gress and printed as House Ex. Doc. No. 77, Fifty-second Congress, second session. (See also Appendix E 15.) IMPROVEMENT OF RIVERS AND HARBORS IN SOUTHWESTERN PART OF LONG ISLAND AND NEAR STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK, AND IN NORTHEASTERN NEW JERSEY. This district was in the charge of Capt. Thos. L. Casey, Corps of Engi neers; Division Engineer, Col. Henry L. Abbot, Corps of Engineers. 1. Sumpawanus Inlet, New York. The channel depth at the time of the adoption of the project varied from 5 feet in the bay at mean low water to 2 feet at the wharf at the mouth of the creek, a distance of a little over half a mile. The project for the improvement of this inlet, adopted in 1880, provides for dredging a channel 4,500 feet long and from 100 to 150 feet wide and 5 feet deep at mean low water, beginning at the 5-foot curve in the Great South Bay and extending up to the town of Babylon, Long Island, at an estimated cost of $23,115. The amount expended under this project to June 30, 1892, was $7,000. With this amount a channel 75 feet wide and 5 feet deep from the steamboat wharf to a point 750 feet below it was dredged, besides dredging two cuts, each 25 feet wide, alongside the wharf. Outside of the cuts so made and extending to the 5-foot curve in the bay a shoal was left, on which the depth was only 43 feet. The commerce of the inlet is reported for the calendar year 1892 to be 1,420 tons, against 1,427 tons for 1891. There were no expenditures on account of this work during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, there being no funds available. Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project $16, 115.00 Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1895 10,000.00 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 F 1.) 2. Canarsie Bay, New York.-The original condition of the channel leading to Canarsie answered to a depth of 4 feet, mean low water. The original project, adopted in 1879, at an estimated cost of $88,000, provides for obtaining a navigable channel 6 feet deep at mean low water from Canarsie Landing to the deep water in Jamaica Bay by means of diking and the formation of a tidal basin. In the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers, 1880, part 1, p. 574, Gen. Newton expressed a doubt as to adequate appropriations being made for carrying out the authorized project, and suggested that dredging be tried as an expedient. The amount expended to the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1892, was $47,944.13. With this amount two pile dikes have been built and maintained, one on the north side of the outer end of the channel, the other on the south side, their lengths being 1,058 and 820 feet, respectively; the channel dredged to a depth of 6 feet, mean low water, and width of 125 feet from Canarsie Landing to deep water in Jamaica Bay. In addition to this several other improvements, not contemplated in the main project, but which added materially to the facility of navigation, viz, the excavation of a cut 100 feet long and 50 feet wide, with a depth of 6 feet, on the east side of the steamboat landing at Canarsie, and a cut at the end of the wharf at Canarsie Landing extending through to the south west to connect with the Southwest Channel, the latter for the purpose of promoting tidal circulation. The work during the fiscal year consisted in dredging the Main and West channels to the required dimensions, the former to a width of 150 feet and mean low-water depth of 6 feet and the latter to a width of 60 feet and mean low-water depth of 4 feet, under contract entered into with J. H. Fenner of Jersey City, April 15, 1893. Operations were begun by the contractor May 23, 1893, and were still in progress at the close of the fiscal year, 7,867 cubic yards of material having been removed. The commerce for the calendar year 1892 is reported to be 67,510 tons, against 56,210 tons for 1891. July 1, 1893, outstanding liabilities July 1, 1893, amount covered by uncompleted contracts $2,649.37 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 F 2.) 4,000.00 464. 12 35,000.00 10,000.00 3. Sheepshead Bay, New York. The original condition of the navigable channel was, for the entrance, a depth of a little over 2 feet at mean low water, and for the interior channel not less than 4 feet, except at two narrow bulkheads across said channel. The originally adopted project (1879) was to deepen the entrance by means of converging jetties and to improve the interior channel by longitudinal dikes, so placed as in some instances to form tidal reservoirs for the scour of the channel. The project was revised in 1881 and provides for excavating a channel at the outlet 100 feet wide and 6 feet deep at mean low water, to connect the bay with Dead Horse Inlet, and to dredge the interior channel; this was modified in February, 1889, the modified project contemplating a channel 5,350 feet long, 60 feet wide, and 5 feet deep, mean low water, from the town of Sheepshead to within 1,080 feet of Dead Horse Inlet Cut, to connect with the channel of similar width and depth already existing at that point. The amount expended on this project to the end of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1892, was $25,943.45. With this amount a channel had been dredged 100 feet wide and 6 feet deep at mean low water, connecting the east end of the bay with Dead Horse Inlet, and the interior channel dredged 60 feet wide and 5 feet deep, at mean low water, for a distance of 3,400 feet from the town of Sheepshead toward Dead Horse Inlet. The first mentioned channel, from a survey in 1887, was observed to have not maintained itself, having contracted to a width of 60 feet with an average depth of 5 feet, mean low water. The commerce of the bay has increased, being reported for the calen dar year 1892 to be 132,000 tons, against 106,400 for 1890. July 1, 1892, balance unexpended.. June 30, 1893, amount expended during fiscal year.... July 1, 1893, balance unexpended Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix F 3.) $172.57 116. 02 56.55 8, 200.00 4. Arthur Kill, New York and New Jersey.-A history of this improvement, which originated by special resolution in the Senate, is given in the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers, 1889, Part I, p. 819. The improvement consists in the removal of a point of land near and to the south of the Staten Island Bridge for the purpose of straightening the channel, in order that the currents may be directed more truly in a direction perpendicular to the draw-span of the bridge, thus facilitating the passage of long tows. It is estimated to cost $26,500. A statement of condemnation proceedings for acquiring to the United States the land needed for this improvement will be found in the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1890, Part I, p. 843. Sixteen thousand two hundred and forty-five dollars and fifty-nine cents had been expended up to June 30, 1892, in acquiring land and in dredging off about 1 acre of the point, with a resulting increase of 210 feet in the channel width and uniform mean low-water depth of 13 feet, where the land was originally 6 feet above that plane. The expenditures during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, amount to $4,845.15, with which the channel was given an additional width of from 15 to 60 feet and mean low-water depth of 13 feet, one-third acre of the land removed, making a total of about 14 acres removed under the project, giving a total channel width at this point of not less than 725 feet. The commerce for the calendar year 1892 is reported to be 4,835,004 tons, against 6,947,635 tons for 1891. July 1, 1892, balance unexpended.... Amount appropriated by act approved July 13, 1892 June 30, 1893, amount expended during fiscal year $754.41 5,000.00 5, 754.41 4,845. 15 July 1, 1893, balance unexpended................ 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 F 4.) 909.26 4,500.00 4,500.00 5. Channel between Staten Island and New Jersey.-Before this improvement was undertaken by the United States there was a navi gable channel having a minimum depth of 9.2 feet from the deep water in Newark Bay to Elizabethport. The first project for the improvement of the channel was made in 1873. This provided for dredging it to a depth of 16 feet for a width of 150 feet at its shallowest part, and protecting the cut by parallel dikes. The estimated cost of this was $443,210. This project was changed in 1880 so as to dredge a channel 400 feet wide and 13 feet deep over the middle 200 feet of its width, leaving it but 12 feet deep over the remaining widths of 100 feet on each side. The estimated cost of this work was $125,705. In addition to this it was proposed, should it be found necessary, to build four detached dikes along the line of the channel, two on the north and two on the south side, the estimated cost of which was $60,000, bringing the total estimated cost of the proposed improvement up to $185,705. Subsequently it was decided to give the channel 13 feet depth for its full width of 400 feet, increasing the estimate to $210,000. A modification of this project, having in view the abandonment of the dikes, was submitted May 9, 1889, and was approved by Department letter dated May 15, and a further modification, calling for a uniform channel depth of 14 feet at mean low water over the entire width of 400 feet, was approved October 20, 1890. The amount expended to June 30, 1892, was $197,276.38. With this amount 2,237 feet of dike was built, the channel dredged throughout its entire projected length to a mean low-water depth of 13 feet, with widths varying from 300 to 350 feet, and in the vicinity of the bend at the Corner Stake Light, for a distance of 3,000 feet, the width had been increased to 400 feet, with mean low-water depths of from 13 to 14 feet. An appropriation of $15,000 was made in the river and harbor act of July 13, 1892, and a project for its expenditure in dredging the channel to the required dimensions was approved July 26, 1892. No work has been done during the fiscal year, operations under the above project having been deferred until a survey is made, and the most appropriate localities for the expenditure of the appropriation thereby determined. It is also expected that a more advantageous letting of the work can be had later in the season. The amount of commerce reported for the calendar year 1892 is 3,643,914 tons, against 9,219,481 tons for 1891. 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.. 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 F 5.) $1,723. 62 15,000.00 16,723.62 967.50 15,756. 12 46,000.00 30,000.00 6. Passaic River, New Jersey. This river is being improved under two separate projects, the first applying to the river below Center Street Bridge, Newark, to and beyond the shoals in Newark Bay, a distance of 7 miles, and the second to the upper course of the river from Center Street Bridge as far as Passaic, a distance of 8 miles. The most recent appropriation was, however, made in a single sum for the entire river, and the two projects will hereafter be united, so that the funds can be expended at those parts of the river most urgently needing control or repair in the interests of navigation. a. Below Newark.-The lower portion of the river, from Center Street Bridge to Newark Bay, was first surveyed by the Engineer Department in 1879. The greatest depth in the channel at a point above the Elbow Beacon was only 7.1 feet, and in many places the greatest depth was 7.5 feet at mean low water. A project was adopted, based on this survey, providing for obtaining by diking and dredging a channel 200 feet wide and 10 feet deep at mean low water from the Center Street Bridge to Newark Bay, at a cost of $232,875. This project was modified in 1884, pursuant to the river and harbor act of that year, providing for extending the dike at the mouth of the river into the bay, a distance of 12,000 feet, and for dredging a channel across the shoal in Newark Bay 200 feet wide and 10 feet deep at mean low water, increasing the original estimate to $353,875. The amount expended to June 30, 1892, was $233,692.18. With this amount 6,205 feet of dike had been built and maintained, the channel through the shoal in the bay and the channel up the river as far as Lister Dock dredged to the required dimensions, and a bar above the Zinc Works Dock removed to the required depth, with a width of 120 feet for a distance of 1,600 feet up stream. A survey made in December, 1892, shows that the above conditions have been fairly well maintained. The work done during the fiscal year consisted in making a survey of Newark Bay from Bayonne, N. J., to the Newark and New York Railroad Bridge, and of the river from Baeder and Adamson Dock to Center Street Bridge, Newark, and in dredging under a contract with P. Sanford Ross, for the removal of about 60,000 cubic yards of material from the channel in the river between Center Street Bridge and Lister Dock, Newark. Work under the contract was begun June 14 and was in progress at the close of the fiscal year, 11,294 cubic yards having been removed at that date. The expenditures during the year amount to $2,591.06, for surveying, inspection, and administration. b. Above Newark.-Before its improvement was undertaken the upper part of the river had a navigable 6-foot channel, except at Middle, Belleville, Rutherford Park, and Holzman Bars, where the depths were 4.5 feet, 3.9 feet, 3 feet, and 3.5 feet, respectively. The project of improvement was adopted in 1872, and provided for a channel across and above the shoals from 74 to 6 feet deep, mean low water, and from 200 to 50 feet wide, to be obtained by dredging and diking at a cost of $123,924. It was modified in 1885 by extending the channel below Middle Bar 1,500 feet to the Erie Railroad Bridge, increasing the estimate to $129,000, which was further increased in 1886 to $133,762. A further modification, to include the removal of Third River Bar, the redredging of bars formed by freshets, and removal of bowlders at various points in the river, increasing the estimate to $193,822, was approved October 6, 1890. The amount expended to June 30, 1892, was $135,677.06, with which channels had been dredged to the requisite depth, with widths of from 60 to 75 feet, a channel through Third River Bar dredged to the required depth, with width of 100 feet for a distance of 800 feet, and below this bar the channel was increased in width by 40 feet, with the same depth for a distance of 700 feet, and by 20 feet for a further distance of 245 feet, giving a continuous channel through this reach having a width of 100 feet and depth of 6 feet, mean low water. The expenditures during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, amount to $2,807.91, and operations were confined to dredging at Belleville and Rutherford Park bars, under a contract entered into with James McSpirit, of Jersey City, September 24, 1892. Work began October 5, 1892, and is still in progress, 5,200 cubic yards of material having been removed to date. Under this contract the channel through Belleville Bar was completed to the required width of 100 feet and mean low. |