dredged through it before the soundings shown on the map of that date was taken. From Beacon Island to Van Wie's Point there is a good channel of 9 feet depth, which has widened considerably most of the distance. The last survey shows the effects of the ice gorge in the spring of 1884, when the water was turned from the main channel and came back into the channel again through the gap in the high dike at the lower end of Beacon Island. A ledge of rock about 100 feet from the dike on the west side of the channel is a serious obstruction, as it has only 8.4 feet of water on it at low water on the shoalest point. This rock was surveyed on the ice in January, 1884, by Mr. F. J. Rodgers, who made an estimate of the quantity required to be removed to obtain 12 feet over it. Where Austin's Rock has been removed there are considerable changes in the contour of the bottom, and these changes are still in progress. A shoal formed here this spring, which has been removed by the State dredges. Winnie's Bar has changed very little, if any, except that the 12-foot contour has moved down-stream about 250 feet. There is still a good 9-foot channel here. From Parda Hook to New Baltimore there is a decided improvement in the channel. Cedar Hill Bar has a good wide channel, giving about 10 feet at mean low water, and there is a good channel of 11 feet depth in the shoalest places as far as Mull's Crossover. At Mull's there is a decided improvement, and the channel is both wider and deeper than that shown on the map of the previous survey. The State dredged a channel through this bar in 1877, before the soundings shown on the map were taken, and dredging was also done here about two years ago. The next bar, at Coeymans, has almost entirely disappeared, and there is now a good straight channel there, with about 104 feet of water at mean low water. The New Baltimore Bar has also gone, and below Willow Island, where there was always a bad bar, the last survey shows a good wide channel. Stone House Bar not having been included in the previous survey, there is no means of making any comparison. Quite a large amount of dredging was done here by the State about two years ago. The dikes on this section are generally in good condition, except that they need stone filling in many places, and some of them, such as Roah Hook, Coeymans Middle Ground, Barren Island, and West Dike, are undermined on the channel face, either in whole or in part, and need strengthening. Of the single pile dikes built in 1878-'0, that from Douw's Point south is in fair condition. From Staat's Point south only a few sections remain, and most of that is in a very bad state. Those at Bear Island, Winnie's Landing, Cow Island, and Mull's Crossover are in a fair state of preservation. The maps of the resurvey with tracings of them are in your office in the hands of Mr. C. G. Auerbach, who has done all of the lettering on the originals, which were done in pencil in the Albany office. All the above is respectfully submitted. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Lient. Col. WALTER MCFARLAND, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A. R. H. TALCOTT. D 25. IMPROVEMENT OF HARBOR AT RONDOUT, NEW YORK. Rondout Harbor is at the mouth of Rondout Creek, on the west bank of the Hudson River, between 80 and 90 miles above New York. The creek is a tidal stream for 3 miles above its mouth. Prior to 1871 improvements had been made by private persons and corporations, but no permanent benefits had been derived from them. A survey of the har bor was made by the Government in 1871, with a view to its permanent improvement, when it was found that there was an available channel depth of about 7 feet. The project based upon this survey provided for the formation and maintenance of a channel at the mouth of the creek 100 feet wide and 14 feet deep, to be obtained by means of dredging and diking. Two parallel channel dikes were to be built outward into the Hudson on a gentle curve down-stream, with a branch dike running up-stream from the outer end of the north dike to protect it from running ice. The estimated cost of this work was as follows: Building the north dike, 748 yards long Dredging a channel 3,000 feet long, 100 feet wide, and 14 feet deep at low Total...... The final length of the north and south dikes was, however, to be determined by the effects that they were observed to produce in the removal of the bar as they were gradually extended outward. In 1872, by reason of a reduction in the estimated length and cost of the dikes, this estimate was reduced to $104,000. The project was practically completed in 1880, and a history of the improvement may be found in the Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1881, Part I, page 494, with comparative sketches. At that date the north dike was about 2,200 feet long, the branch dike was about 1,000 feet long, the south dike was about 2,800 feet long, with a spur to the light-house 330 feet long, and a channel depth had been obtained of 134 feet at low water between dikes. The appropriation of $2,000, passed August 2, 1882, was applied to repairs. The dikes were refilled with stone where needed, fender piles were placed at the outer end of the north dike, and 600 feet of the south dike was raised to the level of high water. The balance of this appropriation available July 1, 1884, was $706.03, which, with the appropriation of $1,000 approved July 5, 1884, has been applied during the fiscal year to cutting off 150 feet of the outer end of the south dike, in accordance with a recommendation contained in the last annual report. Three small lumps between the piers have been dredged to a depth of 14 feet at low water, requiring the excavation of 9234 cubic yards of material, and spring piles have been placed along the dikes where needed. All the work was done by hired labor. Although the project is prac tically completed, $10,000 is still to be appropriated under the original estimate, which can be profitably expended in reparing the dikes, and in widening the channel between them. Appropriations for the improvement of Rondout Harbor have been made as follows: Rondout is in the collection district of New York. The nearest works of defense are those of New York Harbor. No statement has been received of the amount of commerce of Rondout for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1885; but in the last annual report it is stated that the amount of commerce and navigation bene fited by the completion of the work is $70,000,000. |