Proto-mississippian hydroengineering

Are these Rube Goldberg machines or the playthings of future hydroengineers?


In the Archives (or, somewhat related):
Vicksburg Harbor Project
Notes on Some Selections from the Visual Images Database of the Mississippi Valley Division of the US Army Corps of Engineers
Theatrum Machinarum
La Machine de Marly

(Spotted at del.icio.us/tag/video.)