Show TR TRAFFIC t GROWS AS OHIO RIVER RIVERBED BED DEEPENS I 1 LOUIS LOUISVILLE May 14 AP AP- AP Uncle Cocle Sams Sam's project to tomake tomako tomako mako make tho Ohio river rl navigable the year round from Pittsburg to Cairo Into the Mississippi Mis 1 Ill where where it empties Miss river is w within three yea years II or of completion The e last lock and dam will bo be in place and the last bit of ot f dredging finished by 1929 said the United United States district engineer here hero The rivers the authorized a by i plan llan lan was and harbors act of at 1910 although local improvements had been made at various times since 1879 1819 when the first lock and dam was built near the head df or the flyer fiver When finished the project will consist of fifty locks and dams placed at intervals over a distance of 5 miles The river then will have a minimum depth of ot nine feet fee t which compares with a former fonner dep depth h of at one foot toot where It ran over shoals The Ohio is expected to become a n acom chief artery of ot commerce and communication communication com com- when the work has s been completed Figures for tor for t tonnage handled by boats operating on the river last year show an Increase ol ot of ot 1924 4 In 50 per c cent nt over those totaled 19 1925 5 shipments tons against to tons for 1924 The district engineer pointed out that that part of ot the Increase w was due to an Improved method or of ot checking shipments but that the average would fall tall between 30 and 40 per cent Sand and gravel tonnage topped tho list with coal se second ond There was a marked Increase in oil an and ana gasoline shipments While the the proJect project is concerned principally with improvement of the river and its tributaries river transportation men declare that the country as a whole will benefit In th the cheaper transportation to b be afforded With the exception of ot raising th the e edam dam at Louisville work has been completed from Pittsburg to the latter point This has made a all year navigation possible except during extreme cold weather Below Below Delow Be De- low Louisville three thre dams have been fl finished one will be completed completed completed com com- this year ear another in 1927 and the remainder by 1929 The project project originally contemplated fifty fifty- four locks and dams but two above and below Louisville have been eliminated There have been great changes on the river Many landings prominent In the days of ot the frontier r have disappeared ared Those chose settlements at landings that rem remain ln have in many instances grown tto to prosperous cities clUes The roust roustabout bout that once sang melodies peculiar pecullar to the river have virtually disappeared At present shipments over the Ohio to the gulf are Irregular due to uncertainty of t river stages No transportation company Is operatIng operating operating ing boats on schedule over the en- en tiro route |