APPENDIX C. IMPROVEMENT OF RIVERS AND HARBORS ON SOUTHERN COAST OF MASSACHUSETTS, IN RHODE ISLAND, AND ON EASTERN COAST OF CONNECTICUT. REPORT OF CAPTAIN W. H. BIXBY, CORPS OF ENGINEERS, OFFICER IN CHARGE, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1892, WITH OTHER DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE WORKS. ENGINEER OFFICE, U. S. ARMY, Newport, R. I., July 9, 1892. GENERAL: I have the honor to submit herewith annual reports on the river and harbor works under my charge at the end of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1892. At the commencement of the fiscal year these works were in the charge of Maj. W. R. Livermore. They were transferred to me on the 7th December, 1891. This office has been assisted by Assistant Engineers Edward Parrish, John H. Rostock, and Superintendent Walter C. Simmons. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Brig. Gen. THOMAS L. CASEY, Chief of Engineers, U. S. A. W. H. BIXBY, Captain of Engineers. C 1. HARBOR OF REFUGE AT HYANNIS, MASSACHUSETTS. The harbor of Hyannis lies on the south shore of the peninsula of Cape Cod, about 15 miles to the westward of the heel of the cape, and is an important harbor of refuge. (For map see page 592, Annual Report of 1884.) The mean rise and fall of the tide is about 32 feet. ORIGINAL CONDITION. Before improvement it was an open roadstead, exposed to southerly storms, with depths varying from 10 to 20 feet in the inner harbor. In the years 1827-1838 a breakwater of riprap granite, 1,170 feet long, was constructed, covering an anchorage of about 175 acres, the entrance to which had a depth of about 15 feet. In the years 1852-1882 extensive repairs were made in increasing the width of its base and the size of the stone forming its sides and top. About $124,000 was spent on this work, completed in 1882. PLAN OF IMPROVEMENT. The depth of water immediately inside the breakwater being insufficient for many vessels that now seek the harbor of refuge, the present project of 1884 for the improvement of the harbor, published in the Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1885, volume 1, pages 560 and 619-621, contemplates dredging the area protected by the breakwater to a depth of 15 feet at mean low water, at a total cost, as estimated in 1884, of $45,743.20, including the $81.20 then left over from past appropriations. APPROPRIATIONS. Upon the present project appropriations have been made as follows: On hand 1884, $81.20; 1886, $10,000; 1888, $10,000; 1890, $8,000. Totals up to June 30, 1891, $28,081.20. AMOUNT EXPENDED AND RESULTS TO JUNE 30, 1891. The total amount expended on the present project (including $3,237.03 of outstanding liabilities) up to June 30, 1891, was $26,066.20. The 15foot anchorage area had been increased by about 11 acres, about onethird of the entire area to be dredged. OPERATIONS DURING THE LAST FISCAL YEAR. Value of United States plant, $8,400. Including $5.60 of outstanding liabilities the expenses of the year were $2,015. At the beginning of the last fiscal year work was in progress with plant consisting of the dredge Texas and two scows belonging to the United States, and a hired tug. Six thousand three hundred and sixty cubic yards were excavated during the year, which added about 1.1 acres to the 153-foot anchorage area. Work in the field was stopped on July 16, and the plant was then transferred to other localities. This work was in the local charge of Mr. C. O. Abell as superintend ent. WORK REQUIRED TO COMPLETE THE EXISTING PROJECT. The work required to complete the existing project is the completion of the dredging to a depth of 15 feet over 23 acres more in the area limited on the west by a line running due north from the western end of the breakwater, and on the north by a line running parallel to the breakwater, and distant 1,500 feet from it, leaving a berm of 100 feet along its northern side. OPERATIONS CONTEMPLATED FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1893. It is proposed to apply the balance on hand and the funds asked for to the execution of the project above referred to-of deepening the anchorage area inside the breakwater. Hyannis Harbor is in the Barnstable collection district, and Barnstable is the nearest port of entry. The amount of revenue collected at Barnstable in the last calendar year was $1,528.78. The main value of the harbor is for a harbor of refuge. The nearest light-house is Hyannis Light; the nearest fortification is the fort at Clarks Point, New Bedford,· Mass. Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project 11, 662.00 11,662.00 COMMERCIAL STATISTICS. The commerce arriving and leaving Hyannis Harbor, Massachusetts, by water, during the calendar year ending December 31, 1891, is estimated as follows (based mainly upon reports received from Mr. William Crocker, deputy collector, Hyannis, Mass., and Mr. A. F. Lathrop, Hyannis, Mass.): Gain over last year in exports, 1,774 tons; in imports, none known. Transportation lines established during the year, none. The entrances and departures of vessels from this waterway are estimated as follows: HARBOR OF REFUGE AT NANTUCKET, MASSACHUSETTS. Nantucket Harbor is the only one between the harbors of Marthas Vineyard (Vineyard Haven and Edgartown) and Provincetown, a distance of about 100 miles, except the small harbor of Hyannis, on the other (the north) side of Nantucket Sound. The navigation of this sound is intricate and dangerous by reason of numerous shoals. Nantucket Harbor has deep water inside, and the object of the improvement is to make it a harbor of refuge for vessels plying between ports north and south of Cape Cod, estimated to be 30,000 annually. In the memorial to Congress, on which the first appropriation for this harbor of refuge was based, it was stated that more than 500 vessels had been wrecked in the vicinity of the island. (For map of harbor see page 423, Annual Report of 1880, and page 576 of Report of 1885.) The mean rise and fall of the tide is about 3 feet. ORIGINAL CONDITION. Before the commencement of the present work there was a shoal about 13 miles in width outside the entrance, through which shoal the channel or line of best water was only about 6 feet deep and very crooked and subject to changes in location. PLAN OF THE WORKS. The present approved project of 1880 as modified in 1885, is to construct jetties of riprap stone projecting from either side of the present entrance to the harbor, for the purpose of concentrating the strength of the tidal currents and excavating a channel of 15 feet depth by scour, and at the places where the full depth required will not be reached by this means to complete the work by dredging, at a total cost, as estimated in 1885, of $375,000 (see page 434, Annual Report 1880, and pages 575, 576 of 1885). A plan of the works may be found in the Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1885, Part I, page 578. APPROPRIATIONS. Upon the present project appropriations have been made as follows: 1880, $50,000; 1881, $25,000; 1882, $25,000; 1884, $10,000; 1886, $15,000; 1888, $20,000; 1890, $25,000. Totals up to June 30, 1891, $170,000. AMOUNT EXPENDED AND RESULTS TO JUNE 30, 1891. The total amount expended on the present project (including $2,613.22 outstanding liabilities) up to June 30, 1891, was $155,385; and the result was the construction of the west jetty to a point 3,955 feet from the shore, and the east jetty to a distance of 834 feet from its initial point on shore, which is the outer end of the middle of the three northwest spurs built on Coatue Beach some years ago, and the foundation was laid and the jetty partially completed for an additional distance of 191 feet. The channel was deepened by scour to 71⁄2 feet. Nearly half the needed work had beeu done. OPERATIONS DURING THE LAST FISCAL YEAR. Value of United States plant, $6,500. Including $113,42 of outstanding liabilities, the expenses of the year were $14,615. At the beginning of the last fiscal year the work of constructing the east jetty had just been resumed. During the year 7,146 tons of stone were put in the work, by which a length of about 1,300 feet of the east jetty was built up to the half tide level. This work was done by hired labor and barges and towboats owned and hired by the Government. The stone put in the east jetty was carried to Nantucket Harbor in barges, from whence it had to be lightered over the Coatue Flats; this having been mostly done in the lighters belonging to the Government, which from their light draft were well adapted to this kind of work. The work was discontinued on the 14th of August to await further appropriations. A light has been maintained on the west jetty during the year except during the last two weeks of June, when, from the exhaustion of the appropriation, it was discontinued. This work was in the local charge of Mr. C. W. Sherman as superin tendent. WORK REQUIRED TO COMPLETE THE EXISTING PROJECT. The work required to complete the existing project is the extension of the east jetty, the raising of the west jetty in some places, and the excavation by dredging of so much of the channel as may not be excavated by tidal scour. OPERATIONS CONTEMPLATED FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1893. The work has been much delayed heretofore by the scour around the end of the jetty, making it necessary to build it in 15 feet of water instead of in 5. According to the present plan it is proposed to build up a considerable length of the jetty to the half-tide level before completing it to the full cross section. The channel appears to be moving continually to the eastward and deepening slightly from year to year. It is proposed to apply the balance on hand and the funds asked for to the further construction of the east jetty and raising low places in the west jetty, together with a little dredging, if necessary. Nantucket is in the Nantucket collection district and is a port of entry. There was no revenue collected in the last calendar year. The value of the harbor is mainly as a harbor of refuge. The nearest light-houses are Nantucket Cliff and Brant Point lights. The nearest fortification is the fort at Clark Point, New Bedford, Mass. |