rocky and shoaling toward the west bank, in the region between the proposed pier and that bank. The entire project for a channel from Lake Erie into Buffalo Creek, according to the plan I have suggested, will, I estimate, cost about $200,000. Twenty-five thousand dollars would be the probable additional amount required to build the pier P, or some other structure of like nature in the creek, for the accommodation of the up-stream shipping. Whether the advantage resulting to the commerce of the lake, from the construction of the proposed channel, would not fully warrant the appropriation of the requisite amount for that purpose, is a question which, it appears to me, should receive due consideration when further appropriation is made for the benefit of this harbor. I have been informed that it is designed by persons interested in this question to make the attempt to induce the next Congress to make a full and final appropriation for all the proposed harbor work at Buffalo. In that case, and should Congress see fit to consider the matter, it is as well that this project of a south channel should appear in a definite form, and I have to plead this as an excuse for now asking the attention of headquarters to a memoir on a subject which otherwise might appear too far in the future to warrant its consideration at the present moment. The project is therefore submitted for the consideration of headquarters whenever the subject may demand attention. I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Maj. Gen. A. A. HUMPHREYS, Chief of Engineers, Headquarters Corps of Engineers, Washington, D. C. Comparative estimates of cost of construction of proposed south channel from Lake Erie into Buffalo Creek, at Buffalo, New York. The following is the estimate based on plans and specifications of Brevet Major General T. J. Cram, United States Army, colonel Corps of Engineers: 210,773 cubic yards excavation, at 45 cents.. 2,058 r. feet pile piering, 20 feet wide, at $50 30. 2,170 r. feet canal diking, at $8 70.. Add 10 per cent. for contingencies.. Total... $94, 847 85 103, 517 40 18,879 00 217,244 25 21, 724 43 238,968 68 The following is the estimate of cost of project of Brevet Lieutenant Colonel F. Harwood, United States Army, captain Corps of Engineers: 125,057 cubic yards excavation, at 45 cents.. 970 r. feet pile piering, 20 feet wide, at $50 30... 750 r. feet pile piering, 12 feet wide, at $42 79. 420 r. feet crib work, at $71 68...... $56, 275 65 48, 791 00 32,092 50 30, 105 60 or, for the entire scheme, including improvements for accommodation of up-stream shipping and all other contingencies, $225,000. Respectfully submitted. F. HARWOOD, Captain of Engineers and Brevet Lieutenant Colonel U. S. A. APPENDIX F. Annual report for the year ending June 30, 1869.-Improvement of harbors on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.-In charge of Brevet Colonel C. E. Blunt, lieutenant colonel of engineers, until January 1, 1869; Brevet Brigadier General M. D. McAlester, major of engineers, until April 23, 1869; temporarily placed in charge of Brevet Lieutenant Colonel F. Harwood, captain of engineers, until May 18, 1869; since then in charge of Brevet Colonel Nicolas Bowen, major of engineers, assisted by Captain W. A. Jones and First Lieutenant B. D. Greene, Corps of Engineers. 1. OGDENSBURG. At the date of the last annual report, proposals had been invited for dredging in the Oswegatchie River below the bridge, and along the St. Lawrence front of the city, and upon the outer bar, north of the lighthouse, these being the points first named in the plan of permanent improvement submitted by the board of engineers, (Engineer Order No. 56, 11th May, 1868.) A contract for this work was made with C. Daly in the fall of 1868, and the channel through the outer bar has since been completed. A recent survey shows a clear channel at least twelve feet deep below low water, and averaging three hundred feet in width. No difficulty is experienced in entering the river. A small portion of the area to be dredged in the river below the bridge was removed last fall. The contractor is now engaged in dredging at this place, and will continue work until the available funds are exhausted. The amount required in my estimation for the entire and permanent completion of the improvement of this harbor, according to the plan proposed by the board of engineers, in addition to the amount ($40,000) originally appropriated, is $175,000. Of this amount $100,000 is intended for the construction of the pile piers should they be needed. For dredging along the St. Lawrence River front, it is estimated that $75,000 will be needed. The whole amount can be used during the coming fiscal year, in case it is decided to continue the improvement. Ogdensburg is a port of entry, with a light-house between Forts Ontario and Montgomery, one hundred and twenty miles from each. I have not yet received the commercial statistics of the place. This port is next in importance to Oswego; it is the terminus of the Northern railroad, the Rome and Watertown railroad, and the Northern Transportation Company's line of propellers. The value of foreign imports during the year was..... Imports coastwise, no record kept. Exports coastwise and foreign.. Number of arrivals ... Amount available July 1, 1869.. Amount required for year ending June 30, 1871. $1,228, 273 46 489, 265 00 963 244, 826 951 242, 326 37, 118 58 19, 272 49 175, 000 00 Should the plan for improvement be carried out, it is supposed that a small annual expenditure only would be required to preserve its permanency. New lights would also be required. Abstract of contract for improving harbor of Ogdensburg, New York, for the year ending June 30, 1869. DREDGING. Cornelius Daly, price per cubic yard $1 45 20 I certify that the above abstract is correct. NICOLAS BOWEN, Major of Engineers and Brevet Colonel United States Army. 2. OSWEGO. Since the last annual report, the operations for the improvement of this harbor have been confined to dredging in the space inclosed by the United States pier, and repairing this pier. A great portion of one of the old "Franklin pier" cribs has been rebuilt, and the dredging required for the present at least has been completed. It was proposed during the present season to prolong the pier in a northerly direction four hundred feet. Contracts for this extension were made by Brevet Brigadier General M. D. McAlester, major Corps of Engineers, in March. The death of General McAlester delayed the beginning of the work, and when I assumed charge in May, I found the contractor (for labor) unwilling to proceed with his contract. The work was re-advertised, but owing to the high rates bid for labor no contract was made. In the meantime, to prevent delay, authority had been sent to prosecute the work by hired labor and purchase of materials. This extension will be completed this year; the old contracts for materials have been continued and are filling, and working parties are now forming. The increasing demands of commerce at this point now demand the construction of a pier exterior to the present one. Until this is done, a uniform annual expenditure will be required for the repairs and preservation of the present pier, and as its condition is not good the expenditure of a large amount may be necessary. It is thought that a balance will remain sufficient for the ordinary repairs of the pier this season. Some changes having been made in the construction of cribs since the last annual report, a tracing is herewith transmitted showing the method in practice at all the harbors under my charge; also showing the particular plan adopted for joining the new work with the old pier at Oswego. I send herewith a sketch from a late survey showing a portion of Lake Ontario that I would propose to inclose for a new harbor. The direction of the pier and the space to be inclosed are only approximately fixed. The pier is in two wings, with a light-house crib 50 feet square in the middle of the entrance; the cribs to be 50 feet wide and built in the longest lengths practicable. The estimated cost of the entire work is $2,500,000, of which amount $600,000 could be spent the first available season. For the next fiscal year there will be required to complete repairs undertaken this season and make those that may become necessary, $35,000. This amount will level up and refill all of the old pier, repair breaches in the old stone parapet, and put the work in good order. Any appropriation made for the new pier should provide that the United States have supreme jurisdiction over all modifications contemplated within the harbor, along the shores or within the waters, and also have ceded to them a certain amount of land at either extremity of the proposed work. A new light-house would also be required. Oswego is a port of entry, with Little and Big Sodus in its district. It has a light-house on the pier, and a Fort (Ontario) within its limits. Duties collected for year. Value of foreign imports Tonnage of clearances $1,014, 170 20 $5, 349, 557 00 $1, 192, 919 00 4, 457 781, 500 4,518 782, 381 Besides the above, the value of coastwise arrivals and clearances is very great. This harbor is the most important on the lake, and is the seventh or eighth in importance in the country in amount of duties collected. The Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western railroad, (connecting with the New York Central at Syracuse,) the Rome, Watertown, and Ogdensburg railroad, (connecting with the New York Central at Rome, and also with railroad to the eastern States and the Canadas, at Ogdensburg,) and the Syracuse and Oswego Canal, terminate at this point; besides, it is a landing for the Northern Transportation Company's propellers, and the Royal mail line of steamboats to Canada, stopping along the lake. The principal commerce is in grain, breadstuffs, and lumber; it is expected that coal and railroad iron will be transferred here in largely increasing quantities. With the extension of the new pier 400 feet to the north, (17° west,) a light-house should be placed at its extremity. Abstracts herewith: Amount available for this work July 1, 1868. Amount available for this work July 1, 1869. $49,823 92 ing the $600,000.... Amount required for year ending June 30, 1871, not includ 70,326 23 35,000 00 |