fairly safe and 3 feet deep at the lowest stages, now exists as far as Hudson, 15 miles below Ellaville. The channel across the Suwanee basin was partially opened and was marked with palmetto piles. Operations under the appropriation of $3,000 made in act of July 13, 1892, will be commenced as soon as the services of the United States snag and dredge boat Suwanee become available, the boat having undergone extensive repairs with a view to better adapting it to the work along the Gulf coast of Florida. 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 $238.33 3,000.00 3, 238. 33 1, 880.44 1,357.89 21, 158.00 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 O 15.) EXAMINATION MADE IN COMPLIANCE WITH RIVER AND HARBOR ACT APPROVED JULY 13, 1892. The preliminary examination of harbor at Cape Canaveral, Florida, required by act of July 13, 1892, was made by the local engineer, Maj. J. C. Mallery, Corps of Engineers, and his report thereon, dated September 28, 1892, was submitted through the division engineer, Col. William P. Craighill, Corps of Engineers. It is the opinion of Maj. Mallery, concurred in by this office, that a harbor at Cape Canaveral is worthy of improvement by the General Government. Col. Craighill states that he considers a harbor at this point a very desirable improvement and worthy of being undertaken by the United States, unless the proposed survey should show it to be a work of very great expense out of proportion to the interests involved. The cost of a survey necessary for preparation of project and estimate of cost of improvement is estimated at $2,500. The report was transmitted to Congress and printed as House Ex. Doc. No. 54, Fifty-second Congress, second session. (See also Appendix O 16.) IMPROVEMENT OF RIVERS AND HARBORS IN WESTERN GEORGIA AND FLORIDA AND IN EASTERN ALABAMA. This district was in the charge of Capt. Philip M. Price, Corps of Engineers, with Lieut. William E. Craighill, Corps of Engineers, under his immediate orders; Division Engineer, Col. C. B. Comstock, Corps of Engineers. 1. Apalachicola Bay, Florida.-In 1879 there was a minimum depth of 3 feet in the channel over the bar at the mouth of the Apalachicola River. The bar begins about one-half mile below the town of Apalachicola, Fla., and is at about 7,300 feet wide between the 8-foot curves. In 1879 a plan of improvement was adopted which contemplated dredging through the bar a straight channel 11 feet deep and 100 feet wide, to be afterwards increased to 200 feet should the first cut produce results to warrant it. In 1891 this project was amended to include dredging a straight channel through Bulkhead Shoal 9 feet deep and not less than 100 feet wide. Up to June 30, 1892, the sum of $106,951.32 had been expended on this improvement in dredging a straight channel through the bar at the mouth of the Apalachicola River at various times since 1881, and in dredging a channel about 4,000 feet long, 120 feet wide, and 9 feet in depth across Bulkhead Shoal in 1891-'92. With the appropriations available the dredged cut through the bar had never exceeded 90 feet in width and 93 feet in depth, and had gradually filled up after each dredging, partly by the deposit of silt from the river and partly by the washing in of material from the sides of the cut. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, $19,877.29 has been expended. Under contract with Mr. Rittenhouse Moore, of Mobile, Ala., approved October 26, 1892, 55,126 cubic yards of material was dredged from the channel through the bar at the mouth of the Apalachicola River between November 16, 1892, and April 10, 1893, at 33 cents per cubic yard. The dredged cut was about 5,600 feet long, from 70 to 120 feet in width, and 8 feet in depth. It is anticipated that the cut through Bulkhead Shoal will be reasonably permanent. Experience has shown that the bar at the mouth of the Apalachicola River will require redredging at least once in two years unless the cut is made deeper and wider than has been hitherto possible with the funds available. It is possible that a deeper and wider cut may be more permanent. The commerce of Apalachicola Bay consists mainly in the exportation of lumber, which is transported from the mainland to the anchorage grounds in lighters and rafts, towed by tugs drawing from 5 to 7 feet of water. When the depth in the channel across the bar is reduced below 7 feet much trouble is experienced in carrying on the business of the port. Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1895 50,000.00 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 P 1.) 2. Apalachicola River, the Cut-off, and Lower Chipola River, Florida.-The examination and survey of the Apalachicola River, finished in 1873, showed that the river, throughout its length of 105 miles, had a channel not less than 6 feet deep. The channel was, however, much obstructed by the accumulation of logs and snags brought into it by the freshets in the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers and by the trees which had fallen from its own heavily timbered banks. At Moccasin Slough the river had been obstructed by piles driven by Confederate authorities during the war. Drift had accumulated against these piles, forming a dam across the river, which had then forced a narrow and very crooked channel through its banks into the river Styx. Navigation was difficult at the upper and lower elbows on account of the abrupt bends and narrow channel. The original project for the improvement of the river provided for securing a channel 100 feet wide and 6 feet deep by the removal of snags and overhanging trees and widening and straightening the channel at Moccasin Slough and the Elbows, at an estimated cost of $80,333. In conformity with the act of September 19, 1890, this project was in that year modified by adding thereto the securing of a channel 60 feet wide and 5 feet deep through the Cut-off, Lee Slough, and the Lower Chipola River, at an estimated cost of $7,500. The expenditure between 1874 and June 30, 1892, of $44,565.90 had resulted in clearing out the great accumulation of logs and snags and overhanging trees which originally obstructed the Apalachicola River, and in annually removing the new logs and snags brought in by the winter freshets. A partial improvement had also been effected at Moccasin Slough and the Elbows, but navigation at these points was still difficult. A large quantity of drift and many overhanging trees were removed from the Cut-off and the Lower Chipola River, and steamboats were enabled to reach the landings above and below Lee Slough. Funds available had not been sufficient to do any work in Lee Slough itself, through which steamboat navigation was completely obstructed by drift, sunken logs, and trees. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, the sum of $5,000 has been expended in removing snags, sunken logs, and overhanging trees from the Apalachicola River, the Cut-off, and Lower Chipola River, and in opening a practicable but narrow and crooked channel through Lee Slough. Steamboats can now, with some difficulty, pass through the Cut-off, Lee Slough, and Lower Chipola River on the upstream passage. These waterways afforded the only practicable means of transportation for the products of this section of country, which is being rapidly settled by fruit-growers, and it is very desirable that a sufficient appropriation shall be made to enable a safe channel to be opened through Lee Slough. The Cut-off is a navigable waterway about 3 miles long, connecting the Apalachicola River with the Lower Chipola River near the Dead Lakes. The Chipola River empties into the Apalachicola River about 14 miles below its junction with the Cut-off. "Lee Slough" is simply a local name for a portion of the Lower Chipola River, about 3 miles long (see map at page 1697 of the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1891). It is therefore suggested that the wording of the next appropriation for this river be changed from "Apalachicola River, including Lee Slough," to "Apalachicola River, including the Cut-off and Lower Chipola River," in order that the work required to be done may be correctly designated. Amount appropriated by act approved July 13, 1892.. $5,000.00 5,000.00 Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30,1895 11,000.00 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 P 2.) 3. Flint River, Georgia.-Before the improvement was begun the river was only navigable at low water from its junction with the Chattahoochee River up to Bainbridge, and the channel over this portion was narrow, crooked, and much obstructed by logs, snags, and overhanging trees. The present project for the improvement of this river was adopted in 1873 and modified in 1879, the object of the original project being to afford a channel 100 feet wide and 3 feet deep at low water from its mouth up to Albany, Ga., an estimated distance of 105 miles, and of the modification to provide a navigable channel for light-draft steamers, at moderate stages of water, from Albany to Montezuma, an estimated distance of 77 miles. Previous to the act of June 18, 1878, $70,000 was appropriated for the "Chattahoochee and Flint rivers," of which $18,000 was expended on the Flint River. The expenditure up to June 30, 1892, was $170,301.58. Above Albany the channel had been partially cleared of logs and snags and overhanging trees and, to a limited extent, of loose rock. Below Albany the river had been kept in good navigable condition between Bainbridge and the mouth by the annual removal of snags and drift brought in by the winter freshets. Between Albany and Bainbridge a practicable low-water channel had been completed through the rock shoals for a distance of 22 miles below Albany. Between this point and Bainbridge a partial improvement had been effected, which enabled boats to run at moderate stages of water. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, $10,121.60 was expended in the care and preservation of plant, in the providing of motive power for the snag boat, and in continuing work under the approved project. Between the mouth of the river and Bainbridge, Ga., an estimated distance of 36 miles, the river is in fairly good condition, and requires little more than the annual clearing out of snags and drift brought in by the winter freshets. On this portion of the river the many steamboats plying on the Chattahoochee and Apalachicola rivers make regular trips and do a large business, and the maintenance of the navigation is, therefore, of great commercial benefit. Between Bainbridge and Albany, Ga., an estimated distance of 69 miles, the improvement consists mainly in excavating a channel through the many rock shoals and reefs and in depositing the excavated material in spur dams. The improvement, when completed, will be of a permanent character, but for its preservation and for the annual removal of the snags and drift it will be necessary to maintain a snag boat on the river, at an estimated cost of $6,000. A considerable river trade had been developed on this section of the river in consequence of the improvements already effected. The business will probably be much increased as low-water navigation is facilitated by further work. Above Albany for a distance of 38 miles to Warwick, Ga., low-water navigation is prevented by a series of rock shoals, on which the lowwater depth varies from 6 to 18 inches. The loose bowlders have been partially removed from the channel on this portion of the river. Experience in the work shows that a practicable and useful navigation of this portion of the river at moderate stages of water can probably be secured only by providing slack-water navigation, by the construction of locks and dams, at great expense. Between Warwick and Montezuma, an estimated distance of 39 miles, the improvement consists mainly in the removal of logs and drift and overhanging trees, and has been sufficiently accomplished to permit navigation at moderate stages of water; but no commercial use has been made of this section of the river since July, 1890, when the Montezuma Steamboat Company disposed of their small steamer. It is not believed that any commercial benefit has since been derived from continuing the improvement of the Flint River above Albany. Two bridges, without draw openings, at distances, respectively, of 16 and 41 miles above Albany, obstruct steamboat navigation, but no measures have been taken to require the owners of the bridges to provide them with draw openings for the reason that no complaints have been made against them. It is useless to continue the improvement above Albany, for commercial purposes, unless these bridges are provided with draw openings, and it seems to be an unnecessary hardship to compel the owners to provide draw openings to accommodate a commerce which does not now exist and of which there is no immediate prospect. For this reason, and on account of the improbability of being able to secure a satisfactory navigation without the construction of locks and dams, at a cost entirely incommensurate with any prospective commerce to be developed thereby, it is recommended that no further allotments be made, for the present at least, for the improvement of the Flint River above Albany, but that the whole appropriation be expended in continuing the useful and important work below Albany. 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. $4,728.43 15,000.00 19, 728.43 10, 121.60 9, 606.83 1,004. 44 8, 602.39 Amount that can be profitably expended below Albany in fiscal year ending June 30, 1895.. July 1, 1893, outstanding liabilities July 1, 1893, balance available..... 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 P 3.) 38,000.00 4. Chattahoochee River, Georgia and Alabama.-The river was originally much obstructed by logs, snags, and overhanging trees, and by a number of rock and marl shoals and sand bars, so that navigation was difficult and dangerous. Steamboats could only run by daylight, and not unfrequently lay for weeks at a time awaiting a rise in the river. Very many were sunk by striking obstructions. The present plan of improvement, adopted in 1873 and modified in 1882, contemplates a low-water channel 4 feet in depth and 100 feet in width from Columbus, Ga., to Chattahoochee, Fla., a distance of 224 miles, by the removal of snags and other obstructions from the channel and overhanging trees from the banks, by the excavation of rock shoals, and by works of contraction and shore protection. Previous to the act of June 18, 1878, $70,000 was appropriated for the "Chattahoochee and Flint rivers," of which $52,000 was expended on the Chattahoochee River. The expenditure of $243,545.87, up to June 30, 1892, had resulted in securing and maintaining a fairly good channel between Chattahoochee, Fla, and Eufaula, Ala., except at Rock Island, at all seasons of the year; and between Eufaula, Ala., and Columbus, Ga., except during low water, when considerable trouble was experienced at St. Francis Bend, Shell Creek, Upatoie, Woolfolk, and Mound bars, and at the shoals immediately below Columbus, on account of the lack of funds for keeping in repair and extending the contraction and shore protection works at those points. |