July 1, 1885, amount available.... $2,431 00 July 1, 1886, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of $1,695 38 1,725 38 July 1, 1886, amount available...... 705 62 Amount appropriated by act approved August 5, 1886 ... 5,000 00 Amount available for fiscal year ending June 30, 1887 .... 5,705 62 36,200 00 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project.... (See Appendix J 13.) 10,000 00 14. Staunton River, Virginia, between Brook Neal and Pig River.-The distance between Brook Neal and Pig River is 52 miles, and the average fall per mile is 4.3 feet. The present general project for the improvement of this part of the river was adopted in 1882, the object being to secure a navigable channel for bateaux not less than 14 feet wide and from 1 to 2 feet deep at low water, with a slope of water-surface at rapids not greater than 10 feet to the mile. The amount expended to June 30, 1884, was $1,894.79, which resulted in the improvement of navigation through the worst shoals in a distance of 15 miles. July 1, 1885, amount available.... July 1, 1886, amount available Amount appropriated by act approved August 5, 1886 Amount available for fiscal year ending June 30, 1887 ..... $105 21 105 21 5,000 00 5,105 21 27,000 00 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project.... (See Appendix J 14.) 15. Dan River, between Madison, North Carolina, and Danville, Virginia. The distance by the river from Madison to Danville is 49.81 miles and the descent 2.82 feet per mile. The object of the first project for this improvement, adopted in 1880, was to provide a channel for navigation not less than 35 feet wide, but it was afterward modified to a channel of not less than 16 feet wide and 2 feet deep in the rapids at low water. The amount expended to June 30, 1885, was $28,111.99, and during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1886, $1,739.86 were expended, making a total to June 30, 1886, of $29,851.85. This expenditure has resulted in the improvement of 5 miles of the river above Danville, and about 13 miles of the river have been freed from serious obstruction by this work. The officer in charge reports that $5,000 will be required to complete the work, and that this sum could be profitably expended during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1888. The work was to have been completed in three years, but has extended through seven, rendering it necessary to meet the contingent expenses for four years more than was intended. July 1, 1885, amount available... July 1, 1886, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of liabilities outstanding July 1, 1885.. July 1, 1886, outstanding liabilities.. Amount available for fiscal year ending June 30, 1887.... $1,699 86 $2,388 01 1,739 86 648 15 20,000 00 20,648 15 5,000 00 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project.... (See Appendix J 15.) 1,500 00 16. Roanoke River, North Carolina.-The first project for the improvement of this river was submitted in 1871, the object being to improve navigation by the removal of rocks near Weldon and Halifax, and all wrecks, snags, and overhanging trees at various other points, and dredging channels through the numerous bars and shoals. A part only of this project was adopted. The amount expended under the first project to June 30, 1884, was $45,000. The first appropriation under the present project of $5,000, made August 2, 1882, was expended in repairing two dikes at Indian Highland Bar. A survey was also made to ascertain the changes which had taken place since 1871, and a report was submitted. The appropriation of July 5, 1884 ($3,000), was not expended because insufficient to prosecute the work economically. The engineer in charge recommends that the operations should be limited, for the present, to the building of snag-boats, the removal of snags, and to the careful examination of certain bars. This work will, when accomplished, effect a much needed improvement. July 1, 1885, amount available.... July 1, 1886, amount available...... Amount appropriated by act approved August 5, 1886.... Amount available for fiscal year ending June 30, 1887. (See Appendix J 16.) 17. French Broad River, North Carolina.-The first project for the improvement of this river was adopted in 1878, the object being to secure a channel 35 feet wide and not less than 2 feet deep at low water between Brevard and Big Buck Shoals, a distance of 31.61 miles. The amount expended to June 30, 1882, was $37,780.22, with which expenditure the following results were attained: A survey of the river between Brevard and Big Buck Shoals; the improvement of the various shoals and rapids by means of rock and gravel excavation; and the construction of wing-dams for a distance of 26 miles below Brevard. The act of August 2, 1882, appropriated $5,000 for improving the river "from Smith's Bridge up." A survey from Smith's Bridge (near Asheville) to the foot of Long Shoal, a distance of 12.09 miles, was made in 1882, and a project adopted for securing a channel 30 feet wide and not less than 24 feet deep at low water for this distance. The estimates amounted to $76,000. In the fiscal year ended June 30, 1884, this part of the river was improved for a distance of 41⁄2 miles above the bridge, under a special act of appropriation. If Congress direct the improvement between Brevard and Big Buck Shoals, $8,000 is required; and for continuing the improvement between Long Shoal and Smith's Bridge, $25,000. The amount expended to June 30, 1885, was $42,788.23, and during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1886, $52 have been expended, making a total to June 30, 1886, of $42,840.23. July 1, 1885, amount available July 1, 1886, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of liabilities outstanding July 1, 1885 July 1, 1886, amount available............ Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project ... harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix J 17.) $211 77 52 00 159 77 79,000 00 18. Aqueduct Bridge over the Potomac at Georgetown, District of Columbia. To enable a compliance with a resolution of the Senate of February 25, 1866, Mr. Abert was charged with an examination of the condition of this bridge, especially as to its safety for ordinary travel when the aqueduct is filled with water. His report thereon was transmitted to the Senate May 12, and printed as Senate Ex. Doc. No. 138, Fortyninth Congress, first session. (See also Appendix J 18.) IMPROVEMENT OF THE HARBOR AT NORFOLK, VIRGINIA-APPROACH TO NORFOLK HARBOR, VIRGINIA-CURRITUCK SOUND-COANJOK AND EDENTON BAYS, AND NORTH RIVER BAR, NORTH CAROLINA— IMPROVEMENT OF CERTAIN RIVERS IN VIRGINIA AND NORTH CAR OLINA. Officer in charge, Capt. F. A. Hinman, Corps of Engineers. Supervising Engineer, Lieut. Col. W. P. Craighill, Corps of Engineers. 1. Harbor at Norfolk, Virginia.-The project for improvement, adopted in 1877, was to deepen and widen the channel at the mouth of the Southern Branch and along the Berkley and Portsmouth flats, in the harbor proper, and, for the approaches, to dredge a channel 500 feet wide and 25 feet deep at ordinary low water through the bars at the Western Branch and Sewall's Point. The revised project of 1885 is as follows: 1. To secure a channel not less than 25 feet deep and 500 feet wide at ordinary low water, by dredg ing, from the deep water of Hampton Roads to Norfolk and the United States navy-yard on the Southern Branch, and also to secure a channel in the Eastern Branch, at the same stage, not less than 22 feet deep, with a width at least 300 feet at the Norfolk and Western Railroad Bridge, and gradually increasing to about 700 feet at its mouth, by dredging between said points; and, 2. To ultimately dredge the entire area bounded by lines parallel to and 75 feet from the Port-Warden lines to a depth not less than 25 feet, at ordinary low water, from Fort Norfolk to the United States navy-yard, and not less than 22 feet deep from the mouth of the Eastern Branch to Campostella Bridge, and to construct a bulkhead at Berkley Flats. With slight modifications all operations have been conducted in accordance therewith. The amount expended to June 30, 1885, was $383,032.81, which resulted in a channel at least 25 feet deep and not less than 200 feet wide at ordinary low water from the deep water of Hamp ton Roads to the United States navy-yard, and also a channel at least 22 feet deep and not less than 200 feet wide at same stage in the Eastern Branch up to the Norfolk and Western Railroad Bridge. The former channel at Sewall's Point has contracted somewhat, and has shoaled in places to 24 feet; at the mouth of Southern Branch i has shoaled to 24 feet for a distance of 700 feet. The latter channel has deteriorated slightly. The easterly side of the cut through Sewall's Point Bar should be buoyed every 1,200 feet to mark it properly. There was expended in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1886, $113.53, which was applied to contingencies. Since the original estimates were made for this harbor the conditions upon which they were based have changed very materially, owing to increased commerce necessitating more wharves and anchorage-ground. The aggregate appropriations exceed the original estimates slightly, but expenditures have been made in localities not originally contemplated. There will be but a small balance on hand at the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1887. To entirely and permanently complete this work, so far as can be foreseen, will require the expenditure of $507,744.56, and this amount can be profitably expended in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1888, in the general improvement of the harbor and its approaches by dredging, and the construction of a bulkhead. The portion of the approach to the harbor between Lambert's Point and Fort Norfolk is not included herein as it is the subject of the following report. July 1, 1885, amount available July 1, 1886, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of liabilities outstanding July 1, 1885 .... $2,000 94 113 53 July 1, 1886, amount available..... 1,887 41 Amount appropriated by act approved August 5, 1886... 50,000 00 Amount available for fiscal year ending June 30, 1887 ..... 51,887 41 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project.. 457,744 56 100, 000 00 (See Appendix K 1.) 2. Approach to Norfolk Harbor and the United States (Norfolk) Navyyard, between Lambert's Point and Fort Norfolk.-The original condition of the channel was good, with the exception of a bar opposite the mouth of the Western Branch, on some parts of which the ruling depth was only about 15 feet at mean low water. The project for the improvement adopted in 1878 was to dredge this bar for a distance of 4,800 feet to a width of 500 feet and a depth of 25 feet at mean low water. The amount expended on this work to July 5, 1884, cannot be stated, as it cannot be separated from the sum total of the general expenditures for the work of improving the harbor at Norfolk, Va., and its approaches, of which this was a part up to that date. The result obtained from the expenditures at this point to November, 1880, was a channel 4,400 feet long, 265 feet wide, and 25 feet deep at mean low water, which greatly facilitated navigation and commerce. This channel has since shoaled to 24 feet in places, and contracted considerably. No work was done in this locality thereafter until subsequent to the passage of the act of July 5, 1884, which appropriated $50,000 specifically for widening the channel. There was expended in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1885, $381.36, which was applied to surveying the locality in question and preparing map of same. A Board of Engineer officers was convened August, 1884, to prepare a project for the application of this appropriation. The Board reported a plan involving, in conjunction with dredging, the construction of a dike at or near Pinner Point, expressing at the same time doubts whether, under the phraseology of the law, any part of the money could be applied to a work of construction. However, the requirements of navigation demanding the widening of the channel as contemplated in the project already commenced and partly executed, by dredging, it was recommended that the existing appropriation be applied to widening the channel between Lambert's Point and Fort Norfolk by dredging along the eastern side thereof. This having been approved, the work was done accordingly. There was expended in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1886, $46,806.89, which was applied to the removal of 469,944 cubic yards of material, measured in scows, resulting in a straight channel not less than 25 feet deep and at least 400 feet wide, at mean low water, the entire length of this approach. Formerly the channel had an angle in it. This work has materially benefited navigation and commerce. The easterly side of the channel should be buoyed every 1,200 feet to mark it properly. The amount that can be profitably expended in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1888, is $118,100, which it is proposed to expend in the construction of a dike and in widening the channel along the eastern side by dredging. This will complete the project. The advantages and benefits to be derived therefrom will be a better approach to the harbor and the navy-yard and more room for anchorage. July 1, 1885, amount available... $49,618 64 Amount received from sale of fuel to an officer 38 25 49,656 89 July 1, 1886, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of liabilities outstanding July 1, 1885.... 46,806 89 July 1, 1886, amount available...... 2,850 00 Amount appropriated by act approved August 5, 1886.... 137,500 00 Amount available for fiscal year ending June 30, 1887.... Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project.... (See Appendix K 2.) 140, 350 00 118,100 00 118, 100 00 3. Appomattox River, Virginia.-At the close of the late war the navigation of this river was in such a condition that the depth of water on more than one of the shoals did not exceed 63 feet at high tide, and this depth was diminished by 3 feet at low tide. The plan of improvement adopted in 1870 was to attain a depth of 12 feet at high tide, with as much width of channel as the river would bear. This plan has been steadily adhered to, constant progress being made towards its completion from year to year by the use of the money granted by Congress. The means depended on have been jetties, wing-dams, and trainingwalls, with resort to the dredge only when the needs of commerce required immediate work in the channel to give more width or depth than had been attained under the slower operation of the structures mentioned, of which the system has not yet been fully carried out for want |