Canals in Missouri?

On our flight from Memphis, TN to Iowa City, IA, today, we were
diverted around the Lindbergh MOA. This took us over the small town of
Kennett, MO, which brought us over a pretty amazing sight.

Just east of the Kennett Airport (KTKX) there is (what looks for all
the world like) a "freeway canal" -- with multiple lanes! It stretches
from horizon to horizon, with four "lanes" of canals, each with
elevated solid ground between them.

Here is a Google Map satellite image of the canals. (It's that
impossibly straight, multi-lane line on the right side of the
picture.)

http://tinyurl.com/yryfxc

From our lofty perch at 7500 feet, we couldn't tell if the land
between "lanes" contained roads (for tractors to pull barges?) -- but
there was NO visible boat traffic. It appeared that only two of the
"lanes" were still dredged and navigable, but no one was using them
when we flew over.

I've done some searching around the internet, and can find nothing
about this remarkable engineering feat. This thing must've taken years
to build -- yet I've never heard anything about it. Was it really a
"two-way" highway for boats? Why would they go to all the work of
making multiple lane canals, rather than just one wide one?

Can any pilots from the Show-Me State shed any light on this?

Thanks!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

US Army Corps of Engineers probably built it. My guess is
that it is for hauling grain and flood control. Ask them or
your Congressman.

Zoom out on the picture and you'll see that several canals
come together from different places from the north.


"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...
| On our flight from Memphis, TN to Iowa City, IA, today, we
were
| diverted around the Lindbergh MOA. This took us over the
small town of
| Kennett, MO, which brought us over a pretty amazing sight.
|
| Just east of the Kennett Airport (KTKX) there is (what
looks for all
| the world like) a "freeway canal" -- with multiple lanes!
It stretches
| from horizon to horizon, with four "lanes" of canals, each
with
| elevated solid ground between them.
|
| Here is a Google Map satellite image of the canals. (It's
that
| impossibly straight, multi-lane line on the right side of
the
| picture.)
|
| http://tinyurl.com/yryfxc
|
| From our lofty perch at 7500 feet, we couldn't tell if
the land
| between "lanes" contained roads (for tractors to pull
barges?) -- but
| there was NO visible boat traffic. It appeared that only
two of the
| "lanes" were still dredged and navigable, but no one was
using them
| when we flew over.
|
| I've done some searching around the internet, and can find
nothing
| about this remarkable engineering feat. This thing must've
taken years
| to build -- yet I've never heard anything about it. Was
it really a
| "two-way" highway for boats? Why would they go to all
the work of
| making multiple lane canals, rather than just one wide
one?
|
| Can any pilots from the Show-Me State shed any light on
this?
|
| Thanks!
| --
| Jay Honeck
| Iowa City, IA
| Pathfinder N56993
| www.AlexisParkInn.com
| "Your Aviation Destination"
|

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message oups.com...
: On our flight from Memphis, TN to Iowa City, IA, today, we were
: diverted around the Lindbergh MOA. This took us over the small town of
: Kennett, MO, which brought us over a pretty amazing sight.
:

You 'were diverted' around an MOA? Don't you mean you decided to fly around it. There is no requirement to stay out of
MOAs...




: Just east of the Kennett Airport (KTKX) there is (what looks for all
: the world like) a "freeway canal" -- with multiple lanes! It stretches
: from horizon to horizon, with four "lanes" of canals, each with
: elevated solid ground between them.
:


Yes, as Jim said, these are pet projects for the Corps of Engineers. The straight runs avoid the twists and turns and
shallows of the mighty Missisippi that Mark Twain wrote about...

You 'were diverted' around an MOA? Don't you mean you decided to fly around it. There is no requirement to stay out of
MOAs...

True enough. However, approach strongly "suggested" a course of 360
to avoid the MOA, because it was "hot". I heard him working several
F-16s out of Springfield, IL, as well as a couple of unidentified
other fighters (F-15s?). They had the airspace to 50,000 feet, so I
wasn't gonna fly over it!

I didn't want to mess them up, nor did I want to see one up close --
so diverted we did.

: Just east of the Kennett Airport (KTKX) there is (what looks for all
: the world like) a "freeway canal" -- with multiple lanes! It stretches
: from horizon to horizon, with four "lanes" of canals, each with
: elevated solid ground between them.

Yes, as Jim said, these are pet projects for the Corps of Engineers. The straight runs avoid the twists and turns and
shallows of the mighty Missisippi that Mark Twain wrote about...

I've seen a lot of canals, but never one quite like that one.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

:
: I've seen a lot of canals, but never one quite like that one.
: --
: Jay Honeck
: Iowa City, IA
: Pathfinder N56993
: www.AlexisParkInn.com
: "Your Aviation Destination"
:

Hmmm, looks like my assumption about it being for navigation may be wrong. Looks like it was mostly for flood control
after the flood of '27.

http://www.classzone.com/books/earth...1308page06.cfm

Google Little River Drainage District. They may look like canals, but they
don't "connect" directly to a major river or waterway. They are drainage
ditches.

Holy cow! "Drainage ditch" just doesn't seem to adequately describe
something that big... They look to be easily navigable.

Thanks for the info.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination

Google Little River Drainage District. They may look like canals, but they
don't "connect" directly to a major river or waterway. They are drainage
ditches. The reason for multiple ditches laying parallel to one another is
simply to increase drainage capacity. The "canals" are used to drain what
is sometimes called the Missouri "glades". The water eventually flows into
the St. Francis river and exits into the Mississippi about 1/2 way down the
eastern Arkansas border at Helena, AR. Started in 1907, it became one of the
largest drainage projects in the world, draining over 1.2 million acres.
Jim

Next time you fly to OSH, take a look at the Horicon Marsh in WI. You can
still see the canals and the paths made through the marsh when they tried to
drain it between 1910 and 1914. Pretty incredible from the air.
Jim

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...
Google Little River Drainage District. They may look like canals, but
they
don't "connect" directly to a major river or waterway. They are
drainage
ditches.

Holy cow! "Drainage ditch" just doesn't seem to adequately describe
something that big... They look to be easily navigable.

Thanks for the info.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination

Next time you fly to OSH, take a look at the Horicon Marsh in WI. You can
still see the canals and the paths made through the marsh when they tried to
drain it between 1910 and 1914. Pretty incredible from the air.

Interesting -- will do. The only time I've ever over-flown the marsh
was as a student, and I was too busy dodging snow showers to notice...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...

On our flight from Memphis, TN to Iowa City, IA, today, we were
diverted around the Lindbergh MOA.


Congratulations! When did you add the instrument rating?