NUMBER OF VESSELS AND ESTIMATED SHIPMENTS OF PETROLEUM FROM GIBSON'S POINT FROM JULY 1, 1884, TO JUNE 30, 1885. NUMBER OF VESSELS AT AND SHIPMENTS OF GRAIN FROM GIRARD POINT ELEVATORS FROM JULY 1, 1884, TO JUNE 30, 1885. The foregoing statistics were furnished by Peter Wright & Sons, of Philadelphia. Mr. G. M. Taylor, auditor freight receipts Pennsylvania Railroad Company, gives the amount of tonnage to and from Schuylkill River and passing in and out of the Delaware and Raritan Canal at Bordentown for the year 1884, as follows: The following statement was received from S. & J. M. Flanagan, showing the number of vessels towed by their firm for the year 1884. This statement includes the foregoing made by Mr. G. M. Taylor. From Schuylkill River to Bordentown: Loaded canal-boats (freight tonnage of 317,110 tons). Light canal-boats... From Bordentown to Schuylkill River: Loaded canal-boats (freight tonnage of 116,598 tons) Light canal-boats Sailing vessels towed in Schuylkill River (freight tonnage 18,324) 1,530 661 922 1,344 24 34 G 8. ICE-HARBOR AT MARCUS HOOK, PENNSYLVANIA. Under a contract with Messrs. Leiper & Lewis, dated April 28, 1884, a pier was constructed to replace the one (No. 5) which was wrecked in September, 1882. This pier consisted of a masonry, concrete and rubble-stone superstructure superposed upon a timber crib foundation. The crib was hexagonal in plan, about 80 feet long and 362 feet wide at the base. The bottom of the substructure was 36 feet below and the top of the superstructure 12 feet above mean low water. The work was completed in November, 1884, at a cost of $15,600. During the present season it is proposed to expend available funds in such repairs to the piers as may be necessary for their maintenance. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1887, if funds are available, it is proposed to construct the bulkhead along the shore front of the harbor and deepen by dredging the shoal areas of the harbor, in accordance with the present plan for its improvement. The harbor is of considerable importance to the commerce of the Delaware River during the winter season. It is located in the collection district of Philadelphia. This is the nearest port of entry, the collections during the year ending December 31, 1884, amounting to $12,530,451.86. The nearest fort and light-house are, respectively, Fort Mifflin aud Christiana Light. Total appropriations to June 30, 1×85 .$184,000 00 176,561 84 Money statement. July 1, 1884, amount available.. $9,467 10 July 1, 1885, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of outstanding liabilities July 1, 1884. 2,028 94 July 1, 1885, amount available... 7.43 16 50,000 00 [Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project.. Amount that can be rofitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 18×750,000 00 Submitted in compliance with requirements of section 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. G 9. ICE-HARBOR AT THE HEAD OF DELAWARE BAY, DELAWARE. The act of August 2, 1882, contained an appropriation of $25,000 for "ice-harbor at head of Delaware Bay, and for removal of sunken piers in channel back of Reedy Island, Delaware." These piers, six in number, were built at some unknown time in the past, probably from the appropriation of $30,000 made April 6, 1802, for building piers in the Delaware River, and were removed in 1883, under the above appropriation, at a cost of $3,700. In 1883 Assistant Engineer A. Stierle made, under the direction of Lient. Col. G. Weitzel, Corps of Engineers, an examination of the vicinity of Liston's Point, for the purpose of determining upon the most eligible site for an ice-harbor at the head of Delaware Bay. The report of this examination is found in the Report of the Chief of Engineers, 1884, page 817. The result of this examination was the conclusion that an ice-harbor could be most advantageously located near and just north of Liston's Point. Under date of January 31, 1885, Major W. H. Heuer, Corps of Engineers, forwarded to the Chief of Engineers Assistant Engineer Stierle's report, with plans and estimates for an ice-harbor, located as previously indicated. This report is appended hereto. The designing and building of a construction light enough to oppose so small a resistance to tidal currents as to produce no tendency to shoaling within the protected area, and at the same time strong enough to withstand securely the impact of large ice-fields, is a difficult problem. Joined with these difficulties is the lack of a solid foundation in the vicinity where commercial requirements would indicate the ice-harbor should be located. At the most eligible site found the hard bottom was overlaid by 35 feet of mud and sand at the outer end of the site proposed. To successfully overcome and destroy the momentum of large ice fields running under the impulse of wind and tide they must be opposed by structures of great mass or of great elasticity, joined with high ultimate resistance to permanent distortion. The plan of a barrier composed of grouped small iron piles laterally connected, while in the direction of the latter requirement, it is believed, after an examination of its general principles, that it will be found entirely too weak to successfully do the duty it would be called upon to perform, and before the problem of construction can be considered as solved the question requires additional study. The determination of the question of detailed location is involved in difficulty from the fact that the reach of river in the vicinity of the site which has been proposed for the ice-harbor contains over 10 miles of shoal water requiring improvement. The Board of Engineers of 1884, for the permanent improvement of the Delaware River, recommended for the improvement of Dan Baker Shoals a dike about 5 miles long, and for the improvement of Duck Creek Flats a dike nearly 6 miles long. The former work would be just above and the latter just below the site which has been proposed for the ice-harbor. The action of such dikes will probably produce, through the agency of change in the present direction and velocity of tidal currents, great change of depths in the vicinity of the dikes and either disastrous shoaling or destructive scouring might be induced over the area upon which the iceharbor was located. In view of these possible results it is recommended that the decision as to the detailed location of the ice-harbor be held in abeyance until the effect of the constructions for the permanent improvement of this part of the Delaware River is established by experience, and consequently no appropriation for this work is recommended at present. This work is in the collection district of Delaware. Wilmington is the nearest port of entry, and the revenue collected there during the year ending December 31, 1884, amounted to $32,110.91. Fort Delaware and Reedy Island Light are, respectively, the nearest fort and light house. Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project.... Submitted in compliance with requirements of section 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. $17,500 00 17,500 00 .381,090 00 LETTER OF MAJOR W. H. HEUER, CORPS OF ENGINEERS. UNITED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE, Philadelphia, Pa., January 31, 1885. GENERAL: I have the honor to forward herewith the project of Mr. A. Stierle, assistant engineer, for an ice-harbor at or near the head of Delaware Bay. The project has involved much study on his part. The location is good in every respect; the shape of the harbor is satisfaetory, and if the pile piers will stand the ice without overturning-and there is every reason to believe that they will-they are, in my opinion, preferable to stone piers, as offering less obstruction to the tidal cur rents and costing far less than a harbor of like dimensions made of stone piers. Although I am relieved from duty here, it is at the request of Lieut. Col. Henry M. Robert, Corps of Engineers, my successor, that I forward this project, as the studies for its plans, &c., were made under my direc tious by Mr. Stierle. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, W. H. HEUER, (Through Lieut. Col. W. P. Craighill, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A.) REPORT OF MR. A. STIERLE, ASSISTANT ENGINEER. UNITED STATES ENGINEEr Office, SIR: I have the honor to submit herewith plans and estimate for an ice-harbor at the head of Delaware Bay, in conformity with the order of the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, dated Washington, D. C., February 15, 1883. This report is accompanied by two drawings; one shows the general plan of the harbor; the other is a detailed illustration of the inclosing works at their most complicated point—i. e., near the entrance. The results of an examination for a site for the proposed harbor were fully set forth in the report which I had the honor to submit to you under date of June 12, 1884, and which is printed in the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, pages 817, 825. The proposition made therein to locate the harbor near Liston's Point having received your concurrence, the plans here with submitted have been especially designed for that locality, and are based upon data obtained by the preliminary examination. As the examination extended over a very large area, the data relating to the precise depth of the hard bottom substratum at the proposed site for the harbor are particularly meager and need verification. The slope and the height of the piers, as as shown on the accompanying profile, are therefore conditional. The inclosure of the harbor is formed on the up and down stream side by curved iron barriers on the base, which is about 1,950 feet distant from the shore, and nearly parallel to it, by a row of clusters of wooden piles. At the outermost point is an opening left for an entrance 357 feet wide. The barriers form in plan an are struck from five centers, and approach in their curvature the perimeter of an ellipse, having a major axis of 2,400 feet and a minor axis of 2,000 feet. The length of the base is 1,950 feet. The length of one barrier, as drawn and to be constructed, is 1,840 feet. The combined length of both barriers, adding the width of the entrance and calculating it circumferentially, from the north end to the south end of the base, is 4,037 feet, the whole inclosing an area of about 56 acres. Of this area 20 acres have a depth of over 24 feet at mean low tide. The remaining area gradually shoals to a minimum depth of 5 feet. While it would have been more desirable to throw the harbor farther out into the river, mainly to obtain a greater and more uniform depth, the steep inclination towards mid-river of the hard bottom substratum upon which the structure rests confines the execution of the project within certain limits on account of the disproportionate increase in constructive difficulties and expenses. The area inclosed appears at the first glance to be larger than is necessary. When, however, it is considered that the available space containing greater depth than 24 feet of water is only 35 per cent. of the whole inclosure, which should as much as possible be reserved for the largest class of vessels, leaving the remaining area for the smaller and more numerous class of vessels, the size of the harbor is none too large. In my former report I have called attention to the many advantages which a curvilinear form for the plan of the harbor would give in the present case; first, by inclosing a larger protected area in proportion to the length of the barriers than if projected straight off shore, leaving only a narrow but sufficiently wide entrance, admitting but little ice during slack water and the preva lence of strong easterly winds; second, by being better adapted to withstand any pressure from the outside; and third, by preventing the ice from packing against it in large masses, thus compelling it to float on and out into the river. Although it is not impossible with a little care and skill to construct the axis of the barriers exactly along the line of the arcs as shown in the plan, it may suffice to place only the piers upon this line and to make the intermediary portions straight. The inclosure will then practically represent a polygon with sides 92 feet long. Along the base of the inclosure it is proposed to place a cluster of oak piles 50 feet apart, each cluster to be composed of three piles, to prevent ice-floes from entering the harbor from the rear. As the water is shallow and the line of the base is nearly parallel to the currents, whose strength is much reduced along the shore, it is not expected that these piles will have to sustain any undue pressure. As stated above, the barriers on the up and down river sides of the harbor are proposed to be constructed wholly of iron. A sketch of a portion near the outer end is shown on Sheet No. 2. This portion was specially selected for illustration of the details because it is more complicated and heavier in construction than the portions near the shore will be. As a supplement to the drawings a general description of the whole structure is herewith added. Each barrier is composed of a series of piers, placed 92 feet apart from center to center, connected together longitudinally by sections of less massively built bridge-work. The longest axis of the pier is placed nor mal to the curvature of the inclosure. Whilst the piers form the buttresses, the ice-breakers, in fact the foundations of the work, the sections connecting them, though lighter in appearance, are nevertheless calculated to withstand the pressure and shocks from the ice as well and as effectually as the former. Both barriers are protected on their convex sides with an iron-fender system, reaching to 11 feet below the plane of mean low water. The piers, the bridge portion, and the fender system, these constitute the three distinct and characteristic features of the structure. Each pier forms an irregular six-sided pyramid, composed of six hollow cast-iron columns 12 inches in diameter in the piers nearest the shore, increasing, as the height may require, to 18 inches in the piers farthest out. The pyramids formed by those columns will have a uniform height of 22 feet from Pier Nos. 16 to 21 of the north barrier, and from Nos. 10 to 21 of the south barrier; those inshore of the numbers named will be of less height, and will, as nearly as possible, follow the profile of the gravel substratum. The six piles of each pier are rigidly braced together by two series of horizontal struts, and lougitudinally and transversely by vertical diagonal braces. The connections are every where to be made with round pins except in those cases where screwbolts are absolutely necessary. In fact, all the members of the substructure are designed plain and compact in cross-section, with as few component parts as possible, in order to present to the deteriorating influences of corrosion the least amount of surface area. It is proposed to "set up" each pier on shore and to float it into position subsequently with the aid of large pontons. The top stratum of the river-bed being very soft it is expected that they will sink into it for a certain depth; in the case of one of the outer, the largest piers, probably as much as 12 feet. The bearing capacity of this stratum will have to be determined by experimental tests. The bottom, notwithstanding its softness, will take up a portion of the weight of the pier. The lower end of each column is therefore in addition, to aid this purpose, extended into a horizontal disk of large diameter, which form bed plates with considerable bearing surface. Besides these disks the lower horizontal struts of each pyramid also offer additional bearing surface. It is obvious that in the same degree the weight of the mud superimposed upon these disks and other parts buried in the bottom will contribute materially to the stability of the piers. To fully secure them, however, and to prevent all possibility of their being overturned by external forces, the pyramids of each pier, as formed by the hollow cast-iron columns, are made to rest upon wrought-iron screw-piles of proportionate strength, projecting at the lower end from the interior of the columns and extending down to the substratum of gravel and stones, into which they are screwed. Before each pyramid is lowered, these screw-piles are pushed up as far as the screw below will permit, and are temporarily held within the columns until the accurate position of the pier is determined, after which they are fully and permanently screwed down into the gravel. The latter operation can be performed through the interior of the columns with a false socket and shaft fitting over the hexagonal or square head of the pile and subsequently withdrawn. To prevent any possible future movement or slipping of the columns upon the piles below, and to further secure them, set-screws enter the sides of the columns a little above the bottom of the river and fit into a corresponding groove or neck upon the wrought-iron piles. These screws are to be tightened by a diver, which will constitute the only diving work upon the piers. The cast-iron columns of each pier are to be filled subsequently with Portland cement concrete. The line of the inclosure between the piers is composed of a narrow bridge portion, standing upon six crossrows, of two each, of solid wrought-iron screw-piles. The piles have an inclination towards the axis of the barrier of 1 in 6, and extend to hard bottom from piers No. 1 to 16 in the north barrier and from piers No. 1 to 10 in the south barrier. From |