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Hon. D. S. Alexander, chairman of the River and Harbor Committee of the United States House of Representatives, in submitting for action of the House the last River and Harbor bill on February 11th, 1910:

Modern Type of Boats for Non-tidal Rivers. -- "The British Government has been designing shallow-draft boats for use on the Nile, and the German and Austrian governments have been working along similar lines with reference to methods of transportation on the Rhine, the Danube, the Elbe and other waterways. The boats designed have been very successful, having been used in connection with modern loading and unloading appliances. On our western rivers little change has been made in the design of towboats, barges, etc., since 1860, and it is believed that a design embodying the best points of modern vessels, with modern machinery and cargo handling devices, might lead to a marked increase in the traffic on the non-tidal rivers of the United States, especially after permanently improved channels are available.

"It is believed that the appropriation of $500,000 to be expended in the purchase of plant for use in connection with the work of improvement of the river will also provide for experiments to be carried on by the Government which will result in improving the present type of river freight carriers; and also that these tests can be made in no other way, since the expenditures and uncertainties involved preclude the use of private capital for the purpose. As a result of the tests or experiments it is hoped that a large saving to the country at large may accrue from decreased costs of transportation, and that a type of carrier may be developed which will also reduce the cost of all bridges across navigable streams due to lessened requirements in the matter of head room."

This report of Colonel Alexander, the very able Chairman of the River and Harbor Committee of the House of Representatives, is worthy of serious consideration. Such an investigation and experiments to determine the best type of carriers to use on the river seems certain to be provided for and may result in clearly demonstrating that no necessity exists for raising the Allegheny bridges at all, in accordance with the possibility outlined by the closing paragraph of Colonel Alexander's report

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Last modified on 22-Dec 1999
Design format: copyright 1997-1999 Bruce S. Cridlebaugh
Original document: Frederick Law Olmsted, 1910