Money statement. July 1, 1900, balance unexpended June 30, 1901, amount expended during fiscal year July 1, 1901, balance unexpended $220, 291.49 5, 712. 23 214, 579. 26 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project...... 2, 014, 467.00 COMMERCIAL STATISTICS. As the Columbia River between The Dalles, Oreg., and Celilo, Oreg., is completely obstructed by rapids, falls, contracted channels, and clusters of basalt reefs, etc., navigation is not practicable at any stage between those points. All commerce along this stretch of the river is hauled by the rail line of the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company. V V 12. CONSTRUCTION OF CANAL AT THE CASCADES, COLUMBIA RIVER, OREGON. The existing project for the construction of a canal and locks to pass steamboats around the upper (principal) rapid in the Columbia River at the Cascades, about 150 miles above the mouth of the river in the Pacific Ocean, and the results of operations in former years, are mentioned in the summary of this report. The work of completing the canal and locks is being carried on under the project (report of Board of Engineer officers) printed in the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1895, pages 3571-3582. The items comprising this project, and the results of work on each item, up to June 30, 1900, are mentioned in the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1900, pages 4324-4328. Operations during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1901, were in continuation of those in progress June 30, 1900, and were as follows: Item 1.-As stated on page 4326 of the last annual report, work on this item (rebuilding the protection embankment or wing on the river side of the lower entrance to the canal) was suspended during the last fiscal year on account of high water. In August, 1900, the river having fallen sufficiently, the work of completing the level pavement at references 92 and 100 was commenced. All work on this item was completed during the same month (August, 1900). The excavation and paving necessary to complete the item was done by Hosea W. Taylor, under contract dated September 19, 1899. Item 2.-The work of repairing a portion of the slope wall laid against the south bank of the canal below the lower guard gate was commenced in August, 1900, and completed on February 27, 1901, under contract with Hosea W. Taylor, dated September 19, 1899. In excavating for the toe of the slope pavement where it joins the lower end of the canal wall it was found that the end of the cut-stone wall of the canal had been undermined by the heavy swell during high water, and to obtain a proper foundation for the slope wall it was necessary to lay some pavement in mortar. The excavation at the end of the cut-stone wall of the canal was therefore carried down to low-water level and the pavement at that place laid in mortar and joined to the cut stone of the canal wall. To prevent the undermining of the lower end of the pavement above the coping of the canal wall a strip of the pavement running up to ordinary high-water level was also laid with mortar and covered with a revetment of riprap. The condition of the damaged portion of the slope wall before it was repaired is shown by photographs Nos. 401 and 403, opposite page 3224 of the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1899. The photograph forwarded herewith shows the slope wall as repaired during the past year. Additional paving. At the beginning of the fiscal year the work of paving the slope on the north side of the upper lock was in progress. This work was completed, as far as possible at present, in July, 1900, under contract with Hosea W. Taylor, dated September 19, 1899. After the north wall of the upper lock has been completed (item 4) and the fill behind the wall raised to grade, about 200 yards of additional paving will be necessary on the north side of the upper guard gate. At the beginning of the fiscal year the work of paving on the south side of the lower lock, next above and joining that included in item 2, was in progress. This portion of the paving was completed in October, 1901, under the contract with Hosea W. Taylor, dated September 19, 1899. To complete the additional paving on the south side of the canal it will be necessary to place about 2,300 cubic yards of slope pavement and about 1,000 cubic yards of dry rubble in revetment over toe of slope and in ramps. This can not be placed until the walls of the upper lock are completed. Miscellaneous.-A wire fence along the boundary of the Government land was constructed by Hosea W. Taylor, under the contract dated September 19, 1899, 2,660 feet of this fence being completed in July, 1900, and the remainder, 932 feet, in February, 1901. The quantities of materials excavated and placed during the past fiscal year by Hosea W. Taylor, under the contract dated September 19, 1899, were as follows: Item 8.-The four A-shaped trestles of the movable dam above the upper gates were placed in position and connected with their bearing castings on the bottom of the canal in October, 1901, this work being done by hired labor. Miscellaneous.-A cobblestone gutter was partially constructed by hired labor on the south side of the upper entrance to the canal to carry off surface water which might otherwise undermine the slope pavement on the south side of the upper entrance. This work is still in progress and will be completed as soon as the necessary drain tile is received. The drain tile has been ordered of the manufacturers, but has not been delivered. White clover seed was sown on the earth slopes above the rock pavements, a number of trees were planted on the embankment separating the river from the canal, and about 650 feet of hedge fence set out along the boundary line of the Government land near the railroad of the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company. Mr. W. G. Brown, inspector, was in immediate charge of the operations during the past fiscal year. No deterioration occurred during the past fiscal year. The $150,000 named in the appended money statement, together with the small balance available July 1, 1901, can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1903, in completing the work of raising the height of the embankment separating the river from the canal and the work of protecting the river side of this embankment with riprap (item 3); in raising the height of the incomplete walls of the upper lock (item 4); in completing all paving on both sides of the canal (item "additional paving"); in purchasing and placing all the iron stairways (item 6), and in constructing lock-keepers' houses (item 9). [Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project 5, 418. 73 259,260.00 150,000.00 This contract was completed February 27, 1901. The rates paid for materials excavated and placed by the contractor were printed in the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1900, page 4329. COMMERCIAL STATISTICS. For commercial statistics, etc., see annual report for "Operating and care of canal and locks at the Cascades of the Columbia River, Oregon." V V 13. OPERATING AND CARE OF CANAL AND LOCKS AT THE CASCADES OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER, OREGON. The canal and locks around the cascades of the Columbia River, about 150 miles above the mouth of the latter in the Pacific Ocean, and which, although incomplete, enable steamboats drawing 8 feet of water to run as far up the stream as The Dalles, Oreg., about 200 miles above the mouth, were formally opened to navigation November 5, 1896, and were operated continuously during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1901, with the exception of the period from May 29 to June 9, 1901, inclusive, when they were closed on account of high water. The operations during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1901, aside from operating the locks, consisted principally of continuing the work of cleaning the steel lock gates of rust, scale, and old paint by means of sand blast, and repainting them with two coats of red lead. This work (which was commenced in March, 1900) was performed principally by the regular lockmen while not engaged in operating the locks. The sand-blast machine used in this work was described in a general way in the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1900 (p. 4330). The total surface of the gates cleaned and repainted, from March 17, 1900, to June 30, 1901, has been 81,200 square feet. Thus far the cost of cleaning the gates by means of sand blast has been $22.74 per 1,000 square feet; cost for applying the first coat of paint, $4.63 per 1,000 square feet, and the cost of applying the second coat of paint, $4.24, making the total cost for cleaning and repainting $31.61 per 1,000 square feet. About 15,000 square feet of the surfaces of the lower lock gate and the lower guard gate remain to be cleaned and repainted. During the past fiscal year the steel-wire cables, by which the gates are opened and closed, were renewed on all except the upper guard gate. All operations during the past fiscal year have been conducted by hired labor under the immediate charge of Mr. W. G. Brown, inspector. Statement of expenditures made in operating and caring for canal and locks at cascades of the Columbia River, Oregon, during the fiscal year 1901, submitted in compliance with river and harbor act of July 5, 1884. |