Amount (estimated) required annually for maintenance of existing project... Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30,1893 Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix O 3.) 4. Harbor at St. Augustine, Florida.-The approved project is to protect the shores from erosion, by the construction of groins of concrete and riprap on brush foundation mattresses. Two appropriations aggregating $55,000 have been made for this harbor, and have been expended in accordance with this project. Work under the first appropriation was begun in October, 1889, and ended in September, 1890. Work under the second appropriation was commenced in December, 1890, and ended in May, 1891. Five groins in all have been built; one 341 feet long and another 523 feet long, on Anastasia Island, near the light-house; one 548.9 feet long, one 465 feet long, and one 415 feet long, on North Beach, near the point. $1,000.00 1,000.00 They have all been successful in their operation and have built out the shore line in their vicinities. To complete the protection now contemplated, the engineer officer in charge states that but $10,000 (the difference between his estimate of May 24, 1890, and the amount appropriated) will be needed, in addition to the amount now on hand. July 1, 1890, balance unexpended. Amount appropriated by act approved September 19, 1890. June 30, 1891, amount expended during fiscal year.. July 1, 1891, balance unexpended July 1, 1891, outstanding liabilities.. July 1, 1891, balance available....... Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project.......... (See Appendix O 4.) $1,682.14 20,000.00 21,682.14 17,570.02 4, 112, 12 149.68 3,962.44 10,000.00 10,000. 00 5. Northwest entrance, Key West Harbor, Florida.-A bar having a channel depth of 10.5 feet obstructs the northern entrance to this harbor. During storms the available depth is so much reduced that vessels bound to and from Gulf ports can not use it, but are compelled to make a detour of about 100 miles by Dry Tortugas to enter or leave the Gulf. An examination of the entrance with a view to its improvement was made in 1867 and again in 1881. In 1882 Congress made an appropriation of $25,000 for dredging a channel 300 feet wide and 17 feet deep across the bar. As was anticipated, the improvement was only temporary. In the act approved August 5, 1886, $2,500 was appropriated for a new examination and survey of the bar. This was made in December, 1886, and January, 1887. The bar was found to be formed and maintained by interfering tidal currents. The project for its improvement comprised the construction of one or more training walls, with dredging, if necessary. Up to June 30, 1890, $22,432.07 had been expended on the improvement. A channel 6 feet deep and 100 feet wide existed between the mouth and Fort Myers. A narrow cut, 5 feet deep, had been made through the shoals at Beautiful Islands and partially protected by a training wall, and the worst obstructions had been removed from the river as far as Fort Thompson. Three thousand six hundred dollars were appropriated in the act of September 19, 1890, for completing the improvement. With this sum the remaining obstructions were removed from the channel between Fort Thompson and the Beautiful Islands. The cut at the Beautiful Island shoal and its protecting dike were extended, and the channel through the oyster bars at the mouth of the river was enlarged and marked. When work stopped there was a clear channel from the mouth to Fort Thompson, having a mean low-water depth of 6 feet as far as Fort Myers and a depth of 4 feet for the remaining distance. An annual expenditure of $1,000 will be required to maintain this improvement. July 1, 1890, balance unexpended.... Amount appropriated by act approved September 19, 1890 June 30, 1891, amount expended during fiscal year July 1, 1891, balance unexpended July 1, 1891, outstanding liabilities. July 1, 1891, balance available.... Amount (estimated) required for maintenance of existing project.... (See Appendix ( 6.) Amount appropriated by act approved September 19, 1890. July 1, 1891, balance unexpended.. July 1, 1891, outstanding liabilities.. July 1, 1891, amount covered by uncompleted contracts July 1, 1891, balance available.. $3,845.47 3,600.00 7. Channel of Charlotte Harbor and Pease Creek, Florida.-The portion under improvement lies between the Boca Grande entrance from the Gulf of Mexico and the wharves at Punta Gorda, 2 miles from the mouth of Pease Creek. The available depth at the entrance is 19 feet at mean low water. Immediately within the entrance there is an anchorage, with a depth of 18 feet and over. Between that point and Punta Gorda, a distance of 24 miles, the channel depth varies from 10 to 20 feet. In the act of September 19, 1890, $35,000 were appropriated for improving the channel between the limits named. Up to the close of the fiscal year $2,886.44 had been expended in making a survey of the defective portions of the channel, in preparing a project for its improvement and in making a contract for the work. Active operations under the contract have not yet been started. The approved project contemplates the immediate formation of a channel 12 feet deep and as wide as the funds will permit. The estimated cost of a channel 200 feet wide and 12 feet deep is $127,500; of a channel 200 feet wide and 15 feet deep, $468,000. $20.06 29,500.00 7,445. 47 7,298.86 146. 61 125.00 21.61 1,000.00 1,000.00 $35,000,00 2,886.44 32, 113.56 29,520.06 2,593.50 8. Sarasota Bay, Florida.-The total length of Sarasota Bay is 34 miles. The portion under improvement extends from Tampa Bay to Sarasota, a distance of 214 miles. The general available channel depth is 5 feet, but there are two reaches, aggregating 1 mile in length, where the available channel depth varies from 3.5 to 4.3 feet. The approved project contemplates the formation of a channel 100 feet wide and 5 feet deep at mean low water between the limits named above. As it is most economical to do this work with the United States dredge Suwanee, operations have been postponed until her services should become available. It is expected that work will be started at an early date. The appropriation of $5,000 made for this work in the act approved September 19, 1890, is the first for the improvement. Amount appropriated by act approved September 19, 1890. July 1, 1891, balance unexpended $5,000.00 273.00 4,727.00 255.00 July 1, 1891, balance available... 4, 472.00 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project......... 5,000.00 5,000.00 (See Appendix O 8.) 9. Manatee River, Florida.-The portion of the Manatee River under improvement is the lowest reach, between Rocky Bluff and the mouth, a distance of about 12 miles. This had a midchannel depth of from 7 to 20 feet. The general width is about three-fourths of a mile. At the mouth was a long shoal with a minimum depth of 7 feet. Between Palmetto and Manatee, about 6 miles from the mouth, was another bar covered by from 3 to 5 feet of water. The river was examined in 1881. The project adopted had for its object to form a channel 100 feet wide and 13 feet deep at mean low water from Tampa Bay to McNeil Point (Palma Sola). Owing to the changed commercial conditions since the adoption of the project, brought about by the extension of the railroad to Tampa, the transfer to Tampa of the principal gulf steamship lines, and the service of the smaller towns. around Tampa Bay by coasting steamers from Tampa, the project was modified in 1886 to provide for the passage of these lighter-draft vessels to all of the towns of the lower river by the removal of the bar above Palmetto. Up to the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1890, $27,808.13 were expended on this improvement. A dredged cut was made across the bar at the mouth of the river, another cut was made across the bar between Manatee and Braidentown, and a survey and map of the river were made. The cut at the mouth had been nearly obliterated, but a channel 8 feet deep and of sufficient width existed from Tampa Bay to Manatee. In the act approved September 19, 1890, $6,000 were appropriated for continuing the improvement. The amount was insufficient to make any permanent improvement in the channel at the mouth, the only place where work is now required, and the money available is held until required elsewhere in the river or until further appropriations shall increase it to a sum sufficient for economical work at the mouth. July 1, 1890, balance unexpended.. Amount appropriated by act approved September 19, 1890. Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project. (See Appendix O 9.) $191.87 6,000.00 6, 191. 87 73.80 6, 118. 07 7.75 6, 110. 32 39,000.00 15,000.00 10. Tampa Bay, Florida.-The harbor at Tampa, at the head of one arm of this bay, was separated from deep water by a flat 2 miles wide. Through this was a narrow channel with an average available depth of about 5 feet, formed by the waters of Hillsboro River. The original project was adopted in 1879, and had for its object the formation of a 9-foot channel, 150 feet wide in the bay and 200 feet wide in the river, from the 9-foot curve in the bay to the wharves at Tampa, in Hillsboro River, at an estimated cost of $97,000. Up to June 30, 1888, $69,068.54 had been expended. The work consisted entirely of dredging and rock excavation, and extended over a distance of 8.200 feet, making a cut varying in width from 200 feet in the river to 60 feet in the bay. On June 30, 1887, it had a depth along its center line of from 8.3 to 9 feet. The depth on the flats beyond the outer extremity of the cut is 7 feet. In 1888 the project was modified. Port Tampa, 93 miles from Tampa, on Old Tampa Bay, had become the deep-water port of Tampa. The modified project is to form and maintain a channel 8 feet deep in Hillsboro Bay and Hillsboro River to the city of Tampa, and a channel 20 feet deep and 200 feet wide from the outer bar to Port Tampa. In the act of August 11, 1888, $25,000 was appropriated for work under this project. At the end of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1890, a cut had been started through the outer bulkhead at the entrance to Old Tampa Bay. The work, which was done under contract, had been greatly delayed and no useful result had been obtained. Work was continued under the contract until March 28, 1891. When operations stopped the cut through the outer bulkhead was 20 feet deep for a width of 100 feet and from 16 to 20 feet deep for the remaining width. The channel through the inner bulkhead bad a mid-depth of 19.5 feet. In the act approved September 19, 1890, $25,000 were appropriated for continuing the improvement. A contract has been entered into for the work, under which operations will be started in August. July 1, 1890, balance unexpended........ Amount appropriated by act approved September 19, 1890. June 30, 1891, amount expended during fiscal year.. July 1, 1891, balance unexpended July 1, 1891, outstanding liabilities... July 1, 1891, amount covered by uncompleted contracts $52.75 21, 100.00 $21, 853. 45 25,000.00 $46,853, 45 22,047.45 24, 806.00 21, 152, 75 July 1, 1891, balance available 3,653.25 |