Richmond, the width to be 400 feet from the sea to City Point, 300 from thence to Drewry Bluff, and 200 feet from thence to Richmond. The total amount expended on this river by the United States up to June 30, 1892, was $1,320,408.19, which includes the sum of $589,523.64 expended since the new project was entered upon to give a depth of 22 feet at mean low water. The condition of the river June 30, 1892, is shown by the table below, the depths being given at mean low water, as also, for comparison, the depths in 1870 before the improvement was begun, with a channel width not less than 80 feet. The amount expended in the year ending June 30, 1893, has been $62,467.69. The work has progressed satisfactorily during the year. The most expensive and tedious part of the improvement is near the city of Richmond, where the depth of water is least, and much of the material to be removed to give greater depth is rock. When the material is such that an increase of velocity given by contracting and regulating works can remove it and thus obtain and then maintain the required depth these works have been successful and the results good. The conditions are now such that the best results can be obtained from liberal appropriations. In the fiscal year two principal contracts have been in force, the first with Mr. C. D. Langhorne, which was completed in November, 1892; the other with Mr. John A. Curtis, dated October 15, 1892, is to be completed December 1, 1894. Under Mr. Langhorne's contract there were removed between July 1 and November 12, 1892, 16,786 cubic yards of disintegrated rock and 1,910.9 cubic yards of solid rock from the channel above Goodes Rocks, 944.8 cubic yards of solid rock from Goodes Rocks cut and 2,909.9 cubic yards of sand, 437.2 cubic yards of loose stone, and some timber from Warwick Bar. The work required under the new contract with Mr. Curtis includes the enlargement of the channel between Richmond city limits and Goodes Rocks to not less than 80 feet wide and 18 feet deep; the widening of Goodes Rocks cut to 80 feet, and the channel through Richmond Bar to 80 feet by 18 feet; the deepening of Dutch Gap Cut-off to 25 feet for 100 feet of its width, and redredging and enlarging the channels at Harrisons Bar and Goose Hill Flats to 200 by 18 feet. In works of regulation the wing dams on Richmond Bar and from Warwick Bar to Drewry Bluff, are to be extended to new lines of contraction, and wing dams constructed for the first time in Wards Reach, Willis Reach, and at Curles. Two of the wing dams at Varina, built in 1880 and short: ened by the freshet of 1886, are to be restored, and new wing dams constructed on the right bauk covering the whole length of the shoal, to produce further contraction and scour out the channel 300 by 22 feet, required by the project of 1884. The openings in training walls, below Richmond Bar and in Kingsland Reach are to be closed, Mr. Curtis, in the fiscal year 1893, has done the following work: 447.0 linear feet of training wall (openings at Kingsland); 2,823.5 linear feet of wing dams, extensions, and new dams. The condition of the channel June 30, 1893, is shown by the following table, the depths being at mean low water in a channel not less than 80 feet wide, the minimum width being in rock. The present available depth for navigation at full tide is 183 feet from the sea to Richmond Bar, and 163 feet thence to city limits of Richmond. When the proposed improvement is completed an annual expenditure of $20,000 will be necessary for the maintenance of the channel. July 1, 1893, outstanding liabilities $2,000.00 July 1, 1893, amount covered by uncompleted contracts.... 124, 665.89 126, 665.89 July 1, 1893, balance available..... 54, 921. 44 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project..... 3, 336, 070. 45 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 I 3.) 400,000.00 4. Removing sunken vessels or craft obstructing or endangering navigation.-Notice was received that the schooner Pinafore was sunk near Fort Carroll, in Baltimore Harbor, and was a dangerous obstruction to navigation. A buoy was promptly placed upon it by the light-house inspector. The masts were removed and some other of the upper works. Under the action of the ice and waves the schooner sunk in the mud so much that when preparations were made for her removal in the spring of 1893 it was not found necessary to disturb her. (See Appendix I 4.) *Trents Reach, now avoided by Dutch Gap Cut-off, had but 7 feet in 1870. EXAMINATIONS MADE IN COMPLIANCE WITH RIVER AND HARBOR ACT APPROVED JULY 13, 1892. The preliminary examinations of South Branch of Patapsco River, from Craighill Channel to Light Street Bridge, and of Middle Branch of Patapsco River, from Light Street Bridge to foot of Eutaw street, Baltimore, Md, required by the act, were made by the local engineer, Col. William P. Craighill, Corps of Engineers, and report thereon was submitted under date of October 7, 1892. It is the opinion of Col. Craighill, concurred in by this office, that these localities are worthy of improvement. No further survey is needed for preparation of project and estimate of cost of improvement. The report was transmitted to Congress and printed as House Ex. Doc. No. 84, Fifty-second Congress, second session. (See also Appendix I 5.) IMPROVEMENT OF POTOMAC RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES, AND OF CERTAIN RIVERS IN MARYLAND AND VIRGINIA ON WESTERN SHORE OF CHESAPEAKE BAY. This district was in the charge of Maj. Charles E. L. B. Davis, Corps of Engineers, with Lieut. George A. Zinn, Corps of Engineers, under his immediate orders; Division Engineer, Col. William P. Craighill, Corps of Engineers. 1. Potomac River and Anacostia River at Washington, D. C.-Before the commencement of this improvement the channel to Georgetown, D. C., was narrow and crooked, and had not sufficient depth to meet the needs of commerce. Vessels drawing 16 feet frequently grounded at high tide above Long Bridge, and frequent dredging was necessary to maintain even this depth. The channel was of insufficient width, as the appropriations for dredging were too small to provide for more than a narrow cut through the bar. The Washington Channel was narrow and shoal and inadequate to the wants of commerce. Extensive mud flats existed along the city front from Observatory Hill to a point opposite the arsenal. Below Long Bridge these flats were separated from the city front by the Washington Channel. The greater portion of these flats was exposed at low tide and covered at high tide with water polluted by the sewage of the city. At the foot of Seventeenth street NW. a large sewer discharged directly upon the flats. These conditions rendered a portion of the city almost uninhabitable. By act passed August 2, 1882, Congress adopted a project which has for its object the improvement of the navigation of the river by widening and deepening its channels, the reclamation or filling of the marshes on the city front by depositing on them the material dredged from the channels, and the establishment of harbor lines beyond which no wharves or obstructions should be built. The project provides in detail for such depth of channels as will accommodate the largest vessels that can reach Arsenal Point, with such depth at the wharves as will allow vessels to receive full cargoes without grounding at low water; for fillthe flats above Long Bridge to a height of 3 feet above the flood line of 1877, and the middle part of the flats below Long Bridge to the same height, but sloping each way to a height of 6 feet above low tide at the margin of the fill; that in order to purify the water in the Washington Channel, which will be cut off at its upper end from the Virginia or main channel, a tidal reservoir or basin be established above Long Bridge, to be filled with water from the Virginia Channel on the flood tide and discharged into the Washington Channel on the ebb. The plan also contemplates the rebuilding of Long Bridge with longer spans and fewer piers during the progress of the work, and the interception of all sewage now discharged into Washington Channel and its conveyance to James Creek, but neither the reconstruction of the bridge nor the building of the intercepting sewer were included in the estimate of the cost of the improvement. The estimated cost of the improvement is $2,716,365. Up to the close of the fiscal year 1892 the expenditures aggregated $1,780,318.33, and the following work had been accomplished: The Virginia Channel above Long Bridge had been deepened to 20 feet at low tide for a width of from 400 to 550 feet, a part of which has since filled up and been redredged to a width of 250 feet. The bar in the same channel below Long Bridge had been dredged to a depth of 20 feet and a width of about 350 feet. This part of the Virginia Channel has maintained itself to the full depth originally dredged or has deepened. The Washington Channel has been dredged to a depth of 20 feet for a width of 350 feet throughout its entire length and to a depth of 12 feet from the 20-foot channel nearly to the easterly margin of the fill, except a small area near the Seventh Street Wharf. This channel for the most part maintained itself until the freshet of June, 1889, when considerable filling took place. The junction of the Virginia and Washington channels had been dredged to depths of 20 feet, 15 feet, and 12 feet. The greater part of the tidal reservoir had been dredged to a depth of 8 feet. All the material dredged from the river had been deposited on the flats, and of the 12,000,000 cubic yards estimated to be required about 9,303,600 had been deposited. The entire area of the flats, about 621 acres, had been outlined, and practically the entire area to be reclaimed had been raised above overflow at ordinary high tide. The riprap foundation for the sea wall had been put in place around the entire river front of the reclaimed area and the margin of the tidal reservoir. The construction of the sea wall, for the protection of the margin of the fill from erosion by the waves and the action of the tidal currents, had been commenced and about 13,840 linear feet of wall constructed. The construction of a dike on the westerly side of the Virginia Channel above Long Bridge, with a view to reducing the deposit at that locality, was in progress. The outlet gates at the tidal reservoir at the head of the Washington Channel had been completed, with the exception of the railing. On the Anacostia River two bars in the channel have been dredged so as to secure 20 feet at low tide from the mouth to the navy-yard. Harbor lines have been established in accordance with the project. The construction of the sea wall was resumed and 4,450 linear feet completed, making a total of 18,290 linear feet. The channel through the bar (caused by the freshet of 1889) in the Virginia Channel above Long Bridge has been widened from 200 feet to 250 feet, the depth being 20 feet. This work has given timely and material relief to the coal trade of Georgetown. Work on the training dike on the west side of this channel has been continued. Dredging has been commenced in the Washington Channel and the embankments for the deposit of the dredged material on Section III have been formed. On the Anacostia River the Navy Department has dredged a basin 22 feet deep and from 100 to 200 feet wide in continuation of the dredg ing done under the direction of this Department in 1891-'92. No funds have been available for further work on this part of the improvement during the past year. Long Bridge.-On June 30, 1892, the northerly end of the Long Bridge across the Washington Channel had been nearly reconstructed by the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Company on plans approved by the Secretary of War, the work being incomplete owing to the settlement and movement of the abutments. The south abutment has been rebuilt during the past year. Reference is made in the report of the officer in local charge to the necessity of rebuilding Long Bridge. In the event of a freshet occurring when the Potomac River is full of ice great damage is to be expected. The piers of the bridge are of such faulty construction that an ice gorge would be probable, which would cause the water to back up and overflow portions of the city front and through the sewers above the bridge such portions of the lower parts of the city as may be drained. by them. Great damage was done by the freshet of June, 1889, but greater damage may occur from a freshet of lesser magnitude if accompanied by an ice gorge. July 1, 1893, amount covered by ancompleted contracts.... $4,478.00 122, 319. 00 126, 797.00 66,915. 21 July 1, 1893, balance available Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project. 681, 365.00 681, 365.00 2. Occoquan Creek, Virginia.-Occoquan Creek is a tributary of the Potomac River, which it enters about 25 miles below Washington, D. C. Navigation was obstructed by four bars, which were improvod between 1873 and 1880 by the expenditure of four appropriations, aggregating $25,000, giving a navigable depth of about 6 feet to Occoquan, the head of navigation, 4 miles above the mouth. When the original survey was made, November, 1872, the ruling depths over the several bars were as follows: Lower Mud, 2.7 feet; Sand Bar, 4.0 feet. Occoquan Bar does not appear to have been in existence. A narrow channel had been dredged by the citizens at the Upper Mud, having a depth of 6 feet. In compliance with the provisions of the river and harbor act of August 11, 1888, a new surve was made in 1889, and the condition of the several bars found as follows: Lower Mud, about 3.5 miles below Occoquan. This bar is about 4,000 feet long and had a ruling depth of about 3 feet. The former dredged channel had filled in. Upper Mud, about 2.25 miles below Occoquan. The channel dredged in 1874-75 was found to have maintained its original dimensions, being about 50 feet wide and from 5 to 6 feet deep. Sand Bar, about one-half inile below Occoquan. The former dredged channel had filled in, the least depth being 4.2 feet. |