‘Shatt al Arab Longitudinal section of channel from Fao to beyond Outer Bar in 1890, 1911 & 1916 respectively’ [‎243r] (1/4)

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One permanent wharf 300 feet long has already been 'constructed, and
a second wharf 630 feet long is in the course of construction ; whilst the complete
scheme contemplates 2 miles of continuous deep-water wharves equipped with
cranes, transit sheds, and warehouses and having direct connexion with the
Baghdad and other lines of railway, which will have their termini at this spot.
Other improvements under consideration are the laying down of permanent
moorings for ocean-going vessels, land reclamation along the river front, and the
establishment of a river steamer depot below the ocean-going wharves.
4 Communications with the Port of Basra.
11. With other ocean 'ports .—The bars at the mouth of the Shatt-el-Arab
and below Mohammerah, must be removed; the wreck of the “ Ekbatana ” blown
up ; and a navigable channel, adequately buoyed, marked, and lighted. None of
these present any great engineering difficulties.
With regard to the Outer Bar, detailed surveys are in hand and a certain
amount of experimental dredging has been carried out. The question is chiefly
one of dredging with powerful dredgers of a suitable type, and when these are
made available, the cutting of a channel through the bar and its maintenance to
a depth of 25, 26 or 27 feet below high-water on spring tides, as may be found
necessary, can be done at a comparatively moderate cost, and a 24-feet channel
cut within 6 to 9 months of date of commencing operations.
The keeping down of the Mohammerah Bar, and the blowing Up of the wreck
of the “ Ekbatana,” are matters of easy accomphshment.
In respect to the buoying, lighting and marking of the river, an accurate
marine survey from Basra to the sea is well in hand, and once that is finished,
the buoys can be laid down and leading marks established on shore.
When all the works cited above are completed, the river will be so easy to
navigate that I do not think compulsory pilotage wil] be necessary, although
a certain number of pilots will have to be available to bring up vessels whose
masters do not know the river and do not care to come up without guidance.
12 . With Arabistan and Southern Persia.— r T.\\e, Karun, which is the only
navigable river in Persia, was opened to the mercantile marine of the world in the
year 1889, and great trade developments with Persia were anticipated, which
unfortunatelv have not been realised \ the causes are obvious, some of them being
—the lack of port facilities at Mohammerah, the difficulties of river navigation,
and the want of communications between Ahwaz and other towns in the interior.
I have examined the river very carefully and studied all the information
available on the subject, and, except at prohibitive cost, I am of opinion that the
river is not capable of material improvement for navigation purposes ; moreover,
in the low-water season, the water could be much more profitably used for
irrigation purposes. I examined with interest the remains of many old irrigation
works, and can see no reason against their restoration and the cultivation to
a high degree of the very rich plains of Arabistan.
The question of a railway from Ahwaz to Mohammerah has, I understand,
been discussed ; and as when Mesopotamia was in the hands of the Turks the I ort
of Mohammerah formed our only means of communication, whether by river or rail,
with Ahwaz, the subject "was one of some importance, but with Basra a British
Possession, I submit the conditions have entirely changed.