cleared 7 miles above that point; a channel 3 feet deep at low water and 50 to 75 feet wide had been dredged through the shoals between Pollocksville and Trenton; a turning basin had been dredged and revetted at Trenton, and a channel dredged to the depth of 8 feet and width of 100 feet through Foys Flats, 6 miles above Newbern. But steamers, which the improvement had enabled to make regular trips to Trenton, had again been prevented from ascending to it by shoals which had reformed between the first and third miles immediately below that place. With the amount applied during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, the shoals below Trenton have been surveyed and the clearing of snags which had accumulated between Pollocksville and Lower Quaker Bridge has been commenced. Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project....... 11,500.00 Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix L 9.) 10. Neuse River, North Carolina.-When the United States began to improve it, in 1878, the minimum channel depth during nine months annually was 9 feet from the mouth 40 miles up to Newbern, 4 feet thence 50 miles to Kinston, 3 feet 46 miles farther to Goldsboro, and 2 feet thence 53 miles to Smithfield. Between Newbern and Kinston there were long stretches of shoals, upon at least one of which the depth at the low-water season was only about 18 inches. The channel was obstructed at two points below Newbern and at two between Newbern and Kinston by inclined iron-pointed spars and boxes or vessels or cribs filled with stones. From Contentnia Creek up 119 miles to Smithfield the river was badly obstructed by overhanging trees and by dense masses of logs and snags in the channel. The project of 1871, as modified or extended in 1878, 1879, 1880, and 1883, is to remove the war obstructions, to clear the channel to Smithfield of all snags, logs, and overhanging trees, to contract the channel way by jetties so as to insure during the entire year an unobstructed 8-foot navigation to Newbern, a similar 4-foot navigation to Kinston, and during nine months annually a 3-foot navigation to Smithfield, at a total final estimated cost of $374,000. To June 30, 1892, $258,799.08 had been expended upon this work. At that date there was a good navigable channel 8 feet deep to Newbern, but between Newbern and Kinston there were nine shoals over which not more than 2 feet could be carried at ordinary low water. As regards snags and leaning trees the channel up to Kinston was in good navigable condition. With the amount applied during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, the plant has been thoroughly renovated and the shoals between Newbern and the mouth of the Contentnia have been surveyed for the location of jettles for their improvement. July 1, 1892, balance unexpended Amount appropriated by act approved July 13, 1892. June 30, 1893, amount expended during fiscal year. July 1, 1893, balance unexpended July 1, 1893, balance available ... Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project..... Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix L 10.) $8,724.82 15, 000, 00 23, 724.82 2,810. 27 20, 914.55 949.97 19, 964.58 91, 500.00 11. Inland waterway between Newbern and Beaufort, N. C.-(Via Neuse and Clubfoot rivers, Clubfoot and Harlowe Canal, and Harlowe and Newport rivers to Beaufort Harbor.) When the United States began to improve it, in 1885, the shallow part from the Neuse River to Beaufort Harbor was navigable by boats 15 feet wide with 3 feet draft. The project of 1884 is to obtain a channel 30 feet wide at bottom and 5 feet deep at mean low water from the Neuse River to Beaufort Harbor by dredging in Clubfoot, Newport, and Harlowe rivers and by improvement of the canal at a cost estimated in 1886 at $92,000. To June 30, 1892, $27,130.98 had been expended upon this work. At that date a channel 13,000 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 5 feet deep at mean low water had been dredged through the worst portions of Harlowe River, obtaining as good a channel as that in the canal, through which vessels could draw about 3 feet. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, the natural channels have been cleared of logs, but vessels drawing about 33 feet encounter them in passing through the canal which is owned by the Newbern and Beaufort Canal Company. July 1, 1892, balance unexpended... June 30, 1893, amount expended during fiscal year July 1, 1893, balance unexpended... July 1, 1893, outstanding liabilities July 1, 1893, balance available...... Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project...... Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix L 11.) $7,870. 02 158.84 7, 711. 18 127.64 7,583.54 57,000.00 12. Harbor at Beaufort, N. C.-When its improvement by the United States (begun in 1836) was resumed in 1881 the erosion of Fort Macon and Shackleford Points and widening of the entrance between them caused serious shoaling of the channel on and inside the bar, across which there was then a mid-channel depth of not less than 15.3 feet at low water. Within the harbor from the Bulkhead Channel a draft of only 2 feet at low water could be carried to the wharves at Beaufort. The project of 1881, as modified in 1887 and 1891, is to stop the erosion of the points by jetties, to prevent the shoaling of the channel and harbor, and to dredge a channel 100 feet wide and 7 feet deep at mean low water from the Bulkhead Channel, about 1,800 feet long, to the wharves at Beaufort, at a cost estimated in 1887 at $163,000. To June 30, 1892, $128,355.31 had been expended upon this work. At that date the erosion of Fort Macon and Shackleford Points had been arrested; a cut at least 50 feet wide and 5 feet deep at low water had been dredged from the Bulkhead Channel to the wharves at Beaufort, and its widening to 100 feet and deepening to 7 feet were in prog ress. With the amount, $11,310.32, applied to the improvement during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, the channel to the wharves has, for a distance of 1,895 feet, been widened to 100 feet and deepened to at least 7 feet, but, owing to a shoal at the junction of the Bulkhead Channel with the main channel leading to the harbor entrance, only 6 feet can be carried to the wharves at Beaufort at low water. July 1, 1892, balance unexpended ... Amount appropriated by act approved July 13, 1892.. June 30, 1893, amount expended during fiscal year... July 1, 1893, balance unexpended. July 1, 1893, balance available...... Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project .... Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix L 12.) $14,046. 95 10,000.00 24, 046.95 11, 310. 32 12, 736. 63 159.00 12, 577.63 13,000.00 13. Inland waterway between Beaufort and New River, N. C.-When the first appropriation was made in 1886 there were in the 28 miles from Beaufort to Swansboro six shoals aggregating about 4 miles in length, over which not more than 18 inches could be carried at low water. Elsewhere the channel was not less than 3 feet deep. From Swansboro 22 miles to New River the route followed intricate tidal sloughs varying from 1,000 to 12 feet in width and 10 feet to 6 inches in depth at high water. The project adopted in 1885 embraced only that part of the route from Beaufort to Swansboro, which is the more important, and is to obtain a channel of the minimum depth of 3 feet and width of 100 feet by dredging through all the shoals, at an estimated cost of $50,000. To June 30, 1892, $29,951.74 had been expended upon this work for this purpose. At that date a channel 45 feet wide and not less than 3 feet deep at low water had been obtained by dredging through six shoals, aggregating 4 miles in length, but at three localities, aggregating about 1,900 feet between shoals, which had been dredged, a draft of only 24 feet could be carried. The amount expended during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, has been applied to surveys only. July 1, 1892, balance unexpended Amount appropriated by act approved July 13, 1892. June 30, 1893, amount expended during fiscal year. July 1, 1893, balance unexpended Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project........ Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1895 Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867 and of sundry civil act of March 3, 1893. (See Appendix L 13.) $1, 911. 10 10,000.00 11, 911. 10 2,210.93 9, 700. 17 10, 000. 00 10,000.00 14. Inland waterway between New River and Swansboro, N. C.When the first appropriation was made, September 19, 1890, for its improvement, the crooked and intricate bayou which this waterway follows, 22 miles through the marshes between the mainland and outlying sand banks, had, at low water, a minimum depth of about 6 inches upon the shoals or "divides" where the tides meet between the four inlets to it from the ocean, and varied from 12 to 1,000 feet in width. The project of 1889 is to dredge a channel 40 feet wide and 4 feet deep at high water through the shoals at a cost estimated in 1891 at $52,000. To June 30, 1892, $509.76 had been spent in surveying the shoals. To this date, June 30, 1893, no other work has been done, because the Wrightsville and Onslow Navigation Company claims to control the waterway under an act of the State of North Carolina of February 13, 1889. (See House Ex. Doc. No. 26, Fifty-second Congress, first session; also page 1147, Annual Report, Chief of Engineers, 1892.) July 1, 1892, balance unexpended Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project..... Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix L 14.) $4,382.25 4,382.25 38,000.00 15. New River, North Carolina.-In 1886, when the United States began to improve it around the marsh, commencing about 1 miles within the bar, there was a narrow and circuitous channel about 7,000 feet in length and somewhat crooked in places, between beds of oyster rock, with two short shoals upon which the depth was only about 3 feet. Across the bar and, with the exception of these shoals, from the bar to Jacksonville, 23 miles above it, a draft of 5 feet could be carried. In 1882 a project was adopted to improve the 7,000 feet of channel around the marsh by straightening, widening it to 150 feet, and deepening it to 5 feet, at an estimated cost of $23,000 to $40,000. In 1885 the project was changed to dredge a straight channel 4 feet deep at mean low water, 150 feet wide, and about 5,710 feet long, through Cedar Bush Marsh instead of improving the channel around it; also in place of the channel around Wrights Island to dredge a channel of the above width and depth 1,200 feet in length through it. To June 30, 1892, $19,780.15 had been expended upon this work. At that date a channel 40 feet wide and 4 feet deep had been dredged 5,800 feet long through Cedar Bush Marsh, and 90 to 100 feet wide, 4 feet deep, and 1,200 feet long through Wrights Island. The channel at Cedar Bush Marsh had shoaled for a distance of 1,700 feet at its upper end, for 1,000 feet of which distance the average depth was 2 feet, and for about 100 feet it was only 18 inches at low water. The cut through Wrights Island had scoured to the width of 100 feet and depth of 7 to 16 feet, but at its two ends and at the lower end of Cedar Bush Marsh cut shoals had formed upon which there was only 2 to 3 feet of water at low tide. The natural channel around Wrights Island had narrowed to the minimum width of about 50 feet, but a draft of 5 feet could be carried through it and a draft of 3 feet through the natural channel around Cedar Bush Marsh. The amount expended during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, has been applied to surveys only. July 1, 1892, balance unexpended. Amount appropriated by act approved July 13, 1892.. June 30, 1893, amount expended during fiscal year.... July 1, 1893, balance unexpended .......... Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project. Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix L 15.) $8, 221.85 5,000.00 13, 221.85 664.20 12, 557.65 7,000.00 16. North East (Cape Fear) River, North Carolina.-When the United States began to improve it in 1890 a draft of at least 6 feet could be carried up 48 miles to Bannermans Bridge at lowest stage. From Bannermans Bridge 55 miles up to Kornegays Bridge the river is so shallow its navigation even by flatboats is not usually practicable for any periods of considerable duration, but is dependent upon freshet stages and therefore intermittent at all seasons of the year. Above Bannermans Bridge it was badly obstructed by snags and overhanging trees. The project of 1889 is to clear the channel to its natural depth and to a good width for small light-draft steamers up to Hallsville and for pole boats up to Kornegays Bridge, at an estimated cost of $30,000. To June 30, 1892, $3,843.71 had been expended upon this improvement. At that date the channel to its natural depth and to a width of 40 feet had been cleared merely of its worst obstructions to a high-water navigation from Bannermans Bridge up 311⁄2 miles to Chinquepin. With the amount applied during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, the channel and banks of the lower 43 miles of the most obstructed part of the river have been cleared from Rafting Oar to the vicinity of Coxs Bluffs. July 1, 1892, balance unexpended Amount appropriated by act approved July 13, 1892 June 30, 1893, amount expended during fiscal year.. July 1, 1893, balance unexpended................ Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project.. Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1895 Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867 and of sundry civil act of March 3, 1893. (See Appendix L 16.) $1, 191.79 5,000.00 6, 191. 79 1,265.94 4, 925. 85 20,000.00 10,000.00 17. Black River, North Carolina.-When the United States began to improve this river in 1887 the channel from the mouth 24 miles to Point Caswell was fairly cleared to a depth not less than 4 feet at low summer stages, and was roughly cleared 62 miles farther to Lisbon with a least channel depth of 2 feet at low stage in the 10 miles from Point Caswell to Haws Narrows; thence 52 miles to Lisbon the depth at low summer stage was 18 inches to 3 feet on the shoals and 10 to 12 feet in the pools. The project of 1885 is to apply at least $10,000 to removing logs, snags, and overhanging trees from the bed and banks, and rounding off a few of the sharpest bends in the river from its confluence with the Cape Fear up 86 miles to Lisbon. In 1893 it was modified to confine the improvement 78 miles up to Clear Run. To June 30, 1892, $3,000 had been expended upon this work. |