14. Inland waterway between New River and Swansboro, N. C.When the first appropriation was made, September 19, 1890, for its improvement, the crooked and intricate bayou which this waterway follows, 22 miles through the marshes between the mainland and outlying sand banks, had, at low water, a minimum depth of about 6 inches upon the shoals or "divides" where the tides meet between the four inlets to it from the ocean, and varied from 12 to 1,000 feet in width. The project of 1889 is to dredge a channel 40 feet wide and 4 feet deep at high water through the shoals at a cost estimated in 1891 at $52,000. To June 30, 1892, $509.76 had been spent in surveying the shoals. To this date, June 30, 1893, no other work has been done, because the Wrightsville and Onslow Navigation Company claims to control the waterway under an act of the State of North Carolina of February 13, 1889. (See House Ex. Doc. No. 26, Fifty-second Congress, first session; also page 1147, Annual Report, Chief of Engineers, 1892.) July 1, 1892, 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 L 14.) $4,382. 25 4,382.25 38,000.00 15. New River, North Carolina.-In 1886, when the United States began to improve it around the marsh, commencing about 1 miles within the bar, there was a narrow and circuitous channel about 7,000 feet in length and somewhat crooked in places, between beds of oyster rock, with two short shoals upon which the depth was only about 3 feet. Across the bar and, with the exception of these shoals, from the bar to Jacksonville, 23 miles above it, a draft of 5 feet could be carried. In 1882 a project was adopted to improve the 7,000 feet of channel around the marsh by straightening, widening it to 150 feet, and deepening it to 5 feet, at an estimated cost of $23,000 to $40,000. In 1885 the project was changed to dredge a straight channel 4 feet deep at mean low water, 150 feet wide, and about 5,710 feet long, through Cedar Bush Marsh instead of improving the channel around it; also in place of the channel around Wrights Island to dredge a channel of the above width and depth 1,200 feet in length through it. To June 30, 1892, $19,780.15 had been expended upon this work. At that date a channel 40 feet wide and 4 feet deep had been dredged 5,800 feet long through Cedar Bush Marsh, and 90 to 100 feet wide, 4 feet deep, and 1,200 feet long through Wrights Island. The channel at Cedar Bush Marsh had shoaled for a distance of 1,700 feet at its upper end, for 1,000 feet of which distance the average depth was 21 feet, and for about 100 feet it was only 18 inches at low water. The cut through Wrights Island had scoured to the width of 100 feet and depth of 7 to 16 feet, but at its two ends and at the lower end of Cedar Bush Marsh cut shoals had formed upon which there was only 2 to 3 feet of water at low tide. The natural channel around Wrights Island had narrowed to the minimum width of about 50 feet, but a draft of 5 feet could be carried through it and a draft of 3 feet through the natural channel around Cedar Bush Marsh. The amount expended during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, has been applied to surveys only. 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....... Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix L 15.). $8, 221.85 5,000.00 13, 221.85 664.20 12, 557.65 7,000.00 16. North East (Cape Fear) River, North Carolina.-When the United States began to improve it in 1890 a draft of at least 6 feet could be carried up 48 miles to Bannermans Bridge at lowest stage. From Bannermans Bridge 55 miles up to Kornegays Bridge the river is so shallow its navigation even by flatboats is not usually practicable for any periods of considerable duration, but is dependent upon freshet stages and therefore intermittent at all seasons of the year. Above Bannermans Bridge it was badly obstructed by snags and overhanging trees. The project of 1889 is to clear the channel to its natural depth and to a good width for small light-draft steamers up to Hallsville and for pole boats up to Kornegays Bridge, at an estimated cost of $30,000. To June 30, 1892, $3,843.71 had been expended upon this improvement. At that date the channel to its natural depth and to a width of 40 feet had been cleared merely of its worst obstructions to a high-water navigation from Bannermans Bridge up 31 miles to Chinquepin. With the amount applied during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, the channel and banks of the lower 43 miles of the most obstructed part of the river have been cleared from Rafting Oar to the vicinity of Coxs Bluffs. 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................... $1, 191.79 5,000.00 6, 191. 79 1,265. 94 4,925.85 20,000.00 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project. 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 L 16.) 17. Black River, North Carolina.-When the United States began to improve this river in 1887 the channel from the mouth 24 miles to Point Caswell was fairly cleared to a depth not less than 4 feet at low summer stages, and was roughly cleared 62 miles farther to Lisbon with a least channel depth of 24 feet at low stage in the 10 miles from Point Caswell to Haws Narrows; thence 52 miles to Lisbon the depth at low summer stage was 18 inches to 3 feet on the shoals and 10 to 12 feet in the pools. The project of 1885 is to apply at least $10,000 to removing logs, snags, and overhanging trees from the bed and banks, and rounding off a few of the sharpest bends in the river from its confluence with the Cape Fear up 86 miles to Lisbon. In 1893 it was modified to confine the improvement 78 miles up to Clear Run. To June 30, 1892, $3,000 had been expended upon this work. At that date navigation was unobstructed from the mouth 34 miles to Haws Narrows, excepting a few trees in the channel and leaning from the banks in the 6 miles next below Point Caswell, and between it and Haws Narrows, through which shoals of sand formed by logs reduced the depth to 18 inches. In the next 14 miles to South River Narrows navigation was not obstructed, but thence 34 miles to Lisbon was badly obstructed by snags, logs, stumps, and overhanging trees. With the amount expended during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, the channel and banks have been cleared from Clear Run down 18 miles. Amount appropriated by act approved July 13, 1892 July 1, 1893, balance unexpended.. July 1, 1893, balance available...... Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1895, for maintenance 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 L 17.) $10,000.00 3,543.67 6, 456. 33 1, 330.90 5, 125.43 3,000.00 18. Cape Fear River above Wilmington, N. C.-When the United States began to improve it in 1882 a draft of 4 feet could be carried at lowest stages 50 miles above Wilmington to Browns Reach, thence 65 miles to Fayetteville. There were 43 shoals, aggregating about 16 miles in length, on which the depth was not more than 12 to 14 inches during the low stage; from Indian Wells Landing, 37 miles above Wilmington, 78 miles to Fayetteville, the river was badly obstructed by snags, logs, and overhanging trees. The project of 1881, as matured in 1885 and 1886, is to obtain at all times of the year a depth of 4 feet from Wilmington 73 miles to Elizabethtown, and of 3 feet thence 42 miles to Fayetteville, by removing snags and rock from the bed and overhanging trees from the banks, by contracting the channel by jetties on the shoals, and by a little dredging at a bar of clay, at a total cost, estimated in 1893, of $275,000. To June 30, 1892, $99,230.31 had been expended upon this work. At that date navigation from Wilmington to Fayetteville was not materially interfered with by snags, except at two short places and at occasional points where caving of banks had carried trees into the river. Up to Elizabethtown the least channel depth on the shoals at ordinary low water was (from surveys made in 1893) about 2.6 feet and from Elizabethtown up to Fayetteville about 0.8 of a foot. With the amount applied during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, 13 miles of channel have been recleared of snags, 3,619 linear feet of jetties of brush and stone have been built, which have resulted in completely improving three of the worst shoals on the river at and above Elizabethtown, having a total channel length of 2.4 miles, and all the shoals on the river have been surveyed, embracing 28.7 miles of hydrography. Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project.......$156, 750.00 (See Appendix L 18.) 19. Cape Fear River at and below Wilmington, N. C.--The United States began to improve the river between the bar and Wilmington in 1829 and the channel on the bar in 1853. In 1829 the river was so obstructed that vessels drawing more than 10 feet were obliged to anchor 14 miles below Wilmington and discharge a part of their cargoes into lighters. In 1853, at low water on the bar, the least midchannel depth was 7 feet in the western channel, 74 feet in the eastern channel, and 8 feet at New Inlet, 7 miles above the mouth. The original project of 1827 was to deepen the channel through the shoals in the 8 miles next below Wilmington by contracting it by jetties and by diverting into it water from Brunswick River and from Fishing and Rodmans creek. The project of 1853 was to straighten and deepen the channel on the bar by building jetties and a wing dam, by dredging, by diverting water through it from New Inlet, by building a jetty at Federal Point, and by closing two small breaches in Zekes Island. The project of 1870 was to deepen the bar channel by closing the breaches between Smiths and Zekes islands, with the ultimate closure of New Inlet in view. The project of 1873, to deepen the channel through the bar, added to that of 1870, to dredge in the Baldhead (eastern) Channel, to extend across Zekes Island and beyond it into the river, the dam then being built to close the breaches between Smiths and Zekes islands, and to close New Inlet, commencing with the building of a jetty from Federal Point. The project of 1874 was "to get 12 feet at low water as high as the city of Wilmington" by dredging a channel 100 feet wide through Horseshoe Shoal below New Inlet and through three other shoals near Wilmington. The project of 1881 was to dredge a channel 23 miles in length through Horseshoe Shoal, and through eight other shoals above it, 270 feet wide and 16 feet deep at mean low water from deep water at Smithville (Southport) to Wilmington. February 28, 1889, pursuant to a requirement of the river and har bor act of August 11, 1888, the cost of obtaining a channel 20 feet deep at mean low water from Wilmington to the ocean was reported to be $1,800,000. In the Annual Report for 1889 it was reported that an additional appropriation of $25,000 would be required to complete the project of 1881 and obtain a channel 16 feet deep from Wilmington to the ocean. By the river and harbor act of September 19, 1890, Congress appropriated $170,000 for improving the Cape Fear River at and below Wilmington, and December 24, 1890, a contract was entered into for dredging to the depth of 20 feet, which commenced at Wilmington January 19, 1891, and ceased at Brunswick River Shoal, 43 miles below Wilmington, September 7, 1892. Since September 7, 1892, work has been in progress to obtain a channel through the shoals between Wilmington and the bar and on the latter, 18 feet deep at mean low water. To June 30, 1892, $2,618,100.14 has been expended upon this work. At that date the depth on the bar at mean low water was not less than 17 feet, and not less than 16 feet thence to Wilmington for a width of 270 feet, excepting at Snows Marsh Channel, where the minimum depth was 16 feet and the minimum width 40 feet, and excepting, also, at Lilliput Shoal, 11 miles below. Wilmington, where for a distance of 300 feet the minimum depth was 15 feet. The minimum channel depth then was, therefore, 17 feet upon the bar and 15 feet in the river. With the amount applied during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, the channel 20 feet in depth has been increased in length 812 feet at Brunswick River Shoal, and a channel 18 feet deep and 37 to 74 feet wide has been cut through Brunswick River, Midnight, and Reeves Point Shoals, aggregating 3.1 miles in length, and 82,116 cubic yards of material has been redredged by the United States suction dredge Woodbury, and by contract from the shoal at Snows Marsh Channel. At high water a vessel has passed down the river drawing 18 feet 3 inches from Wilmington to Southport and thence 20 feet 3 inches over the bar to sea, the rise of tide being 2.5 feet at Wilmington and 4.5 feet at the bar. 400, 000.00 July 1, 1893, balance available... Amount (estimated) required for completion of exist- § if to 18 feet.. Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and 1, 430, 000. 00 400,000.00 20. Lockwoods Folly River, North Carolina.-When the United States began this improvement in 1892 the depth on the changeable ocean bar was usually 4 feet at low and 8 feet at high water. These depths could be carried at low stages 13 miles up the channel to a mud flat, over which for 12 miles the channel depth averaged less than 1 foot at low water. A little above these flats there was a shoal 300 feet long upon which the depth at low water was about 24 feet, thence about 22 miles by river to Lockwoods Folly Bridge the depth was nowhere less than 5 feet. The project was adopted in 1887 to dredge a channel through the flats 100 feet wide and 7 feet deep at low water. To June 30, 1892, $4,964.32 had been expended. At that date one cut 40 feet wide and 5 feet deep at low water had been dredged the length of 2,530 feet, about one-third of the distance, through the shoal. The amount, $3,000, appropriated July 13, 1892, being too small to form a contract for dredging at an advantageous rate, the Secretary of War, August 4, 1892, authorized it to be withheld from expenditure for the present, and no work has been done during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893. |