2. Lubec Channel, Maine.-This channel lies between the eastern extremity of the State of Maine and Campobello Island, Dominion of Canada. Originally the channel was but 5 feet in depth at mean low water, and but 2 feet at low water of spring tides. The project, adopted in 1879, and subsequently modified, was for a channel 275 feet wide, 300 feet wide in the bends, and 12 feet deep at mean low water. The expenditures to June 30, 1892, amounted to $168,954.42. At the close of the fiscal year 1891 the project had been practically completed, and no work has been done since. Under the provisions of the river and harbor act of September 19, 1890, an examination of Lubec Channel was made, and the report was published in the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1891 (page 616). July 1, 1892, balance unexpended . (See Appendix A 2.) $45.58 45.58 3. Moosabec Bar, Maine. Before the improvement was commenced the entrance at the eastern end of Moosabec Reach was difficult, the channel being crooked, with ledges on either hand. The direct entrance was obstructed by a bar on which the depth was only about 6 feet at mean low water. The project, adopted in 1881, provided for a channel 14 feet deep at mean low water, and not less than 200 feet wide, through the bar at the eastern entrance to the reach. In 1888 the project was extended to provide for widening the 14-foot channel to 300 feet, for removal of ledges obstructing the channel, and for the construction of a small breakwater to divert cross currents. The expenditures to June 30, 1892, were $60,418.77. At the latter date. the 300-foot channel had been completed to the full projected width and depth, the breakwater had been built, and a small quantity of ledge. had been removed. The expenditures during the past year amounted to $374.88. A contract was made December 23, 1892, for excavating ledge obstructing the western approach to the dredged channel. The depth over the ledge is to be made 16 feet at mean low tide, and the present contract covers the excavation of about 1,000 cubic yards, measured in place. The contractor began work about the 1st of June, 1893; at the close of the fiscal year 1893 the work was not sufficiently advanced to be of practical benefit to commerce. The benefits derived from the improvement are not local, the thoroughfare being extensively used by coastwise vessels, both as a harbor of refuge and as a sheltered route. 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, outstanding liabilities. July 1, 1893, amount covered by uncompleted contracts July 1, 1893, balance available 10, 693.00 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project $65,000.00 Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1895 25,000. 00 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 A 3.) 4. Narraguagus River, Maine.-The obstruction to navigation consisted in a bar at the mouth of the river, over which there was a navigable depth of less than 6 feet at mean low water, and less than 4 feet at extreme low water. The project for improvement is to dredge a channel not less than 200 feet wide, having 11 feet depth at mean low water from the deep water of the bay to Long Point, and a depth of 9 feet from thence to the anchorage. The expenditures to June 30, 1892, amounted to $27,463.42. At the latter date there had been dredged an 11-foot channel from the deep water in the bay in toward the new steamboat wharf, 90 feet wide, with a space in front of the wharf 300 feet wide. From the new steamboat wharf to the old one near Long Point the channel was 100 feet wide, with a turning basin in front of the old wharf 300 feet wide. The expenditures during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, amounted to $80.30. No work was in progress during the year. Proposals for dredging were opened October 3, 1892, and again November 16, 1892, but each time all bids were rejected, the prices being high. The work will be again advertised. 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.. $36.58 7,500.00 7, 536. 58 80.30 7, 456. 28 15,000.00 15,000.00 5. Breakwater from Mount Desert to Porcupine Island, Bar Harbor, Me. The anchorage in front of the town of Bar Harbor, as well as the wharves at which steamers land, is exposed to storms and seas from southerly directions, at times rendering the anchorage insecure, and the landing of passengers and freight at the wharves difficult. The original project was to construct a riprap breakwater in a direct line from Porcupine Island to Dry Ledge, and thence to within a short distance of Mount Desert Island. The direction of that portion west of Dry Ledge was afterward slightly changed, so that the westerly end of the breakwater would be somewhat farther to the southward. In January, 1893, the project was again amended, and now provides for a breakwater on the direct line first proposed, but somewhat shorter, terminating at a distance of about 600 feet from the low-water line on Mount Desert Island, reducing the estimated cost to somewhat more than one-half that of the project of 1890, but answering all needful requirements. The expenditures up to the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1892, amounted to $34,205.37. At that date 30,473 tons of stone had been deposited in that part of the breakwater between Porcupine Island and Dry Ledge. The expenditures during the fiscal year just ended were $19,930.55. As a result that part of the work between Porcupine Island and Dry Ledge has been completed. Work was commenced on the part west of Dry Ledge, and 9,921 tons of stone has been deposited. It is reported by masters of vessels that the work thus far done has been of great benefit. July 1, 1892, balance unexpended .. Amount appropriated by act approved July 13, 1892 $65, 794.63 50,000.00 115, 794.63 June 30, 1893, amount expended during fiscal year 19, 330.55 July 1, 1893, balance unexpended... 96, 464.08 $636.05 July 1, 1893, amount covered by uncompleted contracts.. 46,639.50 47, 275.55 49, 188.53 July 1, 1893, balance available.... 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 A 5.) 270, 200.00 50, 000. 00 6. Bagaduce River, Maine.-The Bagaduce is a small stream that empties into Penobscot Bay at Castine, Me. The upper part of the river divides into two branches, one called Northern Bay, and the other South Bay. Northern Bay, near South Penobscot, is a shoal sheet of water of about 700 acres in area, the bottom of which for the greater part is bare at low tide. There is a narrow channel that runs from Bridges Point to Bowdens Wharf, which has a depth of less than 2 feet and is obstructed by ledges near Winslows Island. The South Bay is obstructed by ledges at Johnsons Narrows. A project for the improvement of the Northern Bay was adopted in 1890, which has for its object the securing of a channel 100 feet wide and 6 feet deep at mean low tide, from Bridges Point to Bowdens Wharf, at an estimated cost of $45,000. It is also intended to remove a small quantity of rock obstructing the southern channel at Johnsons Narrows, at an estimated cost of $1,875. The expenditures to the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1892, amounted to $100, which were for preparation of plans, etc. No work had been done, the amount available at that date not being sufficient to accomplish enough to be of any material benefit. The expenditures during the year ending June 30, 1893, were $119.72, making the total expenditures $219.72. A contract was made in January, 1893, for dredging a channel 6 feet deep at mean low tide, and 40 feet wide, from Bridges Point to Bowdens Wharf, removing all material except ledge, the work to be done during the present season. 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, amount covered by uncompleted contracts. July 1, 1893, balance available................ $6,900.00 5,000.00 11,900.00 119.72 11,780. 28 10, 500.00 1,280.28 $31,875.00 Amount (estimated) require for completion of existing project. (See Appendix A 6.) 7. Penobscot River, Maine.-The improvement of the Penobscot River was first undertaken in 1870, the project being for a channel not less than 150 feet wide, 12 feet deep at low tide, as far up as Bangor. At that time the channel was shoal and dangerous. At Bangor the depth did not exceed about 6 feet at lowest stages, and navigation was obstructed by numerous rocks and ledges. The work was continued until 1880, and included also the removal of obstructions in the harbor at Bangor and at Bucksport, the expenditures aggregating $198,000. No further work was done until 1884, when a project was adopted for widening the channel at Bangor and for certain improvements in the river below near Crosbys Narrows, at an estimated cost of $75,000. While this work was in progress a survey was made, under the river and harbor act of 1886, from Bangor to Bucksport Narrows, and a project was submitted for securing a 22-foot depth between Bucksport and Winterport at an estimated cost of $365,000, making the combined cost of the two projects $440,000. The act of September 19, 1890, appropriated $25,000 and provided for dredging near Sterns Mill. Another survey was ordered by the act of September 19, 1890, which was made, and the report published in the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1892 (pages 533-540). The general project under which the improvement of the Penobscot River is now being carried on may be stated as follows: To widen the channel at Bangor to 360 feet, and a depth of 11 feet at extreme low water; to widen, straighten, and deepen the channel near Crosbys Narrows and near Sterns Mill to a depth of 12 feet at extreme low tide; and to secure a channel depth of 22 feet at mean low tide between Bucksport and Winterport, the estimated cost of the entire work being $440,000. This estimate includes the cost of the jetties at Frankfort Flats and High Head, in order to contract the waterway should such contraction be necessary. It is thought, however, that as the deposit of sawdust and mill waste into the river has in a large measure been stopped, and as the channels at these places were obstructed chiefly by this material, the contraction works may not be necessary. The channel at Frankfort Flats was dredged in 1890 to 22 feet, and while it has in some places filled in there is still an available channel of that depth through it. The channel at High Head has deepened from natural causes, so that the available depth through it at the time of the last examination, about a year ago, had increased to about 21 feet. Under the circumstances it does not seem advisable to construct any contraction works, certainly not until it is definitely ascertained that such works are necessary. Further examinations will be made of these channels. For the present no additional appropriation is recommended for the Penobscot River. The appropriations up to the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1892, aggregated $308,300, and the expenditures under the various projects to the same date amounted to $284,332.87. The results were the widening and deepening of the channel at Bangor from a depth of 6 feet at extreme low tide to 12 feet; the removal of rocks, ledges, and other obstructions; the removal of a shoal near Bucksport; and a general increase in depth and width of channels from the mouth up to Bangor. The expenditures during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, amounted to $18,177.58. The contract for dredging at and near Sterns Mill, which was in progress at the close of the fiscal year 1892, was completed in the following November, the total quantity of material excavated being 61,460 cubic yards. A contract was made in February, 1893, for widening the Bangor channel 60 feet, to the full projected width of 360 feet. This work is now in progress, having been commenced early in June, 1893. July 1, 1892, balance unexpended.... Amount appropriated by act approved July 13, 1892. $23, 967. 13 40,000.00 June 30, 1893, amount expended during fiscal year... 63, 967. 13 18, 177.58 July 1, 1893, balance unexpended.... July 1, 1893, outstanding liabilities.. 45, 789.55 $300.00 July 1, 1893, amount covered by uncompleted contracts.... July 1, 1893, balance available..... Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project...... 290, 000.00 Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix A 7.) 8. Belfast Harbor, Maine.-Originally the harbor was not deep enough to accommodate the commerce. At one place in the harbor the depth was only about 4 feet at mean low tide. In 1876, a project for dredging was adopted, and the work was completed in 1879, at a cost of $22,000. No more work was done until 1890, when a new project was adopted by which it was proposed to dredge a channel 250 to 300 feet wide, and 15 feet deep at mean low tide, from the deep water at the entrance to the upper harbor; to dredge an area on the north side of the harbor to a depth of 8 feet; and to dredge an area on the south side of the channel to a depth of 13 feet. The total expenditures up to June 30, 1892, were $35,000. At that date the 8-foot dredging had been completed, leaving the 13-foot and 15-foot dredging yet to be done. The expenditures during the last fiscal year were $26.05. A contract was made in October, 1892, for dredging the channel of entrance to the depth of 15 feet at mean low tide. Work was commenced during the early part of June, 1893, and is now in progress. Amount appropriated by act approved July 13, 1892.. $10,000.00 26.05 July 1, 1893, balance unexpended.... 9, 973. 95 July 1, 1893, outstanding liabilities. July 1, 1893, amount covered by uncompleted contracts.... $200.00 9,200.00 9,400.00 July 1, 1893, balance available..... Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project..... 573.95 32,000.00 32, 000. 00 |