thereby to connect the coal region with the Cumberland at the present head of navigation at Burnside, Ky., as soon as practicable. This recommendation was approved, and the preliminary arrangements are now in progress for organizing the necessary survey party to examine the shoals, and take observations to determine the volume and velocity of the currents, and steps will be taken as soon as practicable to select sites and acquire title to the necessary lands, etc. In order to maintain an open river the lower dams of the series will not be constructed until they are required as aids to navigation, which will not be until a large number of the lower locks are built, provision being made for clearing the river of surface obstructions from year to year and maintaining the improvements already secured at several localities. Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project..... 6, 725, 000. 00 Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. c. Above mouth of the Jellico, Kentucky.-Under the provisions of the act of September 19, 1890, $4,922.02 of the $5,000 appropriated by act of August 2, 1882, has been expended in the removal of snags and sand bars in the Cumberland River above Nashville, of which sum $1,547.56 was expended during the present fiscal year. July 1, 1891, balance unexpended June 30, 1892, amount expended during fiscal year July 1, 1892, balance unexpended (See Appendix B B 5.) $1,625.54 1,547.56 77.98 6. Caney Fork River, Tennessee. This stream, after a course of about 200 miles wholly in the State of Tennessee, empties into the Cumberland River at Carthage, Tenn., about 116 miles above Nashville, Tenn. It is the largest and one of the important tributaries of the Cumberland River. An examination was made in 1879 as high up as Sligo Ford, about 72 miles, and in 1886 it was extended 20 miles farther to Frank Ferry, the head of navigation. The principal difficulties were found to be rock reefs, gravel, and sand bars, a crooked, shallow channel, greatly impeded by surface obstructions. The present project is to improve the river below Frank Ferry, 92 miles, by removing drift and other surface obstructions, and in building the wing dams and training walls necessary to insure safe navigation for small steamboats and flatboats during the boating season, usually about five months in duration, from February to July. The amount expended to June 30, 1891, including outstanding indebtedness, was $23,353.49, which was used in removing surface obstructions, in reducing sand and gravel bars, and in repairing and building dams, and has resulted in a greatly improved channel at the 3-foot stage above low water from Frank Ferry to Mine Lick Shoals, about 32 miles. Work in the channel was in progress at the close of the last fiscal year and was continued until August 15, 1891, when active operations were suspended, the appropriation being nearly exhausted. The work consisted of clearing the channel of surface obstructions from Mine Lick Island to mouth of the river, about 60 miles. Thirty cubic yards of rock and 227 snags were taken out and 5,969 overhanging trees were removed or deadened. Amount expended during the fiscal year, including outstanding indebtedness, was $2,501.86. July 1, 1891, balance unexpended .... June 30, 1892, amount expended during fiscal year July 1, 1892, balance unexpended... July 1, 1892, outstanding liabilities July 1, 1892, balance available.... Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project...... harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix B B 6.) $2,535. 24 2, 481. 86 53.38 20.00 33.38 20, 228.00 7. South Fork of Cumberland River, Kentucky.-This stream is a tributary of the Cumberland River, which it enters at Burnside, Ky., and about 325 miles above Nashville. An examination was made in 1880. Its upper waters were found to be so greatly obstructed by immense sandstone bowlders as to render improvement impracticable. The lower river from Devils Jumps to mouth, a distance of about 44 miles, was considered worthy of improvement, and the project adopted sought to obtain a safe channel for flatboats and rafts at a 3-foot stage above low water by clearing the channel of surface obstructions and by the construction of wing dams, to deepen the water on the sand and gravel bars below the Devils Jumps. The amount expended to June 30, 1891, including outstanding indebtedness, was $11,968.94, the expenditure of which resulted in obtaining safe navigation for rafts and flatboats for a distance of about 16 miles from its mouth. Work in channel was suspended in September, 1887. There were no disbursements made during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1892. 50, 803.00 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix B B 7.) IMPROVEMENT OF TENNESSEE RIVER BETWEEN CHATTANOOGA, TEN- 1. Tennessee River between Chattanooga, Tennessee, and foot of Bee Tree Shoals, Alabama.-The original condition of the river from Chattanooga to Browns Ferry, when examined in 1867 and subsequently, was found to be obstructed by rock reefs, bars, bowlders, and proENG 92-18 jecting rocky points, permitting navigation from six to nine months in the year. From Browns Ferry to Florence it was not navigable except at unusually high-water stages because of the Muscle Shoals obstructions. From Florence to Riverton, Colbert and Bee Tree Shoals limited navigation to about six months in the year. The present project consists in: a. Removing obstructions by blasting and dredging in "The Suck" and at Bridgeport and Guntersville, Ala. b. Building a canal 14.5 miles long, 70 to 120 feet wide, and 6 feet deep around the Big Muscle Shoals, having 9 locks, each 60 by 300 feet, and an aqueduct over Shoal Creek 900 feet long and 60 feet wide; constructing a canal 1.5 miles long with 2 locks around Elk River Shoals. c. Blasting a channel through bed rock and building wing dams at Little Muscle Shoals; as modified in 1890, the project contemplates the building of a canal along the south bank, 3 miles long, with two locks. d. Constructing a canal 7.8 miles long, 150 feet wide and 7 feet deep, around Colbert and Bee Tree Shoals, with 2 locks with lifts of 12 and 13 feet, respectively, near lower end and guard lock at the head; size of locks, 80 by 350 feet. The total amount expended to June 30, 1891, including outstanding liabilities, was $3,357,539.34, and resulted in the improvement of the river as follows: Navigation was made easier through the "Suck" and "Pan" by removal of bowlders, detached rock, overhanging trees, and projecting rocky points. Survey of "Suck" begun. At Elk River Shoals and Big Muscle Shoals the locks, gates, valves, and machinery for properly operating them were completed, the aqueduct and permanent stone dams finished, and the canal opened to navigation. At Little Muscle Shoals the channel was excavated and the wing dams built as originally projected. At Colbert and Bee Tree Shoals, channel excavation and building stone dams to contract water way have resulted in increased depth; survey for location of proposed lateral canal begun. The amount expended during the fiscal year, including outstanding liabilities, was $194,562.93, for which the following work was done: At the "Suck."-The survey, covering a distance of 32 miles, was completed. The necessary plant was procured, the channel below Tumbling Shoals straightened, and the cross section of the river from head of Tumbling Shoals to the head of the "Suck" was increased by removal of bowlders and trees along the banks up to high-water mark. A contract was made for excavating a channel through Guntersville Reef. At Elk River Shoals.-The completion of the drift sluice in the longitudinal dam, operated by the Parker automatic gate. Six hundred and fifty feet of the longitudinal dam that remained incomplete was finished up to grade. Below Lock B the channel was deepened and widened by dredging and blasting. The excavation through Nance Reef was completed. Lock-keepers' houses were built at Locks A and B. At Big Muscle Shoals.-Lock-keepers' houses were built at Locks 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 9, and assistant lock-keepers' houses were erected at Locks 3, 6, and 9. A house for the storage of property was built at Lock 6. About 5 miles of the railway along the towpath was rebuilt, completing the reconstruction of the track; all the bridges along the line were strengthened by lateral bracing, Blue Water bridge remodeled, and a new bridge put up across Shoal Creek. Stone was quarried and crushed at Lock 4 quarry, and the product used for ballasting railway and paving inner slope of embankment; 4.3 miles was thus paved. Eleven thousand five hundred and forty-nine linear feet of drainage ditches was opened to empty sloughs in the bottoms. A Bucyrus dredge was completed under contract and is in operation. A light-draft towboat was built. Land for lock-keepers' houses was purchased at Locks 5 and 9; and 20 acres damaged by overflow from the canal at the mouth of Second Creek were bought. At Colbert and Bee Tree Shoals.-The survey for location of the proposed lateral canal completed and maps platted. Center line permanently marked by stone monuments. Negotiations were made for the purchase of 309 acres of land required for the improvement. The lower lock was staked off and test pits sunk to rock under the gate abutments. The money statement for this work is consolidated with that for Tennessee River below Bee Tree Shoals, page 267, so as to embrace the entire reach of the river below Chattanooga, as follows: July 1, 1892, outstanding liabilities.. $19, 861.32 July 1, 1892, amount covered by uncompleted contracts.. 2,800.00 22, 664.32 July 1, 1892, balance available..... Amount appropriated by act approved July 13, 1892. 130,725. 29 500,000.00 Amount available for fiscal year ending June 30, 1893. 630, 725. 29 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project..... 5, 837, 939. 81 Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix C C 1.) 2. Operating and care of Muscle Shoals Canal, Tennessee River.-The canal, opened November 10, 1890, has been in constant use. The number of steamboats, barges, and miscellaneous craft, exclusive of Government boats engaged on the work, that passed through during the fiscal year was 132. Two serious breaks occurred during the year, one at the west abutment of Six-Mile Dam, and one at the northeast abutment of the aqueduct; both were promptly repaired. Two balanced valves were put in filling culverts of Lock 6, and a counterbalanced slide valve in Lock 7; these were to replace worn-out slide valves. Twenty-eight thousand one hundred and sixty cubic yards of sediment was removed from the canal. The total expenses incurred during the year were $40,232.90. Estimated expenses for 1892-'93, $60,000. (See Appendix C C 2.) IMPROVEMENT OF OHIO, MONONGAHELA, CHEAT, ALLEGHENY, AND MUSKINGUM RIVERS. Officers in charge, Lieut. Col. Wm. E. Merrill, Corps of Engineers, to December 14, 1891; Maj. D. W. Lockwood, Corps of Engineers, from December 15, 1891, to February 1, 1892, and Maj. Amos Stickney, Corps of Engineers, since February 1, 1892, with Lieut. Cassius E. Gillette, Corps of Engineers, under their immediate orders to April 20, 1892. 1. Ohio River. The original condition of the navigable channel of the Ohio River was, that navigation was almost entirely suspended during low water by snags, ripples, rocks, sand and gravel bars, and other obstructions. The originally adopted project for improving the navigation of the Ohio River was the removal of snags, wrecks, and other obstructions, and the construction of low dams and dikes at islands and sand bars, to confine the current to a smaller cross section. A snag boat and two dredges, all of them having iron hulls, and owned by the United States, find constant employment in taking out snags and wrecks and in dredg ing away gravel and rock bars that can not otherwise be removed. An additional project for the radical improvement of the river by movable dams has been begun by the construction of one movable dam at Davis Island, 5 miles below Pittsburg, Pa. The construction of another, which will be number six in the series, has been commenced near Beaver, Pa., 29 miles below Pittsburg. Four million eight hundred and twenty-two thousand nine hundred and sixty-two dollars and thirty-six cents has been expended on the improvement of the Ohio River up to the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1891. The condition of the navigable channel of the Ohio River has been greatly improved, as is shown by increased traffic, greater length of time of uninterrupted navigation, etc., but so much depends on the stage of water that it is impossible to give the results in the way of increased depth and advantages derived from amount expended during the last fiscal year. The following is a summary of the work done during the fiscal year: Dam between Davis and Neville islands.-Repairs to this dam were completed August 15, 1891. Dam at head of Marietta Island.-Repairs to this dam were completed October 21, 1891. Dike at foot of Marietta Island. This dike was completed October 23, 1891. Dam at head of Blennerhassett Island.-This dam was completed December 28, 1891. Dike at Eight-mile Island.-This dike was completed November 19, 1891. Dike at Cullum.-This dike was completed December 9, 1891. Dike at lower bar at Rising Sun.-This dike was completed November 25, 1891. Dike at Madison.-The dike is completed, except a small amount of paving, which could have been done in two weeks had the water permitted. It will probably be finished early in the season. Dike at Flint Island.-This dike was completed November 25, 1891. Dike at middle of Grand Chain.-Work was continued whenever the water would permit. The dike is not yet finished. Rock bar at mouth of Licking River.-The contractor having abandoned his contract, the work was undertaken by the United States. Operations commenced June 5, 1891, and all work projected for the season was completed by November 15, 1891. Ice pier at Kerr Run.-Was not completed, owing to high water. Ice pier at Portsmouth.-This ice pier was completed December 4, 1891. Ice pier at Ripley.-This ice pier was completed October 31, 1891. Great Miami embankment.-Extension of this embankment to its junction with the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad has been completed so far as funds available would permit. |