Public Works Secretary charges engineer Latortue to inspect the Matheux dike

Even if the old foundations were not found, the work of reconstruction would only be longer and the precautions greater, because of the shifting ground that forms the bed of the river. This reconstruction of the dike of the Matheux would make it possible to capture the whole river, and with the additional flow of the large distribution canals it would also make it possible to take account of the grievances of the new owners, whose water rights are contested by the former owners, and, by a new distribution, to put an end to the serious conflicts that this situation creates; for if it is true that the water rights of the former owners must be respected and placed beyond dispute, the new owners are no less deserving of interest and they also have a right to the solicitude of the government; it is for this purpose that the Secretary of State for Public Works, Mr. Clément Haentjens, charged the engineer Léon Latortue, on 7 January 1890, to visit the site and to make a report. This report was published in the Moniteur of 23 January 1890.

Rouzier tells this under the entry MATHEUX (les).