as near as practicable: And provided also, That if any bridge built under this act shall be constructed as a draw-bridge, the same shall be constructed with a span over the main channel of the river, as understood at the time of the erection of the bridge, of not less than three hundred feet in length, and said span shall not be less than seventy-feet above low-water mark, measuring to the botton chord of the bridge, and one of the next adjoining spans shall not be less than two hundred and twenty feet in length, and also that there shall be a pivot draw constructed in every such bridge at an accessible and navigable point, with spans of not less than one hundred feet in length on each side of the central or pivot pier of the draw: And provided also, That said draw shall always be opened promptly, upon reasonable signal, for the passage of boats whose construction may not at the time admit of their passing under the permanent spans of said bridge,'except that said draw shall not be required to be opened when engines or trains are passing over said bridge, or when passenger trains are due, but in no case shall unnecessary delay occur in the opening of said draw after the passage of such engines or trains. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That any bridge or bridges erected under the provisions of this act shall be lawful structures, and shall be recognized and known as postroutes, upon which, also, no higher charge shall be made for the transmission over the same of the mails, the troops, and munitions of war of the United States than the rate per mile which the company or companies erecting such bridge may from time to time receive on the balance of their line or lines for such services, and the officers and crews of all vessels, boats, or rafts navigating the said Ohio River are required to regulate the use of the said vessels and of any pipes or chimneys belonging thereto, so as not to interfere with the elevation, construction, or use of any of the bridges erected or legalized under the provisions of this act. Approved July 14, 1862. AN ACT making appropriations for the service of the Post-Office Department during the fiscal year ending the thirtieth of June, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, and for other purposes. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the bridges across the Ohio River at Wheeling, in the State of Virginia, and at Bridgeport, in the State of Ohio, abutting on Zane's Island, in said river, are hereby declared to be lawful structures in their present position and elevation, and shall be so held and taken to be, anything in any law or laws of the United States to the contrary notwithstanding. SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the said bridges are declared to be and are established post-roads for the passage of the mails of the United States, and that the Wheeling and Belmont Bridge Company are authorized to have and maintain their said bridges at their present site and elevation; and the officers and crews of all vessels and boats navigating said river, are required to regulate the use of their said vessels and boats, and of any pipes or chimneys belonging thereto, so as not to interfere with the elevation and construction of said bridges. Approved August 31, 1852. A RESOLUTION giving the assent of the United States to the construction of the Newport and Cincinnati bridge, Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the consent of Congress be, and the same is hereby, given to the erection of a bridge over the Ohio River from the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, to the city of Newport, Kentucky, by the Newport and Cincinnati Bridge Company, a corporation chartered and organized under the laws of each of the States of Kentucky and Ohio: Provided, That said bridge is built with an unbroken or continuous span of not less than four hundred feet in the clear, from pier to pier, over the main channel of the river, and is built in all other respects in accordance with the conditions and limitations of an act entitled "An act to establish certain post-roads," approved July fourteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two. That said bridge, when completed in the manner specified in this resolution, shall be deemed and taken to be a legal structure, and shall be a post-road for the transmission of the mails of the United、 |