A plan for the improvement of the harbor of Montreal, Canada, has been
submitted to the City Board of Trade by James Shearer, a well known
citizen. Mr. Shearer's plan is to divert the current of the St. Lawrence
opposite the city into the channels between St. Helen's Island and the
southern shore, and by having various obstructions removed from the
channel, and running a dam, or "peninsula," as he calls it, built from
Point St. Charles, in the west end of the city, to St. Helen's Island,
midway in the river, thus stopping the current from running through the
present main channel between the city and St. Helen's Island.
Among the practical advantages that will accrue to the city and harbor
from the carrying out of this project, Mr. Shearer sets forth the
following: The dam will prevent the shoring of ice opposite the city,
and the consequent flooding of the Griffintown district, which is
annually very destructive to property, and will make a still harbor,
where vessels may lie during the winter. It is estimated that the
construction of the dam, which would be 2,700 feet long and 900 feet
broad, would raise the water two feet in the river and lower it ten feet
in the harbor. This would give a head of twenty-five feet for mills,
elevators, and factories, and the transportation of freight. The dam
would afford a roadway across the river, upon the construction of a
bridge from St. Helen's Island to St. Lambert, thus removing the
necessity of a tunnel. The roadway could be utilized for a railway, a
road for carriages and foot passengers. The estimated cost of the
improvement is $7,000,000.
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