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K. Warren, U. S. Engineer for this district, a contract having been made by the Government with E. R. Seward, of Albany, to excavate material from the channel and deposit it in the deepest parts of Narragansett Bay, east of Conanicut Island, requiring an average towage of nineteen miles, for 114 cents per cubic yard. The contractor abandoned his contract after removing 72,314 cubic yards of material; his contract called for the removal of about 391,000 cubic yards.

By act approved March 3, 1879, Congress appropriated an additional $60,000 toward this improvement, making a total sum thus far appropriated of $110,000, and after calling for bids for the completion of Seward's contract, and receiving only such as seemed excessive, Gen. Warren deemed it best to call for proposals in the usual manner to do work to the amount of the total appropriation remaining which it seemed proper to devote to this work, some ninety thousand dollars. This was accordingly done. Specifications were issued "To excavate in Providence River, R. I., between three hundred thousand (300,000) and four hundred thousand (400,000) cubic yards in making and widening a channel twenty (20) feet deep at mean low water between Fox Point and Field's Point, where the present depth is from twelve (12) to twenty (20) feet at mean low water; and to excavate about one hundred and twenty thousand (120,000) cubic yards at Pawtuxet Shoal, in the vicinity of Riverside wharf, three and one-half (31) miles below Fox Point, in making a channel two hundred (200) feet wide, and twenty-three (23) feet deep at mean low water, where the present depth is from seventeen (17) to twenty-three (23) feet at mean low water;" and a contract to do this was made with the Atlantic Dredging Company, of Brooklyn, N. Y., at 16 cents per cubic yard.

The bids resulting from this latter advertisement ran something like fifty per centum in advance of those made in 1877. It will be remembered that the completed improvement of Providence River and Narragansett Bay, was estimated by the Harbor Commissioners to cost $500,000, on a basis of seven yards excavation for a dollar. The accepted bid is seen to be in excess of this basis. The large price is greatly due to the excessive distance to which the dredged material

must be towed before dumping-some nineteen miles-and the provision of a more convenient dumping-ground would be a very effective measure of economy.

It is a common thing, in European ports, for the local authorities to own dredging and towing apparatus, and to furnish it to those who do the work. As the towing apparatus needed for this work in Providence River is greater in proportion than is ordinarily required along our coast, the contractors are not well provided for the work, and consequently their bids are higher than they would otherwise be. A great economy would, therefore, probably be secured if the local authorities here, were to own such apparatus and furnish it at moderate rates to contractors for the work.

A serious danger to navigation, called Bulkhead Rock, lies on the easterly side of the channel, about midway between Pomham and Fuller's lights. There is now about fourteen feet depth of water at mean low tide, on the rock, but its position in the channel is such as to require twenty feet depth, by the new plan. On June 18, 1878, an appropriation of $5,000 was made by Congress, specially for its removal, but as this sum is insufficient to secure the present desired depth, operations were reserved until the required sum could be made up from the general appropriation. The work is now under contract for the removal of the rock to a depth of twenty feet at mean low water, for the sum of $7,169.00, and it is expected that this will be accomplished during the working season of 1880.

More detailed information as to the progress of the work under Gen. Warren, will be found in his communication to this Board, and in his report to the Chief of United States Engineers, of which he has kindly sent us advance sheets. These will be found printed in the appendix to this report. It is a source of gratification to the Board, that on the first of December, 1879, the Atlantic Dredging Company, by the removal of material from that part of Providence River above Sassafras Point had secured a depth of 20 feet at mean low water, across the bar which has been such an obstacle to the free use of Providence Harbor by sea-going vessels of deep draught. The dredging is

still going on for the purpose of widening this channel, with the result that to-day sea-going vessels of twenty feet draught may come from the ocean to our upper harbor at nearly all stages of the tide, and vessels of twenty-three feet draught may come in at certain stages of the tide.

DUMPING-GROUND.

The dumping-ground described in the specifications for Government work was: the deepest parts of Narragansett Bay, lying between Halfway Rock, Gould Island, Rhode Island and Conanicut Island. Besides this the Harbor Commissioners authorized a temporary dumpingground for private parties dredging in Pawtucket River, on the west side thereof below Tide Water street, and within three hundred feet of high water mark, provided no objection is made by riparian owners.

HARBOR LINES.

In the third annual report of the Board, a plan for a new harbor line on the east side of Providence River from Crawford street bridge to Fox Point, is mentioned as before the General Assembly for action. This harbor line was established by chapter 758, of the Public Laws, passed April 10, 1879.

A plan of harbor lines on both sides of Seekonk River, near India Point, and on the east side of the harbor from Bold Point to Kettle Point, is also mentioned in the third annual report, as before the General Assembly for action. These lines were established by chapter 759, of the Public Laws, passed April 10, 1879.

It is also mentioned in the above named report that the Board had under consideration the establishment of a harbor line, from a point some 1,900 feet north of Sassafras Point to Field's Point, cutting off at the latter place, the long, low sand spit, therein described. Such a line has been designed, and will be presented to the General Assembly for action.

Riparian owners on Barrington River having petitioned the Board to mark harbor lines on both sides of said river from the railroad bridge, southerly to its junction with the Warren River, and having guaranteed

the cost of surveying and plans, such lines have been designed and will be presented to the Governor and Senate for approval.

The petition for the harbor line in Barrington River was prompted by a controversy, which occurred between the above-mentioned riparian owners and John Bowden. Bowden, after having driven piles in ground lying under the waters of Barrington River, leased to him by the Commissioners of Shell Fisheries for the purpose of planting oysters, applied to this Board for license to erect a building on them. The riparian owners formally protested. Several hearings were held; but, pending any official utterance or action on the part of the Board, Bowden began building. At length, having obtained the opinion of the Attorney-General as to the authority of the Board, notice was served on Bowden by the sheriff, directing him to desist in his work, and to pull up the piles. As Bowden still proceeded to build, the Board wrote to the Attorney-General, asking prosecution as a public nuisance, but before the Attorney-General's reply was received, or any action taken, by the State, Bowden's structure was demolished without authority of the Board.

BROOK STREET DISTRICT IMPROVEMENT.

Nothing has been done by the city of Providence to change the condition of the work between Bower street and Front street on the Seekonk River, except to fill a thousand yards, more or less, of earth into the depression back of the embankment. The embankment seems to be not yet stable but has settled something more than a foot in the year ending November 7, 1879, and the rolling motion still continues, in a slight degree. As we said in our last report, "the filling back of the embankment, as proposed, will add a new load, and the dredging away of the earth at the foot of the embankment will remove a present support," and the indications are that when either of these things is done, the rapid outward motion of the filling, into the channel, will continue. We have called the attention of the City authorities to the need for dredging at this place and have been assured that the work will go on as soon as the weather is suitable in the Spring.

BRIDGES IN SEEKONK RIVER.

In their last annual report, the Harbor Commissioners gave a detailed account of the condition of the Seekonk River tides, showing that they had lost some sixteen per centum of their original scouring effect by reason of the bridges and their foundations. Their discussion exhibited the foundations of the bridges as practical dams, and showed how the effect of an error of judgment in the last century, had in the course of time, and by the lack of skillful management, grown to such serious proportions as to cause the United States Engineer to say that it seemed to him out of place, while the present condition of things existed, to regard the Pawtucket River,-a stream with a town of 30,000 inhabitants at its head, naturally navigable, and whose conservancy is of very high importance to the State, -as longer "a navigable water of the United States." "Three separate influences," they said in conclusion, "urge a radical change in regard to the bridges which span the Pawtucket navigation at the mouth of the river. First, the injurious effect of the present structures, considered as obstructions, on the tidal flow, and the resulting evils, which we have endeavored to make manifest in our discussion of the tides. Second, the highly objectionable location of the draws; and Third, the fact that in event of no change in the matter, the river is likely to be dropped from the consideration of the General Government."

The condition of the Seekonk River seems to the Board to call imperatively for action. There are involved in its improvement several questions, which require careful consideration. The bridging of a navigation in the best possible way requires at all times exceedingly good judgment, and the peculiar formation of the Seekonk River, makes it, perhaps, more than usually necessary. What may arise from lack of proper appreciation of the matter in all its bearings is sufficiently exhibited by the present condition of the river itself. The idea of the original constructors seems to have been but little more comprehensive than to get from the hither shore to the farther bank, dry-shod. This is, indeed, the grand idea of all bridge construction;

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