APPENDIX F. IMPROVEMENT OF HUDSON RIVER; OF BUTTERMILK CHANNEL, NEW YORK HARBOR; OF GOWANUS BAY AND HARLEM RIVER; OF THE HARBORS OF RONDOUT, ECHO, PORT CHESTER, AND NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK. REPORT OF CAPTAIN JAMES MERCUR, CORPS OF ENGINEERS, OFFICER IN CHARGE, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1884, WITH OTHER DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE WORKS. UNITED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE, New York, July 31, 1884. SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith the annual reports of river and harbor improvements under my charge for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1884. These works, previous to the 1st of April, 1884, were under the charge of General John Newton, Corps of Engineers, and all the work done upon them to that date was under his direction. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, The CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, U. S. A. JAS. MERCUR, Captain of Engineers. F 1. IMPROVEMENT OF THE HUDSON RIVER, NEW YORK. The project for the improvement of this river was adopted in 1867, and was modified in 1868, the object being to afford a navigable channel of 11 feet in depth at mean low water to Albany and 9 feet to Troy. Operations during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1884, have been directed to the completion of the removal of that portion of the reef at Van Wie's Point known as "Austin's Rock," under the contract with Stanton & Doyle, dated July 30, 1881. At the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1883, there remained to be drilled and blasted 1,167 square yards of the area of Rock No. 1; scattered portions of the débris were yet to be raised from the reef generally. The areas of Rocks Nos. 2, 3, 4, and 5, and of the lower half of No. 1, were cleaned up, and the unbroken part of No. 1 drilled and blasted during the fall of 1883. The results of the blasting process were not successful, and the drilling platform, which had been injured by collision, required rebuilding. This delay, together with the severity of the weather, prevented completion of the work before December 8, 1883, upon which date operations were suspended on account of low temperature and formation of ice. Operations were renewed May 20, 1884, when it was found that the deposits by the spring freshets had filled up and covered that part of the rock which had been dredged and partially blasted in the fall. The dredge was again employed to scrape up the loose material, the drilling plant following. On June 17, 1884, the redrilling and blasting were reported complete, since which time the dredge, with the help of the diver, has been employed in lifting the broken rock, portions of which remain to be picked up before the work may be accepted. This will be accomplished during the month of July, 1884, when there will be due to Stanton & Doyle the sum of $14,800, being one-third the contract price of $37,000, plus the amount retained from former payments. During the year the State authorities dredged at the following points in the river. The number of yards are given as reported by the State engineer. Cubic yards. 8, 239.6 7,000 12,000 14,499. 19 7,000 20,000 23, 238.25 27, 783.33 Repairs of about 960 feet of the New Baltimore State Dike, north of Willow Island Light. The deposits were generally made behind the dikes. The material dredged from Catskill Creek is reported to have been dumped in the deep water of the river at that locality. All the dredging was under the direction of the State engineer, without consultation with this office. The dredging operations in the Overslaugh Channel failed to give the required depth of 10 feet, and attention was called by the superintendent of public works to the existence of a rock at that point. Examination proved the statement, and in January, 1884, careful soundings were taken from the ice, and rock surveyed. The rock is located in the Overslaugh Channel, above Van Wie's Point, and the soundings taken show the rock above the 12-foot contour to be 310 feet long by 75 feet wide, and the least depth to be 8.4 feet. Extraordinary low tides, 2 feet below the plans of mean low water, of which several occurred during the fall of 1883, reduced this depth to but 6.4 feet. The estimate for the removal of this rock is $16,000. CONDITION OF THE RIVER. No surveys have been made since 1877. The same general condition of the river has been maintained, the work of the dikes being aided somewhat by the annual dredging operations by the State. On February 14, 1884, a movement of the ice occurred, resulting in a gorge, extending from the lower end of the city of Albany to a point about 3 miles below. The flow of the river being arrested, a temporary shoal was formed at Bogart's Light, which was dredged by the State authorities during a high stage of the river and without survey. Fortytwo thousand cubic yards of material are reported to have been removed. The shoaling from year to year at this point appears to be due somewhat to the escape of part of the flow through and over the timber dike north of Bogart's Light, which is out of repair. The height of the crest of the Overslaugh stone dike, according to the levels recorded, is 64 feet above mean low water, while that of the timber dike north of Bogart's Light is approximately at the height of ordinary high water, a difference of about 4.2 feet. The down currents, especially those of the floods, are deflected by the dike at Douw's Point, on the east side, toward the west shore, striking the lower dike just above the Bogart Light, or north end of the higher structure. A large part of this volume of water passes over the timber dike, flows down behind the islands, and does not enter the river again until it reaches Van Wie's. The currents are therefore divided or split at this point, and their momentum diminished. The shoaling tendency may therefore be assumed to be largely due to the difference in the heights of two structures, the junction of which seems to be approximately the point upon which the freshet currents impinge. CONDITION OF THE DIKES, ETC. Troy to Albany.-Port Schuyler stone dike has been cut and is broken in several places. The cut was made some years ago and used for dumping dredged materials. The breaks were caused by the wash of freshets around vessels lodged upon the dike. These openings are serv ing the purposes of pockets for the collection of some of the material brought down by freshets, and also relieve the river during such periods of a part of their injurious scour. Breaker's Island, just below the Fort Schuyler Dike, and opposite the Iron Works at South Troy, is being rapidly worn off by the action of the freshets and of steamboat waves. The tendency of the improvements going on at the works of Burden & Co. and Corning & Co., at this point, is to reduce the cross-section of the river during freshets. The Base Island and Patroon's Island crib dikes have been seriously injured by ice flood from year to year, and the full pile dike from the lower end of Base Island crib to Bath needs some stone filling and repairs. Of the original single line of piles from Patroon's Island crib dike to Lower Patroon's Island but about 900 feet is standing, the remainder having been carried away by the ice from time to time. Such of it as remains might be utilized for anchoring tie-timbers if a new line of piles were driven with a view to building a full pile dike. In any event the standing piles would require redriving, and would not materially reduce the cost. Albany to New Baltimore.-The full and half-pile dikes are in fair con dition, but all require more or less repair to timber-work and refilling with stone. The single line from "Staats" to Campbell's Island is in like condition to the one above Albany. The lines at Cow Island and at "Mulls" are in better shape. The middle dike at Coeymans, although in apparently good state of repair and efficiency, is in urgent need of attention. It was originally built upon a middle ground of sand, while at present there is from 6 to 14 feet along its east face at ordinary high water, the deeper soundings being on the north end and the shorter on the south. Its length is about 2,700 feet. A new line of piles could be driven, say, 3 feet outside of the channel face of the dike as it stands; one course of timber, which should be yellow pine at least 6 by 12 inches, bolted to the piles and tied to the dike by iron rods; the space between the new line and the old, as well as the slack portions of the old dike, filled with stone, at a cost of about $3.50 per running foot of dike. The Roah Hook Dike, above Coeymans, and the Barren Island Dike, below, have both careened toward the deeper water, and should be rebuilt in part, as is recommended in the case of the middle dike. RECOMMENDATIONS. The necessity of repairs, however, being subordinated to the question of availability of funds, and the desire to complete the plan of improvement within the estimated cost thereof, suggests the propriety of giving precedence to the new work estimated for and yet to be built, viz: Completion of dike from Staats to Campbell's Island Dike, from Schermerhorn Island to Shad Island; improvement between Shad Island and Mull's Plaat, New Baltimore; improvement at Willow Island. Following these may be enumerated, in order of urgency, the removal of the rock in Overslaugh Channel; repair of Coeymans Middle Dike; repair and raising timber dike at Bogart's Light; new dike to complete line below Nine-mile Tree; extension of dike at Mull's Plaat, and repairs generally. Surveys are essential to determine the character and cost of the first four items. The cost of the following six numbers would be: Removing Overslaugh Channel rock and temporary dredging, say Repair Coeymans Middle Dike, 2,700 feet, at $3.50, say Repair and raising dike at Bogart's Island, 500 feet, at $6. Dike to complete line below Nine-mile Tree, 1,650 feet, at $4. Repair of dikes generally, say, $1.50 per foot. $18,000 9,450 3,000 6,600 6,400 The work and expense of strengthening the Coeymans Middle Dike might be divided, one-half to be done this year and the remainder left for another season. The original condition of the navigable channel gave between New Baltimore and Barren Island a depth at mean low water of 72 feet, at Coeymans 8 feet, at Mull's 9 feet, at Castleton 8 feet, at Cedar Hill 7 feet, at Winnie's 9.4 feet, on the Överslaugh 7.7 feet, at Cuyler's Bar 9 feet, at Round Shoal 7.2 feet; that is, at low water 7 feet could be carried from New Baltimore to Albany, and from Albany to Troy 7.2 feet. The channels, however, were very crooked, in places very narrow and of such difficult navigation that the grounding of boats was, it might almost be said, the rule and not the exception. The originally adopted project for the improvement was the construction of longitudinal dikes, generally of the height of mean high water, to direct the currents and allow the flow over their tops of freshets and of ice. |