margin of the estuary, where the least depth is 4 feet mean low water. The bridges of the Westchester road and of the Harlem and Port Chester Railroad both have single draw openings 40 feet wide in the clear. The cost of making a navigable channel 4 feet deep, mean low water, from the entrance to West Farms is estimated as follows: Dredging channel from Strain Place to Barlow street, 100 feet wide and 4 feet deep, mean low water; 16,000 cubic yards of material, in place, at 25 cents Dredging channel from Barlow street to Dongan street, 60 feet wide and 4 feet deep, mean low water; 10,000 cubic yards of material, in place, at 25 cents Dredging channel from Dongan street to head of navigation at West Farms 50 feet wide and 4 feet deep, mean low water; 28,880 cubic yards of material, in place, at 25 cents Drilling, blasting, and removing 4,070 cubic yards of rock, at $15.. Engineering and contingencies, 15 per cent Total $4,000 2,500 No estimate is submitted for dredging a channel across the estuary, as it is believed that no dredged channel can be maintained there without the assistance of artificial works of contraction constructed at an estimated cost of not less than $100,000. The existing commerce of the river does not seem to justify the expenditure of such a sum at this time. For this reason the estimates herein submitted are for a project which contemplates carrying the navigable depth now found at the entrance up to West Farms, in a water way whose width varies with the existing width between the banks, and clearing the bed of all bowlders or rocks which may be found embedded in it above the plane of 6 feet, mean low water. The mean range of tides at West Farms is 5.87 feet, and at the estuary, 6.57 feet. This report is accompanied by a report of Mr. G. W. Kuehnle, assistant engineer, under whose direction the survey was made, to which I respectfully invite attention for the details of the survey. COMMERCIAL STATISTICS. Neither the tonnage of the river nor the facilities for handling it have been increased since the preliminary examination, October, 1890, at which time the following statistics were obtained: Commercial statistics Bronx River, New York, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1890. The Bronx River is in the collection district of New York. The nearest port of entry is New York City. The nearest light-house is North Brother Island Light on North Brother Island, East River. The nearest fort is Fort Schuyler. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, G. L. GILLESPIE, Lieut. Col. of Engineers. REPORT OF MR. G. W. KEUHNLE, ASSISTANT ENGINEER. ENGINEER OFFICE, U. S. ARMY, SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report on the survey of Bronx River, New York, made by your order of December 5, 1890, in compliance with the requirement of river and harbor act of September 19, 1890. The survey was made during April and May, 1891, by the hydrographic party, in charge of Mr. John Johnstone, surveyor, under directions from this office, and extends from the dam at West Farms to Gilbert street, below the Westchester road bridge. It was made in the usual manner, the soundings being located by means of transits on established triangulation stations, and reduced to the plane of mean low water, determined in 1880. There is no change in depth or condition from the results obtained by the survey of 1880, and the shore line is the same, except that one new dock (Church E. Gates & Co.) has been built since that date. That portion of the map accompanying this report below Gilbert street was copied from the survey of 1880. The Bronx River is crossed at the Westchester road by an iron bridge with a single draw opening 45 feet in width, operated by hand power, and at the crossing of the Harlem River Branch of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad by a double-track wooden bridge, with a single draw opening 40 feet in width, operated by hand power. The material from the head of navigation to the Westchester Road Bridge is sand and gravel, with a slight covering of mud; below the bridge the material is sand and mud. Between the gas works and a point about 1,800 feet below the Westchester Road Bridge numerous ledges of rock are found, mainly on the east side of the river, and two extending entirely across the channel. The following estimate is based on a project which provides for a channel 4 feet deep at mean low water and 100 feet wide from Strain Place to Barlow street, thence 60 feet wide to Dongan street, and thence 50 feet wide to the head of navigation about 1,100 feet below the dam, including the removal of rock to a depth of 6 feet, mean low water. As the mean rise and fall of the tide is over 6 feet, this will afford a navigable depth of 10 feet at high water. ESTIMATE. Dredging a channel 100 feet wide and 4 feet deep, mean low water, from Strain Place to Barlow street; 16,000 cubic yards of material in place, at 25 cents.. Dredging a channel 60 feet wide and 4 feet deep, mean low water, from Barlow street to Dongan street; 10,000 cubic yards of material in place, at 25 cents.. Dredging a channel 50 feet wide and 4 feet deep, mean low water, from Dongan street to the head of navigation at West Farms; 28,880 cubic yards of material in place, at 25 cents Drilling, blasting, and removing 4,070 cubic yards of rock, at $15 Engineering and contingencies, 15 per cent. Total. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Col. G. L. GILLESPIE, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A. G. W. KUEHNLE, E 18. PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION OF WESTCHESTER CREEK, WESTCHESTER AND NEW YORK COUNTIES, NEW YORK. ENGINEER OFFICE, U. S. ARMY,. New York, N. Y., December 29, 1890. GENERAL: In compliance with letter of the Chief of Engineers, dated September 20, 1890, I have the honor to submit the following report in regard to the preliminary examination of "Westchester Creek, Westchester and New York Counties," to comply with the provisions of the river and harbor act of September 19, 1890: Westchester Creek is a tidal stream emptying into the East River between Clauson Point and Old Ferry Point, about 2 miles west of Throg Neck. It is navigable at low stage for vessels drawing 4 to 5 feet to the town of West Chester, 23 miles from the mouth, at which point navigation is obstructed by a low, solid bridge or causeway which has no draw. At the southern boulevard crossing, in the town of Unionport, 1 mile below West Chester, the iron bridge has a draw of ample width for easy passage of vessels. The estuary at the mouth into which the creek empties is one-half mile wide between east and west headlands, and the distance between the 8-foot curves on opposite sides of the bar at the mouth is 1,000 feet, approximately, the least depth on the bar being 3 to 4 feet, approximately. The creek is divided into comparatively easy and regular reaches, and has thoroughout from West Chester to the mouth a least width between banks of 125 feet, and a general depth of 4 to 5 feet, mean low water. The greatest depth of the channel through the estuary is 11 feet, approximately. The range of tides is 7 feet, approximately. At two points just below Unionport the stream is said to be obstructed by what is supposed to be rock in place or loose bowlders of small extent. The promoters of the survey desire a channel 50 feet wide and 8 feet deep, mean low water, from West Chester to the East River, so that vessels suitable for transporting the commerce of the river may enter at all stages of the tide. When such an improvement is effected it is claimed that a daily line of freight steamers will be formed to ply between New York City and West Chester. The navigation at present can only be carried on at high water, and no regular time can be fixed for entering the creek. There are wharves at West Chester and at Unionport for convenient handling of freight. This creek bounds on the eastward the stretch of country, suburban to New York City, which is undergoing constant and rapid improvement and development by the expansion of New York City beyond the Harlem River, and will be extensively used in the near future for transporting building materials, stone, brick, lime, and lumber, hardware, grain, and home supplies, which can not be transported conveniently by rail. The population of the district bordering on the creek is 6,000, approximately. Obstructed as the stream is, the commerce for the past year was 50,000 tons, having a valuation of $242,000, and was carried in canal boats, scows, and lighters, drawing 5 to 8 feet. No survey of the creek has ever been made by any branch of the Government. A personal examination of the creek has been made. In view of the moderate demands of the people, the probable small cost of the improvement, estimated at not to exceed $25,000, and the rapid development of the country adjacent to the creek, I have the honor to state that, in my judgment, Westchester Creek is "worthy of improvement" from West Chester to the East River. I respectfully recommend an allotment of $500 to make a survey between the points named preparatory to the formation of plans, with estimates of cost of improvement, which shall provide for the removal of rocks in the creek and for dredging the creek and the bar at the entrance for a navigable water way 60 feet wide and 8 feet deep, mean low water. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Brig. Gen. THOMAS L. CASEY, Chief of Engineers, U. S. A. G. L. GILLESPIE, Lieut. Col. of Engineers. Commercial statistics for Westchester Creek, New York, for the fiscal year ending June 30, COUNTIES, NEW YORK. ENGINEER OFFICE, U. S. ARMY, New York, N. Y., September 8, 1891. GENERAL: In compliance with letter of the Chief of Engineers, dated December 30, 1890, I have the honor to submit a report with chart on survey of Westchester Creek, New York, made to comply with the requirements of the river and harbor act approved September 19, 1890. The accompanying chart* confirms in general the statements contained in the preliminary report, dated December 29, 1890, in regard to *Not printed. the width of the channel, the depths of water in the creek and over the bar, and to the existing obstructions to navigation. From the East River to near the center of the estuary, into which the creek enters, the depth of water at mean low stage is 4 feet, approxi mately; thence to Eastern Boulevard Bridge, at Unionport, the creek is navigable at low stage for vessels drawing 63 feet; and thence to West Chester for vessels drawing 3 feet. The range of tides at the head of the estuary is 7.10 feet, and at West Chester, 7.11 feet. The material composing the bed of the creek is generally of mud and sand, and that of the bar of sand alone, which may be readily removed by the usual methods. No rock appears in the water way above the plane of 9 feet below mean low water, except at one point near the mouth of the creek, where it rises to 4.6 feet below that plane. The highway bridge at the Eastern Boulevard, Unionport, has a sufficient draw opening 50 feet wide, properly located in relation to the deep-water channel. The survey was made in May and June, 1891, under the supervision of Mr. G. W. Kuehnle, assistant engineer, to whose accompanying report attention is respectfully invited for details of the methods by which the survey was made. The rock by the survey lies so far below the adopted plan of improvement, or is so distant from the axis of the proposed channel, that no estimate for the removal of any of this class of obstruction is submitted. The long pools existing in the lower creek, and also in the northern half of the channel through the estuary, seem to indicate that if a channel of the proposed width and depth be excavated across the estuary, uniting Westchester Creek with the East River, it will be maintained with reasonable certainty by tidal agencies for a considerable period of time without requiring the construction of permanent works of improvement to confine the channel across the estuary. No permanent works, therefore, for leading the improved channel across the estuary are outlined or estimated for. The cost of making a navigable channel 100 feet wide and 8 feet deep at mean low water across the estuary, thence 80 feet wide and 8 feet deep at mean low water to a point about 1,000 feet above Scriven's Dock, and thence 60 feet wide and 8 feet deep, mean low water, to the head of navigation, is estimated as follows: Dredging a channel 100 feet wide, 8 feet deep at mean low water, and 1,200 feet long across the bar at the entrance to the estuary; 19,000 cubic yards, scow measurement, at 25 cents Dredging a channel 80 feet wide and 8 feet deep, mean low water, from the northern end of deep pool in the estuary to a point 1,000 feet above Scriven Dock; 11,500 cubic yards, scow measurement, at 25 cents..... Dredging a channel 60 feet wide and 8 feet deep, mean low water, to the head of navigation; 69,500 cubic yards, scow measurement, at 25 cents.. 17,375 $4,750 2,875 The commerce of the creek is now carried in canal-boats, scows, and small lighters, which draw not less than 5 feet nor more than 8 feet. The number of boats of all classes engaged in the traffic is 300, and the tonnage carried during the year 1890, which has not materially changed during the year 1891, was 50,000 tons, and had an estimated money valuation of $242,000. The wharf facilities for handling the commerce of the creek is the same as extended in 1890. |