July 1, 1881, amount available.... July 1, 1882, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive 2,050,000 00 350,000 00 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project. 25. Elk River, West Virginia.-The season of work on this river is necessarily short, being confined to the season of low-water. Operations were begun early in May, 1881, and suspended at the end of October, and had not been resumed in 1882 before the end of the fiscal year because of the smallness of the available balance. The character of the work was of the same kind as specified in previous reports and has continued beneficial. On account of the season for operation having nearly passed at the time of the passage of the river and harbor act of August 2, 1882, as well as owing to the dilapidated condition of the lock and dam built near Charleston by charter from the State, which at this time forms a serious and hurtful obstruction to the navigation, the officer in charge has recommended the suspension of work for the present with the hope that the companies owning these works will furnish reliet to navigation. July 1, 1881, amount available... July 1, 1882, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of outstanding liabilities July 1, 1881.. July 1, 1882, amount available.... Amount appropriated by act passed August 2, 1882. $8,106 98 7,133 08 973 90 2,000 00 Amount available for fiscal year ending June 30, 1883... (See Appendix G 25.) 2,973 90 26. Cape Fear River, North Carolina.—A detailed account of the history of this improvement for many years past and of the condition of the navigation up to June 30, 1881, was given in the last Annual Report; see page 148 of Part I. Up to that date the amount expended on the work had been $1,131,949.68. The depth on the bar of the Baldhead Channel was 14 feet at mean low-water. The least depth on the Horseshoe Shoal was 11 feet, and thence to Wilmington the least depth was 12 feet, but the channel was in a few places quite narrow. Vessels drawing 14 feet of water could at ordinary spring tides be carried from Wilmington to Smithville, and 18 feet draught thence to the ocean. The amount expended in the year ending June 30, 1882, has been $82,519.58, which has been chiefly applied to dredging to a depth of 16 feet at mean low-water. The early completion of such a channel from Smithville Harbor to Wilmington is highly important for the interests of commerce and navigation. The commerce of the port seems to be steadily increasing. The collector states that the amount of revenue for the fiscal year just ended was 30 per cent. greater than for the previous year, and that in turn had been 25 per cent. greater than for the preceding one. The indications are excellent for a successful termination of this interesting and important work at no distant day. The appropriation of 1882 will be chiefly expended in continuing the dredging of the channel above Federal Point to a depth of 16 feet at mean low-water. July 1, 182, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of July 1, 1881, amount available outstanding liabilities July 1, 1881 July 1, 1882, outstanding liabilities.. July 1, 1832, amount available Amount appropriated by act passed August 2, 1882. Amount available for fiscal year ending June 30, 1883.. $145,550 32 $78,607 82 3,911 76 82,519 58 63,030 74 225,000 00 288,030 74 287,000 00 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1884. 287,000 00 (See Appendix G 26.) EXAMINATION AND SURVEYS FOR IMPROVEMENT. To comply with provisions of the river and harbor act of March 3, 1881, Lieutenant Colonel Craighill was charged with and completed the following, which were transmitted to Congress and printed in Senate Ex. Doc. 68, Forty-seventh Congress, first session: 1. The channel of Broad Creek, on the west side of Kent Island, Maryland. (See Appendix G 27.) 2. Corsica Creek, Maryland. (See Appendix G 5.) 3. Upper Thoroughfare leading into Tangier Sound, Deal's Island, and Rock Creek, Maryland. (See Appendix G 15.) 4. Skipton Creek, Maryland. (See Appendix G 28.) 5. Bush River, Maryland, from Harford Furnace to Chesapeake Bay. (See Appendix G 29.) And also printed as Senate Ex. Doc. 147, Forty-seventh Congress, first session. 6. Further survey of James River, Virginia, for the purpose of ascertaining the practicability and cost of procuring a channel of 25 feet at full tide from Richmond to the mouth of the river. (See Appendix G 20.) And to comply with one of the provisions of the sundry civil act of March 3, 1881. 7. Additional surveys across the peninsula of Maryland and Delaware to connect by canal the waters of the Delaware and Chesapeake bays. Transmitted to Congress and printed as Senate Ex. Doc. 99, Forty-seventh Congress, first session. (See also Appendix G 30.) The act of August 2, 1882, contained also the following clause: That the sum of $10,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, be, and the same is hereby, appropriated to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of War, in completing the surveys of a ship-canal to connect the Chesapeake and Delaware bays; and the Secretary of War is hereby directed to report to Congress which of the various routes surveyed will afford the greatest protection in case of war, and the greatest facilities to commerce by cheapening the cost of transportation from the city of Baltimore to the Atlantic Ocean, together with the cost of said improvement and its approaches, and the annual cost of maintaining and operating said canal when constructed: Provided, That nothing herein shall be construed to commit the government to proceed with the construction of the said improvement. A further report on this subject will be made before or soon after the meeting of Congress in December. IMPROVEMENT OF THE HARBORS AT WASHINGTON AND GEORGETOWN, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA; AND AT BRETON BAY AND SAINT JEROME'S CREEK, MARYLAND; OF THE CHANNEL AT MOUNT VERNON, VIRGINIA; OF RAPPAHANNOCK RIVER; OF TRIBUTARIES OF THE LOWER POTOMAC, AND OF CERTAIN RIVERS IN VIRGINIA AND NORTH CAROLINA. Engineer in charge, Mr. S. T. Abert, United States Civil Engineer. 1. Harbors at Washington and Georgetown, District of Columbia.-The operations for the improvement of these harbors, commenced in 1871, have been directed to securing and maintaining a navigable channel from Easby's Point, in the city of Washington, to Giesborough Point, the lower limit of the harbor, 200 feet wide and 16 feet deep at lowwater; to the removal of rocks in Georgetown Harbor, and to securing a channel along the Washington wharves of sufficient dimensions for the requirements of commerce and navigation. Previous to the commencement of dredging operations, in 1871, the least depth in the Georgetown Channel over the bar above the Long Bridge was 10 feet at lowwater. The amount expended to June 30, 1881, was $171,140.80, and during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1882, the amount expended was $63,223.26, making a total of $234,364.06. These expenditures have resulted in securing 1. A channel through the bar above the Long Bridge, 200 feet wide and 15 feet deep, which was completed in December, 1871. 2. A redredging of the same channel, which in three years had filled in to a depth of 10 feet, 200 feet wide and from 15 to 16 feet deep, completed in April, 1875. 3. A channel through the bar near Giesborough Point, 200 feet wide and from 15 to 16 feet deep, completed in June, 1875. 4. The removal of portions of three rocks in Georgetown Harbor, comprising 522 cubic yards, completed August 15, 1876. 5. A second redredging of the channel through the bar above the Long Bridge, which had again filled in to a depth of about 10 feet, 200 feet wide and 16 feet deep, completed in April, 1880. 6. A channel along the Washington wharves, 200 feet wide and 12 feet deep, of which 75 feet in width was afterwards deepened to 15 feet, completed in May, 1880. 7. A redredging of the channel along the Washington wharves to a depth of from 15 to 16 feet at low-water, and to a width of 190 feet along the immediate wharf-front, and a width of 150 feet in front of the Arsenal Grounds. This work was commenced December 5, 1881, and completed June 1, 1882. The appropriation of March 3, 1879, for the Georgetown Channel, amounting to $30,000, had been reserved until this channel should require redredging. The depth over the bar above the Long Bridge having decreased by deposits from freshets, and the coal trade of George. town having brought into use vessels of greater draught, this appropriation, together with amounts previously reserved for Georgetown Harbor and Channel, have been applied to the above-named work, and at the close of the fiscal year ending July 30, 1882, dredging in Georgetown Channel, above the Long Bridge, was in progress. The engineer in charge recommends an appropriation of $50,000 for continuing the removal of rocks in Georgetown Harbor and at the outlet lock and inclined plane of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal above Georgetown, and an appropriation of $800,000 for continuing the improvement of the harbors of Washington and Georgetown as a part of the plan for the general improvement of these harbors recommended by the Board of Engineers of February, 1882. July 1, 1881, amount available... July 1, 1882, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of outstanding liabilities July 1, 1881 July 1, 1882, outstanding liabilities $120,798 01 $63, 152 96 23 46 63, 176. 42 July 1, 1882, amount available... Amount appropriated by act passed August 2 1882. Amount available for fiscal year ending June 30, 1883............. Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project.. Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30,1884 (See Appendix H 1.) 57,621 59 400, 000 00 457, 621 59 2, 100, 000 00 800,000 00 2. Channel at Mount Vernon, Virginia.-Previous to the commencement of this improvement, there was a depth of but 4 feet at low-water over the wide flat between the wharf at Mount Vernon and the main channel of the Potomac River. The present project for the improvement of this channel was adopted in 1879, the object being to excavate a channel from deep water at Mount Vernon 150 feet wide, and from 6 to 7 feet deep at low-water, with a turning basin at the wharf. The amount expended thereon to June 30, 1881, was $6,993. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1882, $1,449.68 had been expended, making a total of $8,442.68, which has resulted in securing a channel 145 feet wide, with a depth varying from 7 to 9 feet, from the Potomac Channel to the wharf, and a circular turning basin at the wharf, of the same depth and with a radius of 150 feet. The appropriation of $5,500 asked for is to be applied to widening the channel and enlarging the turning basin, and will complete the proposed plan of improvement. July 1, 1881, amount available July 1, 1882, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of outstanding liabilities July 1, 1881. $1,500 52 1,443 38 July 1, 1882, amount available 57 14 5,500 00 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project ... Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1884. 5,500 00 (See Appendix H 2.) 3. Neabsco Creek, Virginia.-The obstruction to navigation in this stream consisted of a wide flat at the mouth, about 14 miles in length, over which but 24 feet could be carried at low-water, and several short bars in the upper part of the creek, where the channel is narrow and tortuous. The present project for the improvement was adopted in 1881, and contemplated the excavation of a channel through the bars 100 feet wide and 7 feet deep at low-water from the Potomac River to Atkinson's Upper Landing (including a channel to Atkinson's Lower Landing and Willis's Wharf), a distance of about 14,800 feet. The river and harbor act of March 3, 1881, appropriated $5,000 for the improvement. The amount expended to the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1882, was $4,711.33, and had resulted in securing a channel 50 feet wide and from 4 to 5 feet deep at low-water from the Potomac River to a point 1,800 feet above Willis's Wharf, where the creek is narrow and has a sufficient depth, although other bars still exist above this point. For continuing the improvement an appropriation of $20,000 is recommended for the year ending June 30, 1884. July 1, 1881, amount available... $4,988 37 July 1, 1882, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of outstanding liabilities July 1, 1881.. 4,701 70 July 1, 1882, amount available...... 286 67 51,000 00 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project... Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 20, 1884. 20,000 00 (See Appendix H 3.) 4. Breton Bay, Leonardtown, Maryland.—The harbor of Leonardtown, at the upper end of Breton Bay, prior to the commencement of the present improvement, had a least depth of only 5 feet at low-water, which was insufficient for the passage of steamers to and from the Leonardtown Wharf. The present project for the improvement was adopted in 1878, the object being to excavate a channel 150 feet wide and 9 feet deep between the 9-foot curve in the bay and Leonardtown Wharf. The amount expended to June 30, 1881, was $11,984.84. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1882, $3,011.21 have been expended, making a total to June 30, 1882, of $14,996.05. These expenditures have resulted in securing a channel 115 feet wide for a distance of 2,700 feet, and 40 feet wide for a distance of 400 feet, and a basin at the wharf 650 feet long and 375 feet wide, all to a depth of 9 feet at low-water. The work of the past fiscal year, under the small appropriation of $3,000 made March 3, 1881, was necessarily limited to enlarging the turning-basin, which was then the most urgent work. The appropriation of $10,000 asked for will complete this improvement, and will be applied to widening the channel and extending it to the required depth of 9 feet in the bay. July 1, 1881, amount available... $3,015 16 July 1, 1882, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of outstanding liabilities July 1, 1881.. 3,011 21 10,000 00 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project...... Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1884. 10,000 00 (See Appendix H 4.) 5. Nomini Creek, Virginia.-The first surveys at Nomini Creek were made in 1873. The stream is an important tributary of the Potomac, 82 miles below Washington, draining a large area of productive country. The navigation was, however, obstructed by a bar of sand and oyster shells at its mouth, over which but 3 feet could be carried at low-water, and the dangers and difficulties in passing the bar were further increased by the cross-tides and an exceedingly rapid current. The present project for the improvement was adopted in 1873, the ob ject being to excavate a channel through this bar 100 feet wide and 9 feet deep at low water, and was modified in 1879 so as to provide for a width of 150 feet. The amount expended to June 30, 1881, was $28,485.91. The amount expended during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1882, was $2,014.09, |