26. Turning basin in Rouge River, Michigan.-The act of July 13, 1892, appropriated $5,000 for purchase of site and beginning construction of a turning basin in the Rouge River. No action has yet been taken, as it has not yet been found practicable to acquire the area estimated for within the appropriation. A winding basin is needed in so narrow a stream as the Rouge, at a distance from its mouth, and the matter will be further investigated.

Amount appropriated by act approved July 13, 1892.
July 1, 1893, balance unexpended.........

$5,000,00 5,000.00

(See Appendix M M 26.)

EXAMINATIONS MADE IN COMPLIANCE WITH RIVER AND HARBOR

ACT APPROVED JULY 13, 1892.

The preliminary examinations of the following localities, required by act of July 13, 1892, were made by the local engineer, Maj. William Ludlow, Corps of Engineers, and reports thereon submitted through the division engineer, Col. O. M. Poe, Corps of Engineers:

1. Hammond Bay, Lake Huron, at the mouth of Ocqueoc River, Michigan.-Maj. Ludlow submitted report of examination under date of November 10, 1892. It is his opinion and that of the division engineer, concurred in by this office, that the locality is not at this time worthy of improvement by the United States. The report was transmitted to Congress and printed as House Ex. Doc. No. 76, Fifty-second Congress, second session. (See also Appendix M M 27.)

2. Sebewaing River, Saginaw Bay, Michigan.-Maj. Ludlow submitted report of examination under date of January 27, 1893. It is his opinion and that of the division engineer, concurred in by this office, that the river is worthy of a moderate degree of improvement by the General Government. No survey is necessary for preparation of project and estimate of cost of improvement. The report was transmitted to Congress and printed as House Ex. Doc. No. 237, Fifty-second Congress, second session. (See also Appendix M M 28.)

3. Pine River at St. Clair City, Mich.-Maj. Ludlow submitted report of examination under date of January 27, 1893. It is his opinion and that of the division engineer, concurred in by this office, that the locality is worthy of improvement by the General Government to a limited extent. No survey is necessary for preparation of project and estimate of cost of improvement. The report was transmitted to Congress and printed as House Ex. Doc. No. 235, Fifty-second Congress, second session. (See also Appendix M M 29.)

4. Belle River, Marine City, Mich., from its mouth to Broadway Street Bridge.-Maj. Ludlow submitted report of preliminary examination under date of January 27, 1893. It is his opinion and that of the division engineer, concurred in by this office, that the locality is worthy

of improvement by the General Government to a limited extent. The cost of a survey for preparation of project and estimate of cost of improvement is estimated at $600. The report was transmitted to Congress and printed as House Ex. Doc. No. 234, Fifty-second Congress, second session. (See also Appendix M M 30.)

IMPROVEMENT OF WATERS CONNECTING THE GREAT LAKES.

These works were in the charge of Col. O. M. Poe, Corps of Engineers, having under his immediate orders Lieut. Charles S. Riché, Corps of Engineers, the entire year, and Lieut. W. L. Sibert, Corps of Engineers, since August 28, 1892.

1. Ship channel connecting the waters of the Great Lakes, between Chicago, Duluth, and Buffalo.-Before improvements were commenced under the project for this work the available depth for navigation in the connecting waters of the Great Lakes was about 16 feet.

The present project, submitted to Congress in pursuance of provisions of the act of September 19, 1890, and adopted by act of July 13, 1892, contemplates the excavation of a ship channel having a navigable depth of 20 feet in the shallows of the connecting waters of the Great Lakes between Chicago, Duluth, and Buffalo, at an estimated cost of $3,340,000.

The work is divided into eight sections, according to locality, and the following channels are to be excavated:

Section 1. A channel 21 feet deep and 300 feet wide at Round Island Shoals, St. Marys River.

Section 2. A channel 21 feet deep and 300 feet wide in Little Mud Lake, St. Marys River, between the lower end of Sugar Island and the lower end of the "Dark Hole."

Section 3. A channel 21 feet deep and 300 feet wide through a reef in St. Marys River, abreast of Sailors Encampment Island.

Section 4. A channel 21 feet deep and 300 feet wide through a shoal in Mud Lake, St. Marys River, 14 miles below Sailors Encampment Island.

Section 5. A channel 21 feet deep and 2,400 feet wide at the foot of Lake Huron.

Section 6. A channel 20 feet deep from deep water in St. Clair River through St. Clair Flats Canal to deep water in Lake St. Clair, with a width above St. Clair Flats Canal not greater than 650 feet; thence gradually narrowing to the canal; thence for the full width of the canal for its entire length; thence gradually widening to a width of 800 feet at deep water in Lake St. Clair.

Section 7. A channel 20 feet deep and 800 feet wide through Grossepoint Flats, Lake St. Clair, Michigan.

Section 8. A channel 21 feet deep and 800 feet wide through the bar at the mouth of Detroit River.

To obtain a navigable depth of 20 feet, a depth of 21 feet is required where the excavation is through solid rock or through shoals infested with bowlders; a depth of 20 feet where the cut is through soft material. Contracts for the excavations specified above are in force, and if no failure occurs in the appropriations the contract time for the completion of the specified channels is November 30, 1895.

Work was begun under contract at the eight localities named during May and June, 1893. The excavation has not advanced far enough to give any increased depth or width available for navigation.

To pay the various employés and contractors $200,000 will be required for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1895.

Amount appropriated by act approved July 13, 1892.

Amount appropriated by sundry civil act approved March 3, 1893..

June 30, 1893, amount expended during fiscal year...

July 1, 1893, balance unexpended..
July 1, 1893, outstanding liabilities..

$3,035.54

July 1, 1893, amount covered by uncompleted contracts.. 1, 292, 964. 03

(Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project... Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1895.

Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867 and of sundry civil act of March 3, 1893. (See Appendix N N 1.)

$375,000.00

875,000.00 1,250,000.00 23, 236.40

1,226, 763.60

1,295, 999.57

2,090,000.00

200,000.00

2. Operating and care of St. Marys Falls Canal, Michigan.-During the fiscal year the canal was open to navigation 220 days. It was closed for the winter December 6, 1892, and opened May 1, 1893; 12,160 vessels, etc., aggregating 10,226,971 registered tons, and carrying 10,846,404 tons of freight and 23,919 passengers, passed through the canal in 5,611 lockages.

The staple articles transported were 2,771,667 tons of coal, 73,606 tons of copper, 5,627,778 barrels of flour, 40,959,960 bushels of wheat, 2,446,159 bushels of grain other than wheat, 4,668,807 tons iron ore, 620,531,000 feet B. M. of lumber, 47,176 tons building stone, and 371,350 tons of miscellaneous or unclassified freight.

The amount expended during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, was $41,828.07.

(See Appendix N N 2.)

3. St. Marys River at the Falls, Michigan.-The project for obtaining a navigable channel of 16 feet depth betweeen lakes Superior and Huron had been barely completed when the demands of commerce so enormously increased that the work of obtaining a depth of 20 feet throughout was undertaken with the full sanction of both legislative and executive authority.

A necessary part of the project is the construction of a new lock upon the site of the old State locks, to have a length of 800 feet between gates, a width of 100 feet throughout, a depth of 21 feet on the miter sills, and a single lift approximating 18 feet. The canal is to be deepened to correspond. The estimated cost of this enlargement of the canal system is $4,738,865, for the details of which see pp. 2220 et seq. of the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1887.

The cofferdam surrrounding the lock pit is in excellent condition. The pier in front of Fort Brady is completed. The filling behind this pier is completed so far as is necessary at present. The work on the masonry of the lock is progressing at about the rate required in the contract. The anchorages are nearly all in place and about half the snubbing hooks are in position. The valves and valve frames have been delivered. Contracts have been entered into for constructing the lock floor, culverts, breast walls, and miter sills, and for furnishing and placing in position the turbine-power plant. Designs and drawings for the gates have been completed and the specifications prepared and approved. Designs and drawings for the pumping plant have been

made and the specifications drawn. The designs and drawings for the operating machinery are well advanced.

The rate of progress on the work of deepening the canal prism is not as great as that called for in the specifications.

A contract has been entered into for widening the channel at the "Elbow," Lake George, St. Marys River.

Three hundred thousand dollars will be necessary for expenditures during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1895.

July 1, 1892, balance unexpended...
Amount appropriated by sundry civil act approved March 3, 1893 .

July 1, 1893, amount covered by uncompleted contracts.. 1, 193, 679. 06

1,296, 440.94

July 1, 1893, balance available.....

Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project..... Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1895...

Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867 and of sundry civil act of March 3, 1893. (See Appendix N N 3.)

1,241, 017. 89

783, 865.00

300,000.00

4. Hay Lake Channel, St. Marys River, Michigan.-Before improvements were commenced the channel through Hay Lake was restricted in depth at Sugar Island Rapids and at Middle Neebish. At these two places a maximum draft of but 8 or 9 feet could be carried if a very irregular course was taken, and practically vessels drawing more than 6 feet of water would not attempt the passage. In addition to the places above mentioned there were some shoals in Hay Lake requiring removal to make the channel available for vessels navigating St. Marys River.

The original estimates for this improvement were based upon a project for a channel 300 feet wide and 17 feet deep, leaving the present navigable channel of St. Marys River at Sugar Island Rapids (about 24 miles below the canal), through these into Hay Lake, and then by way of Middle Neebish, rejoining the present navigable channel at the foot of Sugar Island, thus saving a distance of 11 miles and obtaining a route which can be so marked by lights as to be navigable at night, a condition impracticable with the present channel, except by the use of many lights.

The estimated cost of this project was $2,127,292. The project was subsequently modified to increase the navigable depth to 20 feet, the estimated cost being $2,659,115, subject to change, however, in case unexpected difficulties are developed during the progress of the work. Prior to the beginning of work under the contracts now in force, 611,907.17 cubic yards, bank measure, had been excavated from the channel.

Under the six contracts for excavation now in force, a total of 2,650,461 cubic yards, bank measure, has been removed, of which 1,526,982 cubic yards was removed during the fiscal year. The total so far removed is in excess of that required by the specifications at the end of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, by 40,461 cubic yards.

To pay the various Government employés and contractors, $150,000 will be required for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1895.

July 1, 1892, balance unexpended.

Amount appropriated by sundry civil act approved August 5, 1892.
Amount appropriated by sundry civil act approved March 3, 1893.

June 30, 1893, amount expended during fiscal year..

.$565, 325.56 115,000.00 225,000.00

905, 325.56

345, 357.34

July 1, 1893, balance unexpended....
July 1, 1893, outstanding liabilities

559, 968.22

July 1, 1893, amount covered by uncompleted contracts.....

July 1, 1893, balance available...

644, 115.00

Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project..... Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1895 150,000.00 Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867 and of sundry civil act of March 3, 1893. (See Appendix N N 4.)

5. St. Clair Flats Canal, Michigan.-The present project for the improvement of the canal contemplates driving a double row of sheet piling to a depth of 26 feet along the channel face of each dike, dredg ing the area between the dikes to a depth of 20 feet, continuing the channel above and below the canal to the same depth in river and lake and rebuilding the decayed portions of the timber superstructure. It was considered sufficient to obtain a depth of 18 feet and to postpone obtaining a depth of 20 feet until the general project for a continuous depth of 20 feet along the entire water route shall have reached a more advanced stage. The estimated cost of obtaining these two depths is as follows:

For 18 feet..

For 20 feet.

$365,000.00 513, 559.40

On June 30, 1892, the pile revetment along the channel face of each dike was completed and a channel 18 feet in clear depth extended from the 18-foot curve in St. Clair River, about 900 feet above the canal, for the full width of the canal (about 300 feet), and throughout its entire length; thence gradually widening to 380 feet in a distance of 300 feet below the canal, thence with a width of 380 feet for a further distance of 2,400 feet.

Dredging was continued during the fiscal year until July 15, 1892. On June 30, 1893, a channel 18 feet in depth extended from the 18-foot curve in St. Clair River, about 900 feet above the canal, for the full width of the canal (about 300 feet), and throughout the entire length; thence gradually widening to 380 feet at a distance of 300 feet below the canal; thence with a width of 380 feet a further distance of 3,300 feet.

That portion of the general project calling for a depth of 20 feet in the canal and the approaches has been provided for in the river and harbor act of July 13, 1892, for "ship channel connecting the waters of the Great Lakes between Chicago, Duluth, and Buffalo."

The pile revetment along the channel face of the dikes having been completed, the rebuilding of the decayed portions of the timber superstructure constitutes the work yet to be done.

This timber has been in place some twenty-five years and is in very bad condition. The amount necessary to rebuild the timber superstructure is estimated to be not less than $120,000; and this entire amount can be profitably expended during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1895. The necessity for this work is very urgent.