IMPROVEMENT OF ERIE HARBOR, PENNSYLVANIA. During the fiscal year the work at this barbor consisted of 1. Dredging in the channel. 2. Rebuilding part of the north pier. 3. Extending the catch-sand fence on the neck of the peninsula. 1. Dredging under contract dated April 30, 1877, with Mr. O. J. Je nings, of Dunkirk, N. Y., was carried out at intervals up to October: 1877, both between the piers and in the inner channel, but from the date to the close of the fiscal year this operation was suspended. During this time the dredge was in use 850 hours, and the amount inaterial taken out is stated by Colonel Blunt to be 16,200 cubic yards This contract expires September 30, 1878, by which time it is expecte that all the work called for by it will be completed. 2. Rebuilding north pier. Three hundred feet of the superstructur of the north pier was rebuilt from the water-line up, under contrad with Mr. W. H. McCurdy, of Cleveland, Ohio, for iron, and Messrs. Fam & Garfield, of Painesville, Ohio, for timber, stone, and construction. The work was then protected on the channel side by driving a row piles in contact with it and from 2 to 3 feet apart and bolting them t the pier. Before building this superstructure, the rotten timbers, stone, & beneath it had to be removed for almost the entire length of 300 fee and in places small cribs had to be sunk for the superstructure to rest e The catch-sand fence at the neck of the peninsula was extended west wardly 550 feet by a row of beech piles 9 feet apart, driven 11 feet in: the sand, planked on the lake side and protected by a riprap of sto In places a foundation of brush was laid for the stone to rest upon. work was completed early in January, 1878. Thes 16, 137 feet, board-measur 65 cords. 15 cords. 488 pounds. By act approved June 18, 1878, the sum of $25,000 was appropriated for this harbor, giving a balance available at the end of the fiscal year of nearly $41,000, It is proposed with this 1. To complete the repair of the north pier by rebuilding the superstructure for 400 feet. 2. To excavate the channel to a depth of 16 feet from the bar outside through the piers to the deep water inside the bay. 3. To continue the construction of the catch-sand fence. Erie Harbor, Pennsylvania, is in the collection-district of Erie, Pa. It is lighted by 7 lights-a fourth-order lake-coast light on the north shore of the peninsula, fixed white, varied by red flashes; a main harbor light of the third order, fixed white; and five range lights of the sixth order to mark the channels. The nearest fort is Fort Porter, New York, 90 miles distant to the eastward. The following statement of the commerce of the port is furnished by the records of the custom-house: Revenue collected during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878.... Value of imports.......... Value of exports.......... $17,085 46 $72,041 00 $55,702 00 Number of vessels cleared. 928 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project... 94,000 00 40,000 00 GG 7. IMPROVEMENT OF DUNKIRK HARBOR, NEW YORK. Operations have been carried on during the fiscal year under the contract system, and have been confined to the extension of the breakwater. On July 5, 1877, a contract was entered into with Mr. W. H. McCurdy, of Cleveland, Ohio, to furnish the iron material needed for the extension at the following rates: Screw and washer bolts, at 2.8 cents per pound. Drift-bolts, at 1.85 cents per pound. Spikes, at 2.8 cents per pound. Bevel-headed and washer bolts, at 5 cents per pound. The iron was delivered and the contract closed September 12, 1877. On July 5, 1877, a contract was also entered into with Mr. O. J. Jennings, of Dunkirk, N. Y., for furnishing the timber and stone needed, and for constructing 250 feet of breakwater, the extension to consist of five ribs, each 30 feet wide by 50 feet long and 8 courses high, surmounted by the form of superstructure prescribed by the Board of Engineers in The contract prices were as follows: Hemlock timber put in place, at $15 per 1,000 feet, board-measure. Stone, at $4.50 per cord. Under this contract work commenced in the fall of 1877, and by the end of November, when work closed for the season, two cribs had been built, filled with stone, and sunk in place, and another was ready for sinking. On resuming work in the spring it was found that both the sunken cribs had been thrown out of line by wave action during the winter, and before they could be got into place again most of the stone had to be taken out of them. By the end of the fiscal year all five of the cribs had been built and sunk in place, and the superstructure had been built on them, 251 feet in length, with the exception of a few linear feet of the oak slope. As the work had been well done, an extension of fifteen days' time on this contract (which expired June 30, 1878) was applied for by the contractor and granted, within which time the work will be completed. In the construction of these 5 cribs and 251 feet of superstructure the following materials have been used: This extension of 251 feet gives the breakwater a total length of 1,191 feet. The proposed length of the breakwater as prescribed by the Board of Engineers in 1870 was 2,860 feet; still to be built, 1,669 feet. The estimated cost of this work was $275,000, subsequently altered to $350,000, of which $88,000 have been appropriated up to date. There appears to be no present necessity for constructing the whole of this extension, and I therefore concur in the recommendation made in 1875 and 1876 by Colonel Blunt, that it be made only 1,700 feet long. instead of 2,860 feet, which would require an addition of only 510 feet to its present length, the estimated cost of which is $31,000. The other part of the project of 1870, viz, the excavating a channel between the west pier and breakwater 170 feet wide and 13 feet in depth, was completed in 1877. Total appropriations for Dunkirk Harbor from 1827 to June 30, 1878. $427,343.93. Dunkirk Harbor, New York, is in the collection-district of Dunkirk. It is lighted by a third-order lake-coast light on the west side of the harbor, fixed white varied by white flashes, and a sixth-order beacon-light on the end of the west pier. A day beacon marks the channel at the mouth of the harbor. Fort Porter, New York, is the nearest fort, 40 miles distant to the eastward. The following statement of the commerce of the port is furnished by the records of the custom-house: Revenue collected during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878. Value of imports Value of exports Number of vessels cleared.. Their tonnage, tons.... Number of vessels entered Their tonnage, tons $221.99 8707 74 $16.0 14,199 14,099 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project..... 162, 000 00 31, 000 00 GG 8. IMPROVEMENT OF BUFFALO HARBOR, NEW YORK. The breakwater has been extended under the contract system by 150 feet of crib-work, on which the superstructure has been commenced, and it is expected that it will be completed by the 30th of September, 1878. The breakwater has now of completed work a length of.......... 2, 924 feet. 150 feet. 3, 074 feet. 926 feet. The appropriation made by act of Congress approved June 18, 1878, will be applied to the further extension of the breakwater under the contract system. This extension of the breakwater has been made with the balance of the appropriation approved August 14, 1876, allotted May 1, 1877, and in accordance with the plan adopted by the Board of Engineers in 1873 and 1874. After due advertisement contracts were entered into for the extension of the breakwater 150 feet southwardly, as follows: 1. With Mr. W. H. McCurdy, of Cleveland, Ohio, July 25, 1877, for furnishing all the iron material needed at the following prices: Screw and washer bolts, at $3.10 per 100 pounds.... Drift-bolts, at $1.70 per 100 pounds....... Wrought-iron spikes, at $2.90 per 100 pounds Total amount Pounds. 1,054 96, 674 2,737 100, 465 The iron to be furnished under this contract was received September 15, 1877, and the contract was closed. 2. With Mr. Ambrose Clark, of Buffalo, N. Y., for furnishing and putting in place the materials to be used in the extension of the breakwater, as follows: All pine timber and lumber at $18 per 1,000 feet, board-measure. All Hemlock timber and lumber at $15 per 1,000 feet, board-measure. All stone for cribs, superstructure, riprap, and filling of trench, at $4.50 per cord. All gravel filling for trench at $1 per cubic yard, and for dredging a trench for the foundation of the cribs at 75 cents per cubic yard. This contract expires September 30, 1878. Dredging the trench for the foundation of the cribs was commenced immediately on signing the contract, and was finished by the end of September, 1877. Amount excavated..... 2,814 cubic yards. By the end of October the trench had been filled with 2,395 cubie yards of gravel to a height of 9 feet, surmounted by 3 feet of stone filling, amounting to 88.35 cords, thus completing the foundation for the cribs. During the winter operations were suspended, but were resumed early in February, 1878, by the construction of crib-work. Before the close of the fiscal year three cribs, each 50 feet long by 33 feet by 30 feet, constituting the proposed 150 feet extension under this contract, had been built, filled with stone, and sunk in place in an average depth of 30 feet of water, and the framing of the superstructure for them had been commenced. In their construction the following materials have been used: The superstructure of these cribs will probably be finished by September 30, 1878. The appropriation of $80,000, made by act of Congress approved June 18, 1878, will be applied to the further extension of the breakwater southwardly, the length to be added being probably 350 feet. Buffalo Harbor, New York, is in the collection-district of Buffalo Creek, New York. It is lighted by one third-order fixed white light on the south side of Buffalo Creek at the end of the pier, to which light-station a fog-bell is attached; a fixed red fourthorder beacon on the north end of the breakwater, and a fourth-order fixed white light varied by white flashes on Horse Shoe Reef Shoal, marking the entrance to the Niagara River. There is also a fog-bell attached to this beacon on the breakwater. Fort Porter is within city limits. The following statement of the commerce of the port is furnished by the records of the custom-house: Revenue collected during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878 Value of imports Value of exports.. Number of vessels cleared Their tonnage, tons.. Number of vessels entered Their tonnage, tons. $421,734 $2,241,34 $190,477 4.051 2, 127, 915 3,972 2, 110, 32 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project 1,735, 000 (n Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1880. 300, 000 U0 |