SAVING NIAGARA

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 656, 7 May 1929, Page 9

SAVING NIAGARA

Science to Check Erosion of Falls SCENERY AND POWER T-JOW science is lieing employed to lengthen the life and to improve the scenic grandeur of Niagara Fall?, vas interestingly related by Mr. S. Irwin Crookes, the well-known engineering consultant, addressing members of the Auckland branch of the New Zealand Society of Civil Engineers. The lecture was of particular interest, as it embodied his views and experiences gained during a tour in the American Lakes district. “Since Abraham Lincoln's time the Horseshoe section of the Niagara Falls has eaten itself backward for a distance of over 350 ft,” stated Mr. Crookes. According to geological estimates, Niagara Falls were formed about 30.000 years ago, and from certain investigations it is considered that the falls were eight miles further down the river. A French missionary. Father Hennepin, w-as the first white man to discover Niagara, in 1664, and at that time the curve now forming the present Horseshoe Falls had not been started. The first survey of the falls was carried out by British engineers in 1764, one hundred years after their discovery. It is stated by eminent authorities, who have had the falis under observation for many years, that unless the recession of the Horse, shoe is stopped, the beauty of this part of the falls will be entirely lost, due to the increasing density of spray caused by the amount of water falling on this side. Careful measurements have now established the fact that the torrent is eroding the rock at the rate of about 6ft per annum. The great lakes of America constitute the reservoir from which the waters of the Niagara come. The immensity of the collecting basin for the Niagara may be grasped when it is remembered that over the Niagara falls the spillover of a basin having an area about two and a-half times the total area of New Zealand. 26,000 square miles. Discussing the causes of recession ot the Horseshoe Falls, Mr Crookes declared that the water was 15ft. deep at the throat of the Horseshoe, the most vulnerable point, whereas at Ihe crest of the American Falls the water was only loin deep. This extraordinary quantity ot water with its attendant force and power of erosion are the main factors in causing the backward march of the crest. The question naturally arises, can this excessive volume of water over the Horseshoe be lessened and thus retard the retreat of the Fall upstream? Leading engineers associated with the Niagara on both sides of the border are unanimously agreed that it can be done without in any way detracting from the beauty of the Falls. In fact, it is considered that the beauty of the Horseshoe Falls will be considerably enhanced if the volume of water is lesesned and thus reduce the thickness of the mist which tends to veil it. The proposed methods of lessening the recession included the construction of a series of under-water dams in the rapids above the Horseshoe, thus moderating the excessive quantity of water on the Canadian side, and by placing artificial islands in specially-selected places in the main channel, thus diverting a much greater quantity to the American side. Another important result would be attained when the results of these experiments were applied to the Niagara River itself —a much larger volume of water would be available all the year round for the generation of power. This was of great economic importance, on account of the extraordinary electrical developments which bad 'aken and were taking place in the ad joining districts.