Downstream from Pine Bluff the flood plain of the Arkansas River merges with the flood plain of the Mississippi River. The meandering of the Arkansas River is most rapid in this reach and this is particularly significant when we consider that this section of the river flows through an important part of the most productive land in the Nation which produces much of the food and fiber for domestic and foreign use. Continued meandering of the river threatens the protective levees and carries the potential threat of destruction to the lands. Even now the levees are threatened by caving banks at several points. There are 14 natural-gas underwater crossings from Pine Bluff to the mouth and one exceptionally important railroad bridge in a section where protection is urgently needed. This bridge is crossed by about 24 heavily loaded freight trains daily and is on one of the principal trunk routes for freight movements from the Southwest. We feel that only a brief consideration of the important line of levees which is about 1,800 feet from the top of a bank where the bank is caving at the rate of about 250 feet a year. Arkansas Post to Yancopin (new locations, $460,000): At Como Reach, between miles 29 and 30, the bank caving has been about the most severe of any of the critical locations below Pine Bluff. The rate of caving is about 600 feet per year and bank protection is needed for protecting the mainline levees which is about 2,000 feet from the top of bank. CLOSING STATEMENT The minimum total necessary for vitally needed works is $12,332,000, and we respectfully request an appropriation of not less than this amount for the coming year. This amount of work is based on the program outlined in exhibits A and B and is the result of serious and extensive study in direct cooperation with the Corps of Engineers, as indicated in part by Corps of Engineers letter of May 13, 1952, attached hereto as exhibit D. D. D. TERRY. J. W. HULL. ARTHUR V. ORMOND. JAMES N. RUTLEDGE. J. C. MURRAY. Attached: Exhibit A, tabulation of works; exhibit B, plat showing locations (which was filed with the committee); exhibit C, comparison between work requested and Corps of Engineers listing; and exhibit D, Corps of Engineers letter of May 13, 1952. APPENDIX EXHIBIT A-Arkansas River, request for bank stabilization EXHIBIT B-Map showing locations was filed with the committee. EXHIBIT C.-Bank stabilization, Arkansas River Basin-Comparison between request to Civil Functions Subcommittee, Senate Appropriation Comit ee, of May 16, 1952, and Corps of Engineers emergency work in letter of Feb. 18, to Senator McClellan Mr. JAMES N. RUTLEDGE, EXHIBIT D CORPS OF ENGINEERS, UNITED STATES ARMY, Care of Hon. J. W. Trimble, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. DEAR MR. RUTLEDGE: Reference is made to the copy of telegram addressed to Dr. J. W. Hull dated May 12, 1952, which you sent me. Mr. D. D. Terry inspected the entire reach of the river between Wilson's Rock and Pine Bluff last week with members of my staff, representatives of the Tulsa and Vicksburg districts and the southwestern division, and a specialist on bank-stabilization work from the Missouri River division. Mr. Terry has mosaics showing bank lines and photographs showing typical conditions at critical localities. The emergency becomes more critical day by day. For example, in the Crawford County area at mile 352 the bank has caved 30 feet since December 5, 1951, and at mile 338 the bank has caved 40 feet since January 29, 1952, and is now less than 100 feet from the toe of the levee. At the McLean bottom levee, mile 294, the bank has caved 52 feet since January 28, 1952, and across the river at Hartman bottoms the land is continuing to cave at a rapid rate. Along the left bank, at mile 251, the Holla Bend levee is seriously threatened as the bank has caved to within 290 feet of the levee and is caving at the rate of 150 feet yearly. At mile 248 the breach in the Near Dardanelle project levee is almost 2,000 feet long and the safety of State Highway No. 155 is seriously threatened, the top bank being less than 15 feet from the shoulder of the road. At mile 238 the caving right bank is only about 12 feet from the toe of the Carden's bottom project levee and is caving at the rate of 15 feet yearly. At mile 204 (Miss Mary House place) the bank is caving actively and is within 100 feet of the levee. Personnel of my office are inspecting this area again today with a view to determining what might be done in an emergency to prevent flooding this district. There has been very little change in the Perry County and Faulkner County No. 1 area. Downstream from Little Rock the caving has been more active recently at miles 156, 152, and 147. At mile 156 the right bank is within 300 feet of the levee; at mile 151.5 it is about 570 feet; and at mile 146.7, Warings Bend, it is within 500 feet of the levee. We received an inquiry yesterday from Senator Fulbright pertaining to the caving at mile 151.5 which had been brought to his attention by Mr. J. W. House. Mr. DeWoody Dickinson, Sr., and Messrs. Archer and Carlson were in my office not long ago regarding the caving of the left bank at mile 133.6, opposite Brodie Bend, where the county road and culvert have recently caved into the river. As you know, the levee at this locality protects one of the Government resettlement projects where the land is divided into numerous small ownerships. The work in the vicinity of Adamsburg Landing is progressing and about 15 percent of the water is now going through the cut-off channel in this vicinity. Very truly yours, HANS W. HOLMER, Colonel, Corps of Engineers, District Engineer. LETTERS IN REGARD TO BANK STABILIZATION ON ARKANSAS RIVER Senator MCCLELLAN. I will ask that there be inserted in the record immediately following Mr. Rutledge's presentation a letter from Mr. C. F. Byrns, editor of the Southwest Times-Record and other papers in Fort Smith and the general area, about which Mr. Rutledge has testified. I will also ask to have inserted in the record a letter to me from the Crawford County levee district, which is part of this area that we have been discusing here today. (The two letters referred to follow :) CRAWFORD COUNTY LEVEE DISTRICT, Hon. JOHN L. MCCLELLAN, Senate Office Building, Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: The people of Van Buren and Crawford County, Ark., are seriously disturbed by the rapid caving of the banks of the Arkansas River and the grave threat of flooding of much of the city and 15,000 acres of the finest land in this area if the levee should fall. As officers of the Crawford County district, we earnestly urge that bank stabilization work be programed for the present fiscal year. Approximately 4 years ago a levee and flood wall protecting the city of Van Buren and a 22-mile levee protecting the bottom lands of Crawford County were completed with Federal funds. Two years later it was found necessary to build a set-back levee about three-fourths of a mile below the Fort Smith-Van Buren Bridge. The 4-year-old levee is now in the river at that point and the bank is caving toward the set-back levee. It is less than a quarter of a mile from the set-back at this time. Between that point and the Fort Smith-Van Buren highway bridge, bank cutting has begun at a point 200 or 300 yards from the levee which in our judgment represents a serious threat which can only be met with bank stabilization. Construction of a set-back levee at this point is extremely difficult if not impossible because of the problem of surface drainage of the city of Van Buren, which presented serious difficulty in construction of the set-back levee a few hundred yards downstream. At two other points downstream on the Crawford County levee bank caving is threatening the old levee and stabilization work is definitely needed at these points. The true value of the land in the Crawford County levee district is approximately $4,000,000. The value of the property now protected in the city of Van Buren is approximately $3,800,000 not counting the roundhouse and switching yards of the Missouri Pacific Railroad Co. The Arkansas-Oklahoma Gas Co. advises us the value of their gas holdings which would be flooded by a levee break amounts to $565,000. The farm lands involved are unusually fertile and productive. Three crops a year are commonplace. Often as much as $75 per acre is invested in fertilizer, seed and dusting alone. We earnestly urge that the situation in Crawford County is extremely critical; that immediate bank stabilization will save the Federal Government the heavy cost of building set-back levees which will be useless in a few years unless the banks are stabilized. We submit that it is sound economy to take the permanent step now-avoid the extra cost of set-back levees and provide enduring protection to these valuable lands and the city properties. We shall deeply appreciate your consideration and efforts in this matter. Yours very truly, Senator JOHN L. MCCLELLAN, Washington, D. C'. CRAWFORD COUNTY LEVEE DISTRICT, FORT SMITH, ARK., May 13, 1952. DEAR SENATOR. Work has now been started on bank stabilization in Moffett bottom and Braden bottom, as initial step in the integrated plan for stabilizing the Arkansas River over a 14-mile stretch from Fort Smith upstream to Wilson's Rock in Oklahoma. It is imperative that work be continued without interruption until the entire project, estimated to cost $6,800,000, is complete. This project is vital to the preservation of thousands of acres of our most fertile soil in the Fort Smith-Sequoyah-LeFlore county area. The expenditure now for bank work will be materially less than the savings it will accomplish in future authorized work on navigation. |