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Pennsylvania has appropriated $200,000 towards the purchase of the islands, and it is believed the balance required will be forthcoming when the amount is known.

A Board of three Engineer officers, the same that constituted the Board that reported the plan for improving Philadelphia Harbor, was appointed February 25, 1889, to establish harbor lines for the port of Philadelphia. This Board has met but has not yet completed its duties. Amount appropriated by act of August 11, 1888, $500,000, of which

$300,000 is for purchase of the islands, leaving available for project.. $200,000.00 July 1, 1889, balance available..... 200, 000, 00

(Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project...... Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1891

Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river aud harbor acts of 1866 and 1867.

(See Appendix G 2.)

3,300,000. 00

500, 000, 00

3. Schuylkill River, Pennsylvania.-When the work of improvement was commenced in 1870 there was a channel of entrance into the mouth of the river carrying a depth of only 15 feet at mean low water.

The original project under which work was commenced in 1870 proposed the formation of a channel 100 feet wide with a depth of 20 feet from the mouth of the river to Gibson's Point, about 4 miles, and a depth of 18 feet from thence to Chestnut Street Bridge in Philadelphia, about 3 miles.

In 1875 and 1883 this project was amended so as to increase the lowwater channel between the mouth and Girard Point, a distance of about 1 mile, to 400 feet wide and 24 feet deep, and from Girard Point to Gibson's Point, about 3 miles, to 250 feet wide and 20 feet deep.

The amount expended upon these projects to June 30, 1888, was $368,519.13, and had resulted in the formation of a channel as follows: Between the mouth and Girard Point piers, the minimum channel was 150 feet wide and from 18 to 19 feet deep at mean low water; from Girard Point to Gibson's Point the channel was 50 to 150 feet wide and 20 feet deep; from Gibson's Point to Chestnut Street Bridge the channel was of navigable width and 18 feet deep at mean low water. This latter reach of river has required no other improvement than the removal of about 1,000 cubic yards of rock near Locust and South streets.

During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1889, the sum of $24,862.50 was expended in widening by dredging the previously existing 20-foot channel between Point Breeze and Penrose Ferry Bridge. The work accomplished has resulted in the formation of a channel 250 feet wide and 20 feet deep at mean low water from the wharves at Point Breeze to a point 13 miles below, and from thence to Penrose Ferry Bridge, about three-fifths of a mile, a channel of the same depth and not less than 100 feet wide.

In the opinion of the officer in charge the shoal areas between the mouth and Girard Point can be more economically improved by the construction of a dike than by the hitherto proposed dredging.

July 1, 1888, amount available............
Amount appropriated by act of August 11, 1888.

July 1, 1859, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of liabilities outstanding July 1, 1888

July 1, 1889, balance available

ENG 89-7

$230.87 25,000.00

25, 230.87

24,862.50

368.37

$91,250.00

Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project..
Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1891 50,000.00
Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and
harbor acts of 1866 and 1867.

(See Appendix G 3.)

4. Ice harbor at Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania.-This work in its present plan was commenced in 1866, the object being to provide a harbor in the Delaware River to protect vessels against moving ice.

In 1785 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania built, for the convenience of commerce, piers at Marcus Hook extending from the shore-line into the river. It is assumed that at some subsequent time these shore-piers were turned over to the United States, since in 1829 an appropriation was made of $5,000, for repairing these piers, improving the harbor, and removing obstructions. No further appropriation was made until 1866.

At this latter date the project was adopted for the construction of detached piers in the harbor, consisting of stone superstructures upon crib foundations filled with stone, together with the deepening of the harbor by dredging.

In 1881 it was proposed to increase the area of the harbor by the construction of a bulkhead about 1,800 feet in length parallel to the shore*line and about 150 feet outside of high-water line, and the deepening of this added area by dredging.

Nothing was done towards the carrying into effect of the modification of 1881, on account of the unwillingness of some of the abutting property owners, and in 1888 this hitherto proposed modification was abandoned and an increased depth proposed for the areas protected by the detached piers outside of the natural shore-line of the river.

The amount expended from 1866 to June 30, 1888, was $193,919.29, and resulted in the construction of two shore or landing piers, and seven detached ice-piers, the deepening by dredging of the area protected by the piers, and the placing of mooring piles within the harbor. By this expenditure a harbor was formed with an area of about 7 acres, carrying a depth of from 12 to 25 feet at mean low water.

During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1889, $14,426.60 was expended in extensive repairs to the United States shore piers and mooring piles, and in deepening by dredging the area which is protected by the shore and detached piers. In its present condition the harbor has an area of about 10 acres, with a depth of from 12 to 25 feet at mean low water.

July 1, 18-8, amount available....

Amount appropriated by act of August 11, 1888.

July 1, 1889, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of liabilities outstanding July 1, 1888.......

Jluy 1, 1889, balance available...

Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1891 Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867.

(See Appendix G 4.)

$80.71 15,000.00

15,080. 71

14, 426. 60

654.11

5,000.00

5. Ice-harbor at head of Delaware Bay, Delaware.-The act of August 2, 1882, appropriated $25,000 for the commencement of work on the iceharbor at the head of Delaware Bay, to include the removal of some

sunken piers, the remains of an old ice-harbor, in the channel east of Reedy Island, Delaware.

The necessity for an ice-harbor at the head of Delaware Bay has long been recognized, and considerable study has been devoted to the questions of location and general plan of construction. As to location, the prevailing judgment would place the ice-harbor at or very near Listin's Point. The plan of construction which has been hitherto proposed in general terms provided for a nearly inclosed area by means of a barrier to protect vessels against moving ice. This barrier was to consist of iron piles placed at intervals and connected with an iron superstructure so arranged as to either hold or ward the ice from the area within the barrier. The cost of such an ice-harbor has been variously estimated at from $300,000 to $400,000.

In the opinion of the officer in charge, the plan of detached icebreakers, as heretofore used in all the ice-harbors on the Delaware River, is preferable to that of an inclosed area, which latter would prevent the broken ice from escaping from the harbor.

The amount expended to June 30, 1888, was $8,723.07, of which $3,700 was applied to the removal of the sunken piers back of Reedy Island, as provided in the act of August 2, 1882, making the appropriation of $25,000. The balance was expended in surveys, examinations, and preliminary studies.

During the fiscal year ending June 30, 188), nothing was expended: July 1, 1888, amount available..... July 1, 1889, balance available..........

(See Appendix G 5.)

$16,276.93 16, 276.93

6. Construction of iron pier in Delaware Bay, near Lewes, Delaware.The original project for this work proposed the construction of a landing pier about 1,700 feet in length, extending from the shore south of the break water into Delaware Bay to a depth of 22 feet at mean low water, the pier to consist of a substructure of wrought-iron screw-piles surmounted with a timber superstructure. The work was commenced in 1871 and completed, except as to superstructure, in 1880.

The amount expended to June 30, 1888, was $368,375.06, and resulted in the construction of 1,155 linear feet of pier 21 feet in width, and 546 linear feet 42 feet in width, or a total length of 1,701 feet. The depth of water at the outer end of the pier-head was about 21 feet at mean low water.

During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1889, nothing was expended. During the gale of March 12, 1888, five of the wrought-iron screwpiles were injured by the collision of a wrecked schooner. The injury to the pier was limited to its half width for a distance of about 125 feet. The officer in charge estimates that the cost of repairing this injury will probably reach $6,000.

From the decayed condition of the timber superstructure it is not available for use by the railroad to which the right was given to use the pier under the provisions of the act of July 15, 1870.

If the pier is to be rendered available for the general purposes of the Government, and also for railroad traffic, as contemplated in the act above referred to, the officer in charge recommends the replacing of the present decayed wooden superstructure by permanent iron-work, at an estimated cost of $93,000.

July 1, 1888, amount available...
July 1, 1889, balance available

$124.94 124.94

Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project.
Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1891
Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and
harbor acts of 1866 and 1867.

(See Appendix G 6.)

$15,000.00
6,000.00

7. Delaware Breakwater Harbor, Delaware.-Under act of Congress, May 7, 1822, $22,700 was appropriated for a survey of Delaware Bay, near Cape Henlopen, for the purpose of determining upon the site for a harbor of shelter. In 1828 an appropriation of $250,000 was made for commencing the work under a plan submitted by a Board of Commissioners appointed by Congress.

The project of the Board contemplated the construction in the concavity of the bay, just inside Cape Henlopen, of two massive works on the pierres perdues or riprap system, separated by an interval or gap of 1,390 feet-the greater, called the breakwater, to afford safe anchorage during gales from the north and east; the other, called the ice-breaker, to protect shipping against northwesterly gales and the heavy drifting ice of the bay.

This project was completed in 1869, under aggregate appropriations, The stone used in the including the first for survey, of $2,192,103.70. work amounted to 892,528 gross tons, and varied from one-quarter of a ton to 7 tous in weight, the smaller constituting the bulk of the mass, the larger used to cover the exterior slopes.

As completed in 1869 the breakwater is 2,558 feet long, and the icebreaker 1,359 feet long on top. The average width on top is 22 feet, and at base 160 feet. The top is from 12 to 14 feet above mean low water.

In 1882 a project was adopted for closing the gap between the breakwater and the ice-breaker by means of a random stone foundation with a concrete superstructure. The random stone foundation is to be brought to a height of 12 feet below low water, with a width on top of 48 feet. The concrete superstructure is to have a width on bottom of 24 feet, rising to a height of 12 feet above mean low water, with a width ou top of 12 feet. The estimated cost of this project was $675,000.

In 1883 and 1884 the project was modified by providing a foundation of brush mattresses for the random stone superstructure, and omitting the construction of a pile bridge across the gap, which formed part of the project of 1882 for closing the gap.

From the beginning of the work in 1822 to June 30, 1888, the total amount expended was $2,447,823.61, of which $255,719.91 was expended on the project of 1882 for closing the gap.

During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1889, $50,576.74 was expended in the formation of the random stone substructure for the work, which is intended to close the gap between the breakwater and ice-breaker. The total expenditure to June 30, 1889, has been $2,498,400.35, of which $306,296.65 has been under present project.

July 1, 1888, amount available

Amount appropriated by act of August 11, 1888.

July 1, 1889, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of

liabilities outstanding July 1, 1858.

July 1, 1889, outstanding liabilities...

July 1, 1889, amount covered by existing contracts..

July 1, 1889, balance available.

$530.09 100,000.00

[blocks in formation]

.$318,750.00

Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project..
Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30,1891 200, 000. 00
Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and
harbor acts of 1866 and 1867.

(See Appendix G 7.)

8. Mantua Creek, New Jersey.-The original project for this improvement contemplates the construction of a low-water channel 10 feet deep and 80 feet wide at the mouth of the creek, which is to diminish to 4 feet in depth and 40 feet in width at the town of Mantua, situated some 11 miles from the mouth, at an estimated cost of $35,000.

The stream in its natural condition, as shown by the survey of 1881, had at its mouth (one-fourth mile outside the high-water line) 8 feet at mean low water and nearly that depth at a second bar one-half mile up the stream. If these two bars had been improved, there would have been a 9-foot channel up to a bar 14 miles from the mouth, where there was a maximum depth of 7 feet. The lower 11⁄2 miles of the stream can not safely be said to have had in its natural condition in 1881 a navi. gable channel with a greater depth than 74 feet, while there was a navigable channel with 6 feet for 4 miles farther, and thence to Mantua, 11 miles from the mouth, a channel gradually diminishing to 2 feet.

At the request of parties interested in the lower part of the river the lower one-half mile has been resurveyed, showing a shoaling of from 1 to 2 feet during the last eight years. At one point in the channel of navigable width there is only 5 feet of water. The officer in charge has recommended the expenditure of the $3,000 appropriated August 2, 1882, in dredging a channel with a least width of 60 feet and a least depth of 8 feet at mean low water from the mouth up to the Phosphate Works, a distance of about one-half mile. Up to the present time nothing has been expended in improving this stream.

July 1, 1888, amount available

July 1, 1889, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of liabilities outstanding July 1, 1888.............

July 1, 1889, balance available...... (See Appendix G 8.)

$3,000.00

84.34

2, 915.66

9. Removal of wrecks from Delaware Bay and River.-During the past fiscal year no wrecks have been removed under this appropriation.

July 1, 1888, amount available
July 1, 1889, balance available

$758.62 758.62

(See Appendix G 9.)

10. Removing sunken vessels or craft obstructing or endangering navigation. During the past fiscal year the following wrecks were removed under the provisions of the act of June 14, 1880: The schooner Sallie C. Morton from the Cape May channel into Delaware Bay, and the schooner Lizzie from the mouth of English Creek, New Jersey.

(See Appendix G 10.)

11. United States Commission Advisory to the Board of Harbor Commissioners of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-This Commission, which was created May 25, 1880, was dissolved by order of the President of the United States under date of February 25, 1889.

(See Appendix G 11.)

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