a cost of $34,766.65, for the protection of the commerce of the town. The enlarged project of 1871 for the improvement of the harbor, and its subsequent modification, under which work is now carried on, embraced dredging in the upper harbor and the construction of two breakwaters in the outer harbor. One of these, the western, was to be built out from Wamphassuck Point, the south western limit of the harbor, and to extend about 2,000 feet; and the other, the eastern, was to extend from the vicinity of Bartlett Reef to the Middle Ground. The western breakwater was completed in 1880, at a cost of $103,190. The amount expended in dredging in the upper harbor was about 45,000. The posi tion of the western end of the eastern breakwater has not been determined. The amount expended on the eastern breakwater up to the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1890, was $115,852.23, and its length at that date was 2,290 feet. By act of September 19, 1890, Congress appropriated $12,500 for the continuation of the work. Work was commenced December 10, 1890, by hired labor, and was in progress at the close of the fiscal year. The eastern breakwater was extended 87 feet to a point about 2,377 feet from its eastern extremity. The balance on hand and the amount asked for, $12,500, will be expended in extending the eastern breakwater farther to the westward. July 1, 1890, balance unexpended. Received by Treasury settlement Amount appropriated by act approved September 19, 1890.. 137.69 24.89 12,500.00 12,662.58 9, 462.38 3,200. 20 2,710.20 July 1, 1891, balance available.... (Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix C 18.) 490.00 12,500.00 12, 500.00 19. Removing sunken vessels or craft obstructing or endangering navigation.-Wreck of schooner Benjamin Gartside.-This vessel was sunk by collision October 5, 1889, while lying at anchor about 2 miles from Handkerchief light ship. She was loaded with a cargo of coal. A contract for removal of the wreck was made, and work was commenced June 18, 1890, and completed September 15, 1890. The property recovered was sold at public auction and the proceeds covered into the Treasury. Wreck of schooner Weybosset in the channel through Pollock Rip Shoals, Massachusetts.-This vessel struck on the shoals and sank August 13, 1890, near the bell buoy north of Pollock Rip light-ship. She was loaded with paving stone. A contract for the removal of the wreck was made and entered into, and the work was completed June 6, 1891. Wreck of schooner Josiah Whitehouse.-This vessel was sunk by collision October 12, 1890, about 3 miles from Gay Head Light. She was loaded with a cargo of coal. A contract for the removal of the wreck was made and entered into, and the work was completed December 31, 1890. Wreck of schooner S. S. Bickmore.-This vessel caught fire and sank in Hyannis Harbor October 20, 1890. She was loaded with a cargo of lime. A contract for removal of the wreck was made and entered into, and the work was completed June 6, 1891. (See Appendix C 19.) EXAMINATIONS AND SURVEYS FOR IMPROVEMENT, TO COMPLY WITH REQUIREMENTS OF RIVER AND HARBOR ACT APPROVED SEPTEMBER 19, 1890. The required preliminary examinations of the following localities were made by the local engineer in charge, Major Livermore, and reports thereon submitted through Col. Henry L. Abbot, Corps of Engi neers, Division Engineer, Northeast Division. It is the opinion of Major Livermore, and of the Division Engineer, based upon the facts and reasons given, that these localities are not worthy of improvement The conclusions of these officers being concurred in by me, no further surveys were ordered. The reports were transmitted to Congress and printed as executive documents of the Fifty-first Congress, second ses sion. 1. Narragansett Bay Channel, Rhode Island, between Starve Goat Island and the mainland, with a view of deepening the same.-Printed as Hous Ex. Doc. No. 173. (See also Appendix C 20.) 2. Watch Hill Cove, Rhode Island, in Little Narragansett Bay.-Printe as House Ex. Doc. No. 174. (See also Appendix C 21.) The required preliminary examination of Newport Harbor, Rhod Island, South of Goat Island, with a view to the removal of the Spit at th south end of the Island, was made by the local engineer in charge, Majo Livermore, and report thereon submitted through Col. Henry L. Abbot Corps of Engineers, Division Engineer, Northeast Division. It is the opinion of Major Livermore and of the Division Engineer, based upo the facts and reasons given, that this locality is worthy of improve ment. The report of the preliminary examination containing sufficien information to indicate to Congress the probable cost of the work re quired, no further survey appears to be necessary at this time. proposed improvement contemplates the removal of the shoal at th south end of Goat Island to a depth of 15 feet at mean low water, th cost of which is estimated at $24,200. The report was transmitted t Congress and printed as House Ex. Doc. No. 180, Fifty-first Congress second session. (See also Appendix C 22.) Th The required preliminary examinations of the following localitie were made by the local engineer in charge, Major Livermore, and r ports thereon submitted through Col. Henry L. Abbot, Corps Engineers, Division Engineer, Northeast Division. It is the opinion Major Livermore, and of the Division Engineer, based upon the fact and reasons given, that these localities are worthy of improvemen The conclusions of these officers being concurred in by me, Major Li ermore was charged with their survey, the reports of which will be sul mitted when received. 1. Menemsha Bite [Bight], Massachusetts, an outlet into Vineyard Sound on the north shore of the island of Martha's Vineyard, with a view of pr venting the closing of said inlet. 2. Canapitsit channel, Massachusetts, between the island of Cuttyhun and Neshawana, with a view of deepening the same and clearing the chann from obstructions to navigation. IMPROVEMENT OF CONNECTICUT RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS AND CONNECTICUT, AND OF RIVERS AND HARBORS ON LONG ISLAND sound, CONNECTICUT AND NEW YORK, AND ON SOUTHERN SHORE OF LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK. Officer in charge, Col. D. C. Houston, Corps of Engineers. 1. Mystic River, Connecticut.-This is a tidal river about 4 miles in length, extending northward from Fishers Island Sound; its natural depth for the lower 2 miles was 15 feet or more at low tide in a very crooked and narrow channel; thence for a mile further, to the village of Mystic, the depth shoaled to about 9 feet. Above Mystic there has been little navigation. In 1888 an examination of the river was made, and subsequently a project was adopted for dredging to carry the depth of 15 feet at mean low water with width of 100 feet up to the highway bridge and to widen five bends in the stream, at an estimated cost of $30,000. Work under this project was begun during the past fiscal year and $1,644.33 have been expended in dredging to deepen the channel near Mystic, under a contract not yet completed. The total amount appropriated for this improvement is $10,000. Amount appropriated by act approved September 19, 1890 .. $10,000.00 1,644.33 July 1, 1891, balance unexpended.......... 8,355.67 July 1, 1891, outstanding liabilities.. $159.06 July 1, 1891, amount covered by uncompleted contracts.... 5,759.31 5,918.37 July 1, 1891, balance available .... 2,437.30 20,000.00 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project... Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1893 20,000.00 Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix D 1.) 2. Thames River, Connecticut.-This river is a tidal stream, extending from the city of Norwich 15 miles south to Long Island Sound. For 11 miles above its mouth the depth ranges from 13 to 80 feet. Until 1889 improvements were confined to a stretch of 3 miles below Norwich, in which the most troublesome bars lay. In 1829 the channel depth over these bars was about 6 feet at mean low water. In 1836 a project was adopted for making the channel 100 feet wide and 14 feet deep at mean high water (11 feet at low water) by dredging and building piers. In 1878 a channel 14 feet deep at low water was projected, and in 1882 a modification was adopted providing for a channel 200 feet wide and 14 feet deep at mean low water, to be obtained by dredging and by building five dikes or training walls along the outer sides of the channel curves. The estimated cost was $208,080, and a balance of $20,000 from previous appropriations was then available. In 1888 the project was extended to include making 16 feet depth as far up as Allyn Point and 14 feet from there to Easter Point, at an additional cost of $40,000. Three of the proposed dikes have been completed and the fourth one nearly so. Dredging was done between the dikes in 1882, 1883, 1884, 187, 1888, and 1889. The channel has an available depth from Norwich to Easter Point (3 miles) of nearly 12 feet; from Easter Point to Allyn Point of 14 feet, and below Allyn Point 16 feet. During the past fiscal year $8,535.86 have been expended; one of the old piers, which projected into the chanuel, has been removed, and dredging in the river about a mile below Norwich has been done under a contract still in progress. July 1, 1890, balance unexpended....... Amount appropriated by act approved September 19, 1890. $17,437.64 20,000.00 37,437.64 June 30, 1891, amount expended during fiscal year 8, 535.86 July 1, 1891, balance unexpended..... 28,901.78 July 1, 1891, outstanding liabilities.. $5, 678.52 July 1, 1891, amount covered by uncompleted contracts 17,692. 57 23, 371.09 5,530.69 July 1, 1891, balance available................ 75, 600.00 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project... (See Appendix D 2.) 3. New London Harbor, Connecticut.-This harbor includes the lower 3 miles of Thames River, from New London to Long Island Sound. The project for improvement, adopted in 1880 and slightly modified in 1882, provided for removing to a depth of 16 feet at mean low water the southerly part of a shoal of sand and boulders lying east of the New London Northern Railroad wharf. The original depth on this part of the shoal was from 5 to 15 feet. Nineteen thousand eight hundred dollars have been appropriated for and expended on this work. Nothing was done during the past fiscal year. The required depth has been made over nearly the whole area contemplated in the project, which is regarded as completed, no further work under it being desired. (See Appendix D 3.) 4. Connecticut River, Massachusetts and Connecticut-above Hartford.From Holyoke, Mass., 34 miles above Hartford, down to Enfield Falls or rapids, a distance of 18 miles, there is a fair channel 4 to 5 feet deep. Enfield Rapids extends about 5 miles over a rocky and uneven bed, with a total fall of 32 feet. From the foot of Enfield Rapids to Hartford, a distance of 11 miles, the river bed is broad and sandy, with a channel from 2 to 5 feet deep at low water. Several years ago the Connecticut River Company constructed a small canal around Enfield Rapids, through which boats of 3 feet draft and 80 feet length can pass. The several projects under which work has been done have been for dredging at Barber Landing and for wing dams. In 1878 plans and estimates were submitted for construction of a canal 8 feet deep around Enfield Rapids. These estimates were revised in 1880. The estimated cost of the canal was $1,322,805. It was not considered advisable to commence construction with a less sum than $450,000, which has not yet been appropriated. Up to the close of the present fiscal year $100,000 has been appropriated for this part of the river, of which $91,059.70 has been expended. All the work done has been dredging and the construction and repair of seven wing dams. No work was done during the past fiscal year. The funds on hand from previous appropriations are sufficient for such repairs and temporary improvement as may be needed during the ensuing fiscal year. July 1, 1890, balance unexpended... July 1, 1891, balance unexpended... $8,940.30 8,940.30 Connecticut River, below Hartford.-Between Hartford and Long Isl and Sound, a distance of 50 miles by course of channel, the depth on the bars was formerly 5 feet at low water, the worst places being be. tween Hartford and Middletown, a distance of 19 miles, and at Saybrook Bar, at the mouth of the river. Dredging was carried on and small wing dams were constructed by private parties and by a State corporation up to 1868 with no permanent benefit. In 1868 a project for improvement by the United States was submitted, under which a pile-dike was built at Hartford, and annual dredging done on the bars below Hartford until 1883. In 1873 a project for the construction of three jetties on Saybrook Bar was adopted; two of these have been built, the third will probably not be required. In 1880 a project for permanent improvement of six of the worst bars between Hartford and Middletown was adopted; it contemplated building riprap wing dams, rectifying the banks, and protecting the caving banks by mattresses, at a total estimated cost of $330,487. It was afterwards found necessary to extend the project to include annual dredging at these and other bars, and the extension, and repair of the Saybrook jetties. Two of the contemplated works have been built, a training wall at Hartford Bar and a wing dam at Glastonbury Bar, their total cost being $40,715.34. In addition to the work included in the estimate of $330,487, the east and west jetties at Saybrook have been extended and repaired, and a channel 130 feet wide and 12 feet deep has been dredged between them, and from $5,000 to $10,000 have been annually expended in dredging to maintain a depth of 9 feet on the bars between Hartford and Saybrook. Experience has shown that on account of the frequency and height of freshets in this river, the permanent works projected in 1880 would be inadequate to maintain the desired depth, or even to materially reduce the amount of dredging annually required. Therefore, in December, 1887, a new project was adopted, confining future operations to the completion of the Saybrook jetties to a height of 5 feet above high water, with a top width of 6 feet, and widening the channel between the jetties to 400 feet, with a depth of 12 feet at mean low water, at an estimated cost of $80,000, with annual dredging to maintain a 9-foot channel between Hartford and Long Island Sound, at an average cost of $10,000 per year. In 1890, an extension of the project was adopted to provide for raising the Hartford Dike to about 15 feet above low-water level, at an additional estimated cost of $50,000. It is believed that the effect of raising the dike will be to considerably reduce the cost of annual maintenance by dredging, and cause less interference with navigation by the occupation of the low water channel by the dredging plant. Moreover, the revised estimate of $80,000, . submitted for completion in 1888, was a reduction in the estimate for works previously proposed of about $290,000. During the past fiscal year dredging has been done to maintain the navigable channels of 9 feet depth, under a contract now in progress. Future appropriations will be applied to maintenance of such a channel, to raising the Hartford Dike and completing the Saybrook jetties, and to widening the channel through Saybrook Bar. ENG 91-5 |