Engineers, Colonel Houston was charged with their survey, the results of which will be submitted- when received. 1. Larchmont Harbor, New York. 2. Brown's Creek, Saysville, New York. IMPROVEMENT OF HUDSON RIVER AND OF HARBORS OF RONDOUT AND SAUGERTIES, NEW YORK-—REMOVING OBSTRUCTIONS IN EAST RIVER AND HELL GATE-IMPROVEMENT OF ENTRANCE TO NEW YORK HARBOR-IMPROVEMENT OF RIVERS AND HARBORS IN THE VICINITY OF NEW YORK AND IN NORTHERN NEW JERSEY. Officer in charge, Lieut. Col. G. L. Gillespie, Corps of Engineers, since January 2, 1889. These works were in charge of Lieut. Col. Walter McFarland, Corps of Engineers, until July 22, 1888; in temporary charge of Capt. George McC. Derby, Corps of Engineers, from July 22, 1888, to January 2, 1889. 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 74 feet at mean low water; between Albany and Troy, 4 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 annually, was $1,078,304. In 1888 the estimated cost was $1,314,330.57. The amount expended to June 30, 1888, was $1,032,137.59, of which sum a large part has, however, from the necessity of the case, been applied to the repair of decaying dikes instead of to the construction of the new dikes yet to be built. At that date the dikes provided for in the project of improvement, so far as built, have 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 shoal spots make the navigable depths on those parts of the river 9 feet and 74 feet respectively. A close examination of the dikes made in June shows that the estimated cost of the improvement prepared in 1888 must be increased to $1,424,435 in order to complete the works yet to be built, and to put in good repair those already built. The amounts appropriated to date are $1,129,330.57. No expendi tures have been made during the year for improvement. The appropriation of $75,000, act of August 11, 1888, will be expended under contract in repairing the dikes at those points where the navigation of the channel is most endangered. The appropriation of $150,000 which is recommended is designed to continue the improvement by the repair of the various dikes. July 1, 1888, amount available.... Amount appropriated by act of August 11, 1888.. July 1, 1889, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of liabilities outstanding July 1, 1888... July 1, 1889, outstanding liabilities.. July 1, 1889, balance available..... $21, 458. 28 75,000.00 96, 458.28 $1,394.00 1,602.00 94,856, 28 $295, 000, 00 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project. (See Appendix E 1.) 2. Harbor at Saugerties, New York.-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 entrance at the time of the original examination, made in November, 1883, with the view to 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 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 appropriated to date is $32,000; the amount expended upon the project up to the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1888, was $13,363.14. At that date the south dike had been completed, and its length by actual measurement was 2,363 feet. The depth on the bar, gained chiefly by dredging done by the State of New York in 1887, was 6 to 7 feet mean low water. The amount available for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1889, was $14,698.69. The amount expended during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1889, was $1,593.86 (exclusive outstanding liabilities), and was applied in the removal of pile work at the inner end of the south dike and the removal by dredging of 22,646 cubic yards of material from the bar, and the inner shoal opposite Freligh's Wharf. A contract has also been made for the construction of 125 feet of crib-work, and 700 feet of pile-dike in execution of approved project for the construction of the north dike. The existing navigable depth from the entrance to the head of nav. igation is 9 feet mean low water in a channel from 100 to 300 feet wide. The appropriation of $20,000 recommended for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1891, will be applied in extending eastward the north dike according to the approved project. July 1, 1888, amount available.... Amount appropriated by act of August 11, 1888.. July 1, 1889, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of liabilities outstanding July 1, 1888 July 1, 1889, outstanding liabilities.. July 1, 1889, amount covered by existing contracts.. 20,000.00 July 1, 1889, balance available.... Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project. (See Appendix E 2.) 20, 000 00 3. Harbor at Rondout, New York.-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 Government made a survey of the harbor in 1869, and the available depth of water then in the channel was only 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. Two parallel channel-dikes, 350 feet apart at the entrance, were to be built outward, toward, and into the Hudson River, and a branch dike up stream 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 100 feet wide and 13 feet, mean low water. The appropriations which have been made since 1880 have been ap plied exclusively to the repair of the dikes. The amount appropriated to date is $101,500; the amount available for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1887, was $5,151.22. The amount expended upon the project and upon repairs up to the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1888, was $96.348.78, at which date the navigable channel was 100 feet wide, and from 12 to 134 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. It is recommended that the dikes be repaired in the future by the use of stone alone, so that they may be gradually converted into more permanent structures. The amount expended during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1889, was $103.51, and was applied in driving piles along both dikes, so that the channel might be better defined while the dikes were submerged. A contract will soon be made to repair both dikes with the available balance, which will be completed in the autumn. An appropriation of $10,000 is recommended for application in dredg ing on the bar at the entrance, repairing the dikes, dredging on inside shoal, and in removing a rocky ledge in mid-channel, opposite Robinson's ship-ways. July 1, 1888, amount available Amount appropriated by act of August 11, 1888. July 1, 1889, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of liabilities outstanding July 1, 1888.... $151, 22 5,000,00 5, 151.22 103.51 July 1, 1889, balance available ...... 5,047.71 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project.. 25,000.00 10,000.00 (See Appendix E 3.) 4. Harlem River, New York.-The Harlem River and Spuyten Duyvil Creek are both included in this improvement. The head of navigation in the former is practically at the High Bridge, about 5 miles from its junction with the East River; in the latter, at King's Bridge, about 13 miles from the Hudson River, for vessels of 8 feet draught, at high water only. 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, and retaining the original width of 350 feet, through Dyckman's meadow, but increasing the depth to 18 feet mean low water. The estimated cost of the work was $2,700,000. The amount expended upon the improvement up to the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1888, was $62,179.68, exclusive of outstanding liabilities. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1889, there has been expended the sum of $101,941.37 (exclusive of outstanding liabilities) on the cut through Dyckman's Meadow, for engineering experiments in structures for protecting the sides of the channel and for borings to obtain more detail information as to the depth of the marsh mud, and character of the material overlying the rock in the section of the rock cut through Dyckman's Meadow and in the bed of Spuyten Duyvil Creek. One hundred and forty-two thousand five hundred and forty-four cubic yards only had been removed by the contractor from the cut through Dyckman's Meadow on May 31, 1889, instead of the 300,000 cubic yards called for by the contract, and on his application the time for completion has been extended to May 31, 1890. The appropriation of August 11, 1888, of $70,000 will be applied to the construction of a large coffer-dam to protect the cut from the waters of the Harlem River, and to the removal of the material from a small section of the cut adjoining the coffer-dam. The amount that can be profitably expended during the year ending June 30, 1891, is $500,000 and would be applied to the completion of the cut through Dyckman's Meadow, to excavating the channel through the marsh between the section of the cut through Dyckman's Meadow now under contract and the Hudson River, and to structures for protecting the sides aud probably the bottom of the new channel in many places. The estimated amount required for the completion of the work according to the approved project is $2,230,000. July 1, 1888, amount available (inclusive of amount covered by contract Amount appropriated by act of August 11, 1888.. July 1, 1889, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of liabilities outstanding July 1, 1888.. July 1, 1889, outstanding liabilities... July 1, 1889, amount covered by existing contracts.... July 1, 1889, balance available... ......... $339, 544.48 70,000.00 $101, 941. 37 409, 544. 48 291, 671.68 117,872.80 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project...... $2, 230, 000. 00 Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30 1891... Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix E 4.) 500,000.00 5. Removing obstructions in East River and Hell Gate, New York.Hell Gate is the worst obstruction in the narrow strait connecting Long Island Sound with New York Harbor, known as the East River. At this point the channel turns at right angles around Hallet's Point, opposite the mouth of the Harlem River, and the current runs with a velocity varying at different stages of the tide from 3 to 10 miles an hour over or around Ways Reef, Pot Rock, Shell Drake, Hallet's Point, Negro Point, Holmes' Rock, Hog's Back, Heel Tap, Flood Rock, Hen and Chickens, Gridiron, Mill Rocks, the Negro Heads, Rhinelander's Reef, and Bread and Cheese. Besides this most serious obstruction there are many other rocks and reefs in the East River, especially those off the Battery, off Thirtyfourth street and Charlotte Rock, which are dangerous to its crowded navigation, and which ought to be removed. Originally the channel of East River and Hell Gate contained many large and dangerous rocky obstructions to navigation. The depth over Diamond Reef at mean low water was 173 feet; over Coenties Reef, 14.3 feet; over Frying Pan, 11 feet; over Pot Rock, 20 feet; over Heel Tap, 12.1 feet, and over reef at North Brother's Island, 16 feet. Hallet's Point projected from the shore at Astoria under water 325 feet to the contour line of 26 feet at mean low water and embraced an area of about 3 acres. The Middle Reef, with an area of about 9 acres, lay in the middle of the channels at Hell Gate; it had a small backbone projecting above high water, called Flood Rock, upon which vessels were stranded when driven there by the ebb currents which swept directly over the rock. The project, originally adopted in 1867, provided for the removal of Negro Head, Flood Rock, Hen and Chickens, Gridiron, Pot Rock, Frying Pan, Ways Reef, Shell Drake, the rock off Negro Point, the rocks near Woolsey's Bath House, Blackwell's Rock, portions of Hallet's Point and Scaly Rock, to a deph of 26 feet at mean low water. Sea-walls were designed also for the Middle Reef, Hog's Back, Bread and Cheese, and a beacon for Rhinelander's Reef. The estimated cost of the project was $8,692,645.15. The estimate for the project was revised in 1874, and the total estimated cost placed at $5,139,120, inclusive of the removal of Diamond and Coenties reefs, at a cost of $449,300. The amount appropriated to June 30, 1888, was $3,910,800, and the amount expended thereon up to the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1888, was $3,633,892.91. At that date Hallet's Point, covering 3 acres, Ways Reef, Shell Drake, Diamond Reef, North Brother's Island Reef, Coenties Reef, Scaly Rock, and Pilgrim Rock had all been removed to the depth contemplated in the project; Heel Tap had been broken to 26 feet, and dredged to 20.5; and the least depths on Pot Rock and Frying Pan were 22.8 and 18 feet at mean low water, respectively; Flood Rock and connecting reefs covering 9 acres had been broken to 30 feet, and about one-fourth of the débris had been removed-the Negro Heads and Hen and Chickens having been reduced to 18 feet mean low water, and a new 18-foot channel, 380 feet wide, opened across the reef. |