Log flumes were used to transport fallen lumber logs through man-made canals in the 19th century. The first designs had flaws, but a V-shaped channel was later created to prevent log jams. The Kings River flume was one of the largest ever built, spanning 54 miles. Today, log flumes are popular amusement park rides.
A log flume generally refers to one of two things: either the literal device used to move logs from one place to another, or the common amusement park ride based on the same concept. Canals are generally any type of man-made construction intended to move water from one place to another and are often used in dams. A log flume, however, displaces water accidentally as a means of transportation for fallen lumber logs.
True log canals are now considered a relic of the past, with roads and logging trucks having largely replaced them in the modern logging world. At one time, however, the log flume could be found in a handful of countries around the world, but nowhere as ubiquitous as in the United States. The lumberjacks of 19th-century America built monumental log canals to carry logs for miles where there were no suitable rivers to use and where the terrain was too rough to build a railroad.
The first log flumes were built in the mid-19th century and were essentially square wooden chutes raised above the ground. These chutes would be filled with water diverted from a river or lake and logs would be sent down them. The design, however, had one major flaw: if one log got stuck in the chute, it would cause a total weir, with other logs stuck. Eventually, water would start pouring over the edges and the entire log flume would be destroyed. As a result, this type of log channel could only be used for short distances, where workers could observe jams and quickly clear them.
In 1868, James W. Haines created a V-shaped log channel to replace the earlier square-sided design. The V shape meant that if a log jammed, as the water level rose the log would rise up to a wider chute and break free. Suddenly, length was no longer an issue, and log channels more than 60 miles (97 km) long sprang up throughout the great forests of the Pacific Northwest.
Perhaps one of the largest log flumes ever built was the Kings River flume, built in 1889. Built to service the more than 30,000 acres of prime redwood timber owned by Austin Moore and Hiram Smith, the Kings River flume flowed 54 miles (87 km) and fell more than 4,000 feet (1,220 m) in its journey. The logs were in fact cut in a mill before being placed in the canal, then tied together in bundles, which in turn were tied in chains by “herdsmen” along the way, who worked with large poles. These log chains could be nearly 1,000 feet (305m) long and weigh tons.
Even after the log flume disappeared from the wilds of America, it lived on in the popular consciousness. Amusement parks around the world have built their own versions of the log flume for visitors to ride. These rides generally consist of a man-made waterway and some sort of vehicle, often molded to look like a piece of a tree. Passengers wade through the water and occasionally climb to a higher point to quickly dive into a body of water, making a big splash.
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