27. Browns Creek, Sayville, N. Y.-This is a narrow stream extending northward from Great South Bay to the Sayville highway bridge, above which it is wholly a fresh-water creek. The natural depth in the creek was from 1 to 3 feet at low tide, and on a bar at the mouth it was less than 1 foot. A survey was made by order of Congress in 1889, and a project was adopted for making the creek 100 feet wide and 4 feet deep at mean low water, the entrance channel to be protected by riprap jetties on either side, at a total estimated cost of $46,000. The total amount appropriated for this work is $17,000. July 1, 1892, the west jetty had been built to a length of 492 feet, and the east jetty partly completed to a length of 450 feet. A channel 100 feet wide and 4 feet deep at mean low water had been dredged 1,450 feet long, extending into the marsh along the stream, which was freely used by small vessels for anchorage during night or storms. During the past fiscal year the east jetty was completed to a length of 438 feet, removing part of the stone at the outer end to finish the rest of the work; shoals were removed from the dredged channel, which was also extended 443 feet farther up. Prior to 1891 this creek was of no value for purposes of navigation. It is now quite extensively used by boats engaged in oystering, etc. Future appropriations will be applied to maintaining and extending the dredged channel, and to such repairs and extension of the jetties as become necessary. 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 D 27.) $1,471.40 5,000.00 6, 471.40 6,095.57 375.83 29,000.00 20,000.00 EXAMINATIONS MADE IN COMPLIANCE WITH RIVER AND HARBOR ACT APPROVED JULY 13, 1892. The preliminary examinations of the following localities, required by act of July 13, 1892, were made by the local engineer, Col. D. C. Houston, Corps of Engineers, and reports thereon submitted. 1. Westport Harbor, Connecticut.-Col. Houston submitted report of examination under date of November 1, 1892. It is his opinion, concurred in by this office, that the locality is worthy of improvement by the United States. The cost of a survey necessary for preparation of project and estimate of cost of improvement is estimated at $500. The report was transmitted to Congress and printed as House Ex. Doc. No. 114, Fifty-second Congress, second session. (See also Appendix D 28.) 2. Norwalk Harbor, Connecticut.-Col. Houston submitted report of examination under date of November 3, 1892. It his opinion, concurred in by this office, that the locality is worthy of improvement by the General Government. The cost of a survey necessary for preparation of project and estimate of cost of improvements is estimated at $500. The report was transmitted to Congress and printed as House Ex. Doc. No. 82, Fifty-second Congress, second session. (See also Appendix D 29.) 3. Berrians Creek, Long Island, New York.-Col. Houston submitted report of examination under date of November 1, 1892. It is his opinion, concurred in by this office, that the locality is not worthy of improvement by the General Government. The report was transmitted to Congress and printed as House Ex. Doc. No. 80, Fifty-second Congress, second session. (See also Appendix D 30.) 4. Southold Harbor, Long Island, New York.-Col. Houston submitted report of examination under date of November 2, 1892. It is his opinion, concurred in by this office, that the locality is not worthy of improvement by the General Government. The report was transmitted to Congress and printed as House Ex. Doc. No. 48, Fifty-second Congress, second session. (See also Appendix D 31.) IMPROVEMENT OF HUDSON RIVER AND NEW YORK HARBOR AND OF RIVERS AND HARBORS IN THEIR VICINITY, NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY. This district was in the charge of Lieut. Col. G. L. Gillespie, Corps of Engineers, with Lieut. James G. Warren, Corps of Engineers, under his immediate orders. 1. Hudson River, New York.-The improvement of this river has been restricted, by the wording of the appropriation acts, to that part of it lying between Troy, at the head of navigation, 6 miles above Albany, and New Baltimore, about 14 miles below Albany. Before the improvement was begun the navigable depth in the channel between New Baltimore and Albany was 72 feet at mean low water; between Albany and Troy, 4 feet. The mean range of tides at State Dam at Troy is 0.80 feet; at Albany, 2.32 feet; and at New Baltimore, 3.42 feet. The plan of improvement adopted in 1867 proposed making the navigable depth between New Baltimore and Albany 11 feet, and between Albany and Troy 9 feet. This was to be accomplished by the construction of longitudinal dikes to direct the currents and by dredging. The estimated cost of making this improvement, prepared in 1882, subject to be increased, was $1,078,304. In 1889 the estimated cost was $1,424,435. The amount expended to June 30, 1892, inclusive of outstanding liabilities, was $1,247,940.29, of which sum a large part has, however, from the necessities of the case, been applied partly to the repair of decaying dikes and partly to dredging. At that date the dikes provided for in the project of improvement, so far as built, had resulted in securing a channel depth of 10 feet nearly all the way from New Baltimore to Albany, and of 8 feet nearly all the way from Albany to Troy. The river and harbor act of July 13, 1892, sanctioned the new project submitted in 1891, which provided for maintaining old improvements, and constructing new regulating works along 8 additional miles of the river below New Baltimore, and also for deepening the entire reach of the river under improvement, so as to afford a channel 400 feet wide and 12 feet deep, at mean low water, from Coxsackie to the foot of Broadway, Troy, N. Y., and thence 300 feet wide and 12 feet deep to the State Dam. The estimated cost of the project is $2,500,000. The amount expended during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, inclusive of outstanding liabilities, was $65,448.22, and was applied under the old project; to the repairs of the dikes; to the construction of new dikes; to the removal of Overslaugh Rock above Van Wies Point; to the partial removal of rock at Breaker Island, near Troy, and to the removal of wreck from navigable channel under improvement. Under the new project contract was entered into with P. Sanford Ross, December 19, 1892, for the removal of all the rock and sand covering rock in place, and with Edwards, Howlett, and Thompson, December 23, 1892, for all the dike-work and dredging required for the improvement. Under these contracts the work of repairs to existing dikes, construction of new dikes, dredging at Mulls Cross-over and Austins Rock, and removal of Austins Rock is in progress at the close of the fiscal year. July 1, 1892, balance unexpended... Amount appropriated by act approved July 13, 1892. Amount appropriated by sundry civil act approved March 3, 1893 June 30, 1893, amount expended during fiscal year...... July 1, 1893, balance unexpended.... $41, 113. 73 187,500,00 500,000.00 728, 613.73 54, 411. 13 July 1, 1893, amount covered by uncompleted contracts..... 620, 736. 13 July 1, 1893, balance available............... 674, 202.60 $11,037.09 631,773. 22 42, 429.38 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project.... 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 E 1.) 1,760, 406. 00 500,000.00 2. Harbor at Saugerties, N. Y.-This harbor is formed by the mouth of Esopus Creek, which empties into the Hudson River on the west bank about 100 miles above New York City. The bar at the entrance at the time of the original examination, made in November, 1883, with the view of preparing estimates for improvement, had a navigable depth of 3 feet only at mean low water, and the distance between the 6-foot curves across it was 1,100 feet. The harbor could therefore be entered only at high water even by the smallest class of vessels. The range of tides is 4 feet, approximately. The plan of improvement which was adopted in 1887 provided for securing a depth of 8 feet, mean low water, from the entrance to the head of navigation, 13 miles, by the construction of two parallel dikes, each 2,300 feet long, 260 feet apart on the inside and 280 feet apart on the outside, and by dredging, if found necessary, 30,000 cubic yards of material from the channel between the dikes. The estimated cost of the improvement was $52,000; the amount expended upon the project up to the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1892, inclusive of outstanding liabilities, was $11,407.06. At that date both dikes had been completed; the north dike had then a length of 2,058 feet and the south dike a length of 2,363 feet and the waterway between them was 260 feet wide, and the navigable channel had been deepened by dredging for a width of 150 feet between 9-foot curves. The amount expended during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, inclusive of outstanding liabilities, was $2,930.95, and was applied in repairing the timber work of the south dike and refilling of both dikes with stone where settlement had taken place, and in removing, by hired labor, by use of the drill scow Hudson, several bowlders from the channel near the shore end of the jetties and removing the rocky reef at Barclays Point. The existing channel from the entrance to the head of navigation is 150 feet to 300 feet wide and 9 feet deep at mean low water. 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... 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 E 2.) $592.94 5,000.00 5,592.94 2, 775.72 2,817. 22 155.23 2,661.99 5,000.00 5,000.00 3. Harbor at Rondout, N. Y.-This harbor is formed by the mouth of Rondout Creek, which empties into the Hudson River on its west side about 90 miles above the city of New York, and is the eastern terminus of the Delaware and Hudson Canal. The creek is a tidal stream for 3 miles above its mouth, and prior to 1871 all improvements had been made by private parties. The range of tides is 4 feet, approximately. The Government made a survey of the harbor in 1869, and the available depth of water then in the channel was 7 feet at mean low water. The project of improvement, based on this survey, was for the formation and maintenance of a channel 100 feet wide and 14 feet deep, mean low water, at the mouth of the creek, to be obtained by means of dikes and dredging. The parallel channel dikes, 350 feet apart at the entrance, were to be built outward into the Hudson River, and a branch dike upstream, starting at outer end of north pier, to protect the north dike against destruction by ice. The estimated cost of the project was $172,500. The project was completed in 1880 at an actual cost of $90,000 only. At that time the length of the north dike was 2,200 feet, and that of the south dike 2,800 feet, and there was a channel between them 50 feet wide and 13 feet deep, mean low water, and 100 feet wide and 12 feet deep, mean low water. The appropriations which have been made since 1880 have been applied exclusively to the repair of the dikes. The amount expended upon the project and upon repairs up to the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1892, inclusive of outstanding liabilities, was $106,500, at which date the navigable channel was 100 feet wide and from 12 to 13 feet deep, mean low water. The dikes were built originally of timber and stone to the height of mean high water, but the timber has since become so damaged by age and by the ice that the stone filling in many places has fallen out from between the rows of piles and the height of the dikes has been correspondingly lowered. The amount expended during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, inclusive of outstanding liabilities, was $2,927.67, and was applied in repairing the north branch and south dikes, by replacing worn and decayed timber and refilling with stone. The repairs were still in prog ress at the close of the fiscal year.. The improvement is in fair condition, but annual repairs to the dikes will be required. Amount appropriated by act approved July 13, 1892. July 1, 1893, balance unexpended. July 1, 1893, amount covered by uncompleted contracts....... July 1, 1893, balance available............ $1,185.56 (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 E 3.) $5,000.00 1,743. 11 3, 256.89 1,745.36 1,511, 53 15, 000, 00 5,000.00 4. Wappinger Creek, New York.-Wappinger Creek is a small stream which empties into the Hudson River on the left bank one-half mile below the village of New Hamburg, N. Y. The navigable portion, extending from the mouth to Wappinger Falls, is 2 miles long, approximately, and before improvement afforded navigation to small boats drawing not exceeding 6 feet in waterway which had a width varying from 25 feet to 75 feet. The range of tides at entrance is 4 feet, approximately. The project for its improvement contained in the report upon the survey November 11, 1889, to comply with the river and harbor act of August 11, 1888, contemplates a channel 80 feet wide and 8 feet deep from the mouth to the falls. The estimated cost of the improvement was $13,000. The amount appropriated by the river and harbor act of September 19, 1890, was $13,000. The amount expended up to the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1892, inclusive of outstanding liabilities, was $12,837.15. At that date the channel was 80 feet wide and 8 feet deep, mean low water, from the mouth to the falls. No funds were expended upon this improvement during the past fiscal year. The approved project for the improvement was completed April 30, 1892. July 1, 1892, balance unexpended... $162.85 162.85 5. Harlem River, New York.-The Harlem River and Spuyten Duyvil Creek are both included in this improvement. Originally there was no navigable waterway between the two streams, as the bed of the connecting reach at Kingsbridge was a long reef of solid rock, bare at low water. The head of navigation at low tide in the Harlem River was practically at High Bridge, 5 miles from its junction with the East River at Hell Gate, for vessels of 7 feet draft, and, at high tide, in Spuyten Duyvil Creek, near Kingsbridge, 13 miles from the Hudson, for vessels of 8 feet draft. The object of the improvement is to form a navigable channel between the East and Hudson rivers. The project for the improvement as originally adopted in 1875 was for a channel 350 feet wide and 15 feet deep at mean low water. In 1879 the project was so far modified as to increase the width of the channel in the Harlem River and Spuyten Duyvil Creek to 400 feet, retaining the original width of 350 feet through Dyckman Meadow, but increasing the depth there to 18 feet, mean low water. This project |