G 9. IMPROVEMENT OF ALLOWAY CREEK, NEW JERSEY. The river and harbor act of September 19, 1890, contained an appropriation of $6,000 for the improvement of Alloway Creek, New Jersey. This was the first appropriation made for the work. Alloway Creek discharges into the Delaware River at a point about 7 miles below Fort Delaware. Before improvement its channel had a natural mean low-water depth of more than 6 feet, extending 34 miles above its mouth. Between this point and Quinton, a distance of 61⁄2 miles, there were nine bars with minimum depths at mean low water of from 1.3 to 4 feet. The project for its improvement was based upon a survey made in 1889, and proposed the improvement of the stream between Quinton, N. J., and its mouth, a distance of 10 miles, by the formation, by dredging, of a channel 6 feet deep at mean low water and 60 feet wide from Quinton to a point about 1,000 feet above the Upper Hancock Bridge; from thence a channel of the same depth and 75 feet wide to the lower side of the bar at the Square. At a locality in the creek known as the Canal, in addition to obtaining a channel of the dimensions above named, the width of the stream is to be increased to about 150 feet between its low-water lines. At the Square the dredged channel is to be supplemented by a deflecting dike about 500 feet in length, formed of the material dredged from the adjacent bar, with its channel face protected by a riprip of stone. The estimated cost of the work was $25,000. Under date of March 4, 1891, a contract was made with Frank C. Somers for the removal by dredging of about 25,000 cubic yards of material, at 18 cents per cubic yard, from the shoal areas at the Square, Canal, and Upper Hancock Bridge. At the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1891, 18,341 cubic yards had been removed under this contract. During the past fiscal year 4,893 cubic yards of material were removed, thereby completing the contract on July 14, 1891, by the aggregate removal of 23,234 cubic yards. The work already done has produced channels 75 feet wide and 6 feet deep at mean low water through the worst bars at localities known as the Square, Canal, and Upper Hancock Bridge, whereby about onefifth of the work projected has been accomplished and navigation much improved. This work is situated in the collection district of Bridgeton, N. J., which is the nearest port of entry, at which no revenue was collected during the year ending December 31, 1891. The nearest fort is Fort Delaware, and the Reedy Island Light is the nearest light-house. Money statement. July 1, 1891, balance unexpended... June 30, 1892, amount expended during fiscal year.. July 1, 1892, balance unexpended..... Amount appropriated by act approved July 13, 1892. Amount available for fiscal year ending June 30, 1893.. Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project.... $2,532.12 2, 131.73 400.39 3,000.00 3,400.39 16,000.00 16,000. 00 Steamers COMMERCIAL STATISTICS. Arrivals and departures of vessels for year ending December 31, 1891. Sailing vessels. Total Kind of vessels. Freight statement. The project adopted in 1882 provided for the formation by dredging of a low-water channel 100 feet wide and 6 feet deep from a point about 4 miles below Millville to Millville Bridge, and a channel of the same width and 4 feet deep above the bridge to the head of navigation. The project was modified in 1890 so as to provide for the extension of the 6-foot channel from Millville to the head of navigation; and again in 1892, so as to provide for the further extension of the 6-foot channel with a width of 50 feet for a distance of about 500 feet further upstream, and for slight local improvements of the channel below Millville. During the past fiscal year, under a contract with the American Dredging Company, dated May 22, 1891, 30,840 cubic yards of material, at 19 cents per cubic yard, measured in place, were dredged from the channel, the work being completed on February 20, 1892. Under an open-market agreement with the same company, and at the same price, 6,552 cubic yards of material were removed from the channel, the work being completed on February 29, 1892. By these operations the improvement has been fully completed in accordance with the adopted project. The original estimated cost of the improvement was $112,000. The conditions having been very favorable, it has been completed at a total cost of $43,000. At the time of adoption of the project the channel of this river had a natural mean low-water depth of from 10 to 40 feet from the bay to a point 4 miles below Millville, a distance of about 20 miles, except upon the bar at the mouth, where the depth was 5 feet. The remainder of the river to the head of navigation, a distance of about 4 miles, was quite shoal, with a minimum depth of 2 feet at mean low water. As the result of the improvement there is now a channel having a minimum low-water depth of 6 feet from the bar to the head of navigation, and the river is navigable at all stages of the tide. This work is situated in the collection district of Bridgeton, N. J., which is the nearest port of entry, at which no revenue was collected during the year ending December 31, 1891. The nearest fort is Fort Delaware, and the Maurice River Light is the nearest light-house. Arrivals and departures of vessels for year ending December 31, 1891. 43,000 $8,083.77 8,083.77 REMOVING SUNKEN VESSELS OR CRAFT OBSTRUCTING OR ENDANGERING NAVIGATION. During the past fiscal year three wrecks have been removed under the authority of the act of Congress approved June 14, 1880. In April, 1891, the scow Paddy Ryan was sunk in the Rancocas River, New Jersey, near the railroad drawbridge at Delanco. The wreck being a dangerous obstruction to all vessels passing through the draw its removal was recommended. Under date of June 24, 1891, a contract was made with Enoch Townsend for the removal of the wreck for the sum of $345. The work was completed on July 8, 1891. In September, 1882, the iron steamer Nuphar was sunk on the outer bar of Townsend Inlet, New Jersey. The wreck being a dangerous obstruction to vessels passing through the inlet its removal was recomended. Under date of December 2, 1891, a contract was made with Enoch Townsend for the removal of the wreck for the sum of $4,875. The work was completed on April 7, 1892. In December, 1891, the canal boat Agatha Brady was sunk in the Delaware River opposite Fairmount Avenue Wharf, city of Philadel phia, in about 24 feet of water, just eastward of the channel of the river. The wreck being a dangerous obstruction to navigation its removal was recommended. Under date of June 10, 1892, a contract was entered into with the American Dredging Company for the removal of the wreck for the sum of $425. The work was completed on June 17, 1892. Abstract of proposals for removal of the wreck of the steamship Nuphar, lying on the outer bar of Townsend Inlet, N. J., opened Novembev 23, 1891, by Maj. C. W. Raymond, Corps of Engineers. Contract (dated December 2, 1891) entered into with Enoch Townsend. Abstract of proposals for removal of the wreck of the canalboat Agatha Brady, lying in the Delaware River opposite Fairmount Avenue Wharf, city of Philadelphia, opened June 6, 1892, by Maj. C. W. Raymond, Corps of Engineers. Contract (dated June 10, 1892) with the American Dredging Company. G 12. REPORT OF COMMISSION OF ENGINEER OFFICERS UPON LOCATION AND [Printed in House Ex. Doc. No. 112, Fifty-second Congress, first session.] Philadelphia, Pa., January 5, 1892. GENERAL: The Commission of Engineer Officers constituted by paragraph 2, Special Orders No. 66, Headquarters, Corps of Engineers, United States Army, September 30, 1890, to examine and report upon a proposed national harbor of refuge for deep-draft vessels near the mouth of Delaware Bay, under the provisions of the river and harbor act of September 19, 1890, has the honor to submit the following report: The provisions of law above referred to are as follows: SEC. 17. That the Secretary of War is hereby directed, at his discretion, to cause examinations or surveys, or both, to be made, and the estimated cost of improvement to be estimated, at the following localities, to wit: * * * * Delaware Bay, with a view of determining the best site near the mouth of the same for a national harbor of refuge suitable for deep-draft vessels. The examination to be made by a commission of three engineer officers, who will make the examination and submit to the Secretary of War a report thereon, with a project and estimate of cost of construction of such a harbor of refuge. The Commission met at the United States Engineer Office in Philadelphia on December 11, 1890, and after a careful study of the charts of Delaware Bay and an examination of the various reports upon the existing harbor and its vicinity, submitted a preliminary report on the same date.* The views of the Commission are fully expressed by the following extracts from this report. The necessity of a harbor of refuge in this vicinity was early recognized; and it was provided for by the construction of the existing harbor at Lewes, Del., which was projected by a commission of distinguished officers in 1828. Notwithstanding the fact that the plans for this harbor have not been fully carried out, it has been of immense benefit to commerce, and numerous reports establish its great value and its national character. At the present time this harbor is inadequate to the needs of commerce, and it will continue to be so after the work of breakwater extension now in progress has been completed. Since this harbor was projected the number of vessels requiring its shelter has enormously increased. Its anchorage area is far too limited, and its low-water depth of only about 16 feet prohibits its use by the deep-draft vessels of the present day. It will always be of value for the protection of the numerous small vessels passing along the coast in this vicinity, but no extension or improvement can adapt it to the uses of the modern deep-draft vessels. The Commission is not now prepared to submit statistics giving the number and draft of vessels navigating the ocean along this part of the coast, to which a deepwater harbor of refuge would be of value, but it is not doubted that such a harbor *Printed as Appendix G 22, Annual Report, Chief of Engineers, 1891, page 1120. |