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What you suggest is impossibly expensive and won't work for so many reasons I cannot even begin to describe why, I don't think you realize the magnitude of such a project. FYI the Susquehanna did have a canal and parts of it can still be seen today. It was abandoned because cheaper and easier forms of transportation became available.
Building dams affects the hydrology, the terrestrial and aquatic systems of the river in a negative way and it would essentially change the ecosystem of the river. I don't think that destroying a river so people can have a place to waterski is worth it.
[1] Agreed. A dam will change the ecology.
[2] Is change always negative?
[3] If more abundant life exists afterward, is it an improvement, even if different?
[4] A dam does not "destroy" a river.
[5] If only waterskiing was the result of damming the Susquehanna, I would agree that it was a wasted effort.
Every civilization, before petroleum, relied on water transportation. Can you name any great civilization that did not develop their water ways and shipping technology ?
Economic benefits to an engineered Susquehanna:
[A] Value of waterfront property (river, lake, canal), and water view, too
[b] Commercial value of waterfront property (industrial, recreational, retail trade, boat building and servicing)
[C] Tourism - entertainment, support industries (hotels, restaurants, shopping)
[D] Food production - irrigation - aquaculture - food transport - waterfowl
[E] Alternative housing / houseboats
(Personally, I like the idea of a house abutting the canal. Sitting by a window and watching the boats go by ... ah.)
I have a place on the river now in Meshoppen and there's plenty of boats going by now, recreational boats... That's the only boats I want to see. There's a railroad track behind the place and although it was used quite often many years ago the trains are few and far between today. Yet another reason why this idea won't work. Pretty much the entire river is lined by a RR and that is rarely used in many places now, mass transportation is already available and it's not utilized now.
What you suggest is impossibly expensive and won't work for so many reasons I cannot even begin to describe why, FYI the Susquehanna did have a canal and parts of it can still be seen today. It was abandoned for many reasons.
[1] Expensive - depends. Impossible - never.
[2] What won't work? The dams? The locks? The tributary dams? The pent water?
[3] Before the railroads, canals were very very popular in the fledgling U.S.A. You would be surprised to discover how many "impossible" canals were built because of necessity.
[4] Canals, as commercial viaducts, charging fees / tolls, were financially wiped out by competition from railroads, which often built their ROWs along the canals. Coincidentally, many canals were purchased by Railroad companies, which filled them in - to insure no future competition. (Not good!). In Europe, such predatory practices were not as prevalent, and many canal networks still exist. Coincidentally, RR's competitors destroyed urban rail to prevent future competition. Sigh.
Though commercial shipping might use the engineered Susquehanna (and any canals built with it), making commerce the sole reason to build it is short sighted.
Perusing the complex interaction of shore and waterway, as in the case of China's Grand Canal, it's foolish to ignore the numerous benefits of a navigable water way.
I have a place on the river now in Meshoppen and there's plenty of boats going by now, recreational boats... That's the only boats I want to see. There's a railroad track behind the place and although it was used quite often many years ago the trains are few and far between today. Yet another reason why this idea won't work. Pretty much the entire river is lined by a RR and that is rarely used in many places now, mass transportation is already available and it's not utilized now.
[envy flag on] YOU ARE SO LUCKY [envy flag off]
Remember, what you perceive is the result of America's past as "Queen of Oil". That ended in 1970s. Americans have to take a hard look at their whole transportation system, and realize that petroleum's days are numbered.
Cheap and plentiful oil is a thing of the past.
As it becomes more and more expensive / scarce, we will desperately need alternatives.
And the cheapest / most efficient / frugal transportation mode is by water.
Hopefully, we will build the infrastructure BEFORE we run out of the fuel needed to rapidly accomplish the task.
Re: Railroad - - - that may become very popular, especially when the mainlines all get electrified.
Last edited by jetgraphics; 02-07-2009 at 07:02 PM..
The Susquehanna is dammed in several places already.
I'm worried about the effects of damming the river at a location that was a Superfund site in the 1970's and still is pretty dirty today.
As a regular levee runner during the warmer months I'd personally like to know what that gross soapy-looking stuff is that tends to "pool" up sometimes in the river near the bend in Forty Fort. It can't be healthy. Why the hell can we spend BILLIONS in a stupid war in Iraq that was pointless to begin with, yet we have rivers that are replete with such disgusting foreign chemicals?
"One of the most challenging features of the waterway to design and construct was the so-called Divide Cut, a 27-mile canal that connects the Tenn-Tom with Pickwick Lake on the Tennessee River. To build this navigation canal, which is 280 feet wide and 12 feet deep, required the removal of 150 million cubic yards of earth."
Around Meshoppen, PA, the Susquehanna river measures about 0.10 mile across (according to Google Earth). Wonder how deep it is?
FWIW - TVA dams in northern Georgia supply inexpensive hydropower to the local communities. They recently had a RATE CUT.
"Defenders note that the TVA is overwhelmingly popular in Tennessee among conservatives and liberals alike, as Barry Goldwater discovered in 1964, when he proposed selling the agency."
"Other attempts to create TVA-like regional agencies have failed, such as a proposed Columbia Valley Authority for the Columbia River."
There you go - just trust the environmentalists to put a monkey wrench into any hydro project.
Of course, when enough of the public gets its mind set on something, something will change...
As a regular levee runner during the warmer months I'd personally like to know what that gross soapy-looking stuff is that tends to "pool" up sometimes in the river near the bend in Forty Fort. It can't be healthy. Why the hell can we spend BILLIONS in a stupid war in Iraq that was pointless to begin with, yet we have rivers that are replete with such disgusting foreign chemicals?
“This is a modern part of the country and a wonderful place to live today,” he said. “But if you look at some of the pictures of the valley before TVA, it looked in some places like the surface of the moon because the river had eroded away virtually all plant life. It was a very difficult place with little power or industry in those days.”
"Aided by the Civilian Conservation Corps, TVA also planted millions of trees to stem erosion and aided farmers through local universities and extension services to improve their crop growing and rotation techniques."
"Even by Depression standards, the Tennessee Valley was in sad shape in 1933. Thirty percent of the population were affected by malaria, and the income was only $639 per year, with some families surviving on as little as $100 per year. Much of the land had been farmed too hard for too long, eroding and depleting the soil. Crop yields had fallen along with farm incomes. The best timber had been cut, with another 10% of forests being burnt each year. Much of the population were living in conditions that would be similar to present-day developing countries."
Pictures of the modern Tennessee River
(Of course, they're pretty!) Photos by John Hayes
I was born and raised in the Wyoming Valley. Sadly, I no longer in live in pennsylvania. I've traveled all over North America. Since I've left the nest, one thing became clear to me. For some reason, people in the valley are not open minded and are scared of progress. for that reason the valley"s population will continue to decline, and the valley will simply become a ghost town( it's close to it now).
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It can't be healthy. Why the hell can we spend BILLIONS in a stupid war in Iraq that was pointless to begin with, yet we have rivers that are replete with such disgusting foreign chemicals? 
