The improvement proposed contemplates the excavation of a gable water way, 60 feet wide and 5 feet deep at mean low water, Beach Channel to some point on the eastern shore of Jamaica Three routes, with estimates, are submitted, as follows: 1. From Beach Channel, through Conch Hole, to Citizens Cut, at Far Rock away 2. From Beach Channel, through Bass Channel, to Citizens Cut, at Far Rock away 3. From Beach Channel, through Bass Channel, to eastern shore of Jamaica Bay, near foot of Bayswater avenue In connection with the Conch Hole route, Lieut. Col. Gillespie st If an appropriation be made for making an artificial water way through the ern part of Jamaica Bay along the Couch Hole route, the act should provide the money shall not become available until after the right of way over such pa lie above high water shall have been ceded to the Government free of charge. The reports were transmitted to Congress and printed as House Doc. No. 29, Fifty-second Congress, first session. (See also Appe E 13.) IMPROVEMENT OF RIVERS AND HARBORS ON SOUTHWESTERN SH OF LONG ISLAND AND NEAR STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK, AN NORTHEASTERN NEW JERSEY. Officer in charge, Capt. Thomas L. Casey, Corps of Engineers; sion engineer, Col. Henry L. Abbot, Corps of Engineers. 1. Sumparanus Inlet, New York.-The channel depth at the tim the adoption of the project varied from 5 feet in the bay at mean water to 2 feet at the wharf at the mouth of the creek, a distance little over half a mile. The project for the improvement of this inlet, known locally Sumpawams Creek, adopted in 1880, provided for dredging a chai about 4,500 feet long and from 100 to 150 feet wide and 5 feet deep mean low water, beginning at the 5-foot curve in the Great South and extending up to the town of Babylon, Long Island. The amount expended under this project to June 30, 1891, was $7,0 With this amount a channel 75 feet wide and 5 feet deep from steamboat wharf to a point 750 feet below it was dredged, besides dre ing two cuts, each 25 feet wide, alongside the wharf. Outside of the cuts so made and extending to the 5-foot curve in bay a shoal was left, on which the depth was only 43 feet. An examination made in 1886 showed that since the last dredg was done, in 1883, both the cut and the flat outside had shoaled from inches to 1 foot, the depth in the cut being about 5 feet, while on the it was from 4 to 4 feet. The 5-foot curve in the bay was about 1.. feet from the steamboat wharf, but inside this curve, for about 750 i towards the wharf, lay the flat. The commerce of the inlet is reported for the calendar year 1891 to 1,427 tons, against 1,278 tons for 1890. The passenger traffic to F Island Beach during the past year is stated to be in excess of th reported for 1890, viz, 10,000. There were no expenditures on account of this work during the fis year ending June 30, 1892, there being no funds available. (Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project .............. Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix F 1.) $16, 115 2. Canarsie Bay, New York.-The original condition of the cham leading to Canarsie answered to a depth of 42 feet, mean low water. The original project, adopted in 1879, provides for obtaining a navigable channel 6 feet deep at mean low water from Canarsie Landing to the deep water in Jamaica Bay by means of diking and the formation of a tidal basin. In the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers,1880, Part I, page 574, Gen. Newton expressed a doubt as to adequate appropriations being made for carrying out the authorized project and suggested that dredging be tried as an expedient. The amount expended to the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1891, was $42,688.36. With this amount two pile dikes have been built, one on the north side of the outer end of the channel, the other on the south side, their lengths being 1,058 feet and 820 feet, respectively; the channel dredged to a depth of 6 feet, mean low water, and width of from 50 to 125 feet from Canarsie Landing to deep water in Jamaica Bay, besides several minor improvements not contemplated in the original project. The expenditures during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1892, amount to $5,255.77. With this amount the channel was increased in width by 50 feet for a distance of 1,950 feet from the landing at Canarsie, one cut being dredged from each side; two cuts were also taken from the south side of the channel, extending for a distance of 600 feet from the outer end of the north dike, and a single cut 180 feet in length along the side of the dock at Canarsie Landing, and necessary repairs were made to the north dike. The main channel has now a width of 100 to 150 feet, with a minimum depth of 6 feet, mean low water, from Canarsie Landing to the deep water in Jamaica Bay. The commerce of Canarsie Bay is reported for the calendar year 1891 to be 56,210 tons, against 50,898 tons reported for 1890. July 1, 1891, balance unexpended June 30, 1892, amount expended during fiscal year... July 1, 1892, balance unexpended..... Amount appropriated by act approved July 13, 1892 Amount available for fiscal year ending June 30, 1893..... Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project.................. Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix F 2.) $5, 311. 64 5, 255. 77 55.87 5,000.00 5, 055.87 35,000.00 3. Sheepshead Bay, New York. The original condition of the navi gable channel was, for the entrance, a depth of a little over 2 feet at mean low water and for the interior channel not less than 4 feet, except at two narrow bulkheads across said channel. The originally adopted project (1879) was to deepen the entrance by means of converging jetties and to improve the interior channel by longitudinal dikes, so placed as in some instances to form tidal reservoirs for the scour of the channel. The project was revised in 1881 and provides for excavating a channel at the outlet 100 feet wide and 6 feet deep at mean low water, to connect the bay with Dead Horse Inlet, and to dredge the interior channel; this was modified in Febru ary, 1889, the modified project contemplating a channel 5,350 feet long, 60 feet wide, and 5 feet deep, mean low water, from the town of Sheepshead to within 1,080 feet of Dead Horse Inlet Cut, to connect with the channel of similar width and depth already existing at that point. The amount expended on this project to the end of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1891, was $25,784.26. With this amount a channel had been dredged 100 feet wide feet deep at mean low water, connecting the east end of the bay Dead Horse Inlet, and the interior channel dredged 60 feet wid 5 feet deep at mean low water, for a distance of 3,400 feet, from town of Sheepshead toward Dead Horse Inlet. The first-ment channel, from a survey in 1887, was observed to have not maintained: having contracted to a width of 60 feet with an average depth feet, mean low water; the condition of the more recently dredged rior channel, however, has been found by an examination, ma 1891, to be highly satisfactory. July 1, 1891, balance unexpended. June 30, 1892, amount expended during fiscal year July 1, 1892, balance unexpended.................... Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project...... Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix F 3.) 8, 4. Arthur Kill, New York and New Jersey.-A history of this imp ment, which originated by special resolution of the Committee of merce in the Senate, is given in the Annual Report of the Chi Engineers, 1889, Part I, page 819. The improvement consists in the removal of a point of land near to the south of the Staten Island Bridge, for the purpose of straigh ing the channel, in order that the currents may be directed more t in a direction perpendicular to the draw span of the bridge, thus fa tating the passage of long tows. A statement of condemnation proceedings for acquiring to the Un States the land needed for this improvement will be found in the An Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1890, Part I, page 843. The total amount expended on this improvement to June 30, 1 was $10,340.59; with this amount payments had been made in the demnation proceedings alluded to above, in the part purchase of Government tug at present on the Raritan River, and in dredging about one-half an acre of the obstruction known as "Steep Point," w a resulting increase of 150 feet in the channel width and with a unif depth of 13 feet at mean low water where the land was originall feet above that plane. The available funds appropriated by the act of September 19, 18 were covered by a contract made with the Atlantic Dredging Compa on March 21, 1891, which was completed June 25, 1891, as stated in last annual report. This work resulted in an additional channel wi of 60 feet, with the same mean low-water depth as stated in the I ceding paragraph, and another half acre of land was removed, maki a total of about one acre removed under the project and giving a to channel width at this point of 710 feet. No work has been done duri the fiscal year. The commerce was reported for the calendar year 1890 to be 6,945,0 tons, against 6,947,635 tons for 1891. Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project. Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix F 4.) $4,500.00 5. Channel between Staten Island and New Jersey.-Before this improvement was undertaken by the United States there was a navigable channel having a minimum depth of 9.2 feet from the deep water in Newark Bay to Elizabethport. The first project for the improvement of this channel was made in 1873. This provided for dredging it to a depth of 16 feet for a width of 150 feet at its shallowest part, and protecting the cut by parallel dikes. The estimated cost of this was $443,210. This project was changed in 1880 so as to dredge a channel 400 feet wide and 13 feet deep over the middle 200 feet of its width, leaving it but 12 feet deep over the remaining widths of 100 feet on each side. The estimated cost of this work was $125,705. In addition to this it was proposed, should it be found necessary, to build four detached dikes along the line of the channel, two on the north and two on the south side, the estimated cost of which was $60,000, bringing the total estimated cost of the proposed improvement up to $185,705. Subsequently it was decided to give the channel 13 feet depth for its full width of 400 feet, increasing the estimate to $210,000. A modification of this project, having in view the abandonment of the dikes, was submitted May 9, 1889, and was approved by Department letter dated May 15, and a further modification, calling for a uniform channel depth of 14 feet at mean low water over the entire width of 400 feet, was approved October 20, 1890. -The amount expended to June 30, 1891, was $190,611.06. With this amount 2,237 feet of dike was built, the channel dredged throughout its entire projected length to a mean low-water depth of 13 feet, with widths varying from 300 to 350 feet, and in the vicinity of the bend at the Corner Stake Light, for a distance of 3,000 feet, the width had been increased to 400 feet, with mean low-water depths of from 13 to 14 feet. This latter work was done under contract with Thomas H. Benton, dated March 23, 1891, and has resulted in considerable improvement of the channel in regard to width, which, because of the sharp turn at the Corner Stake Light, should be as great as is consistent with the maintaining power of the current. The expenditures during the past fiscal year amount to $6,665.32, $5,891.32 of which was an outstanding liability under the above-mentioned contract, which was completed June 29, 1891, the remaining $774 having been for office expenses. No work has been done during the past fiscal year other than office work on the maps and records. The amount of commerce reported for the calendar year 1891 is 9,219,481 tons against 9,170,514 tons for 1890. July 1, 1891, balance unexpended........... June 30, 1892, amount expended during fiscal year. July 1, 1892, balance unexpended............. Amount appropriated by act approved July 13, 1892 Amount available for fiscal year ending June 30, 1893.. Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project.... Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix F 5.) $8,388.94 6, 665.32 1,723.62 15,000.00 16, 723.62 46,000.00 6. Passaic River, New Jersey.-This river is being improved two separate projects, the first applying to the river below Street Bridge, Newark, to and beyond the shoals in Newark Bay, tance of 79 miles, and the second to the upper course of the river Center Street Bridge as far as Passaic, a distance of 8 miles. a. Below Newark.—The lower portion of the river from Center S Bridge to Newark Bay was first surveyed by the Engineer Depart in 1879. The greatest depth in the channel at a point above the E Beacon was only 7.1 feet, and in many places the greatest depth 7.5 feet at mean low water. A project was adopted, based on this survey, providing for ob ing by diking and dredging a channel 200 feet wide and 10 feet at mean low water from the Center Street Bridge to Newark Bay, cost of $232,875. This project was modified in 1884, pursuant to the river and ha act of that year, providing for extending the dike at the mouth of river into the bay, a distance of 12,000 feet, and for dredging a c nel across the shoal in Newark Bay 200 feet wide and 10 feet dee mean low water, increasing the original estimate to $353,875. The amount expended to June 30, 1891, was $200,186.85. With this amount 6,205 feet of dike had been built and the cha through the shoal in the bay, and the channel up the river to and 1 feet beyond the Newark and New York Railroad Bridge, dredge the full dimensions as required by the adopted project. Thence f distance of 1,150 feet upstream the channel had been redredged given a width of 180 feet, and from this point to Lister Dock regula to a width of 100 feet, with a uniform depth of 10 feet at mean water throughout. The expenditures during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1892, amo to $33,505.33. With this amount the channel between the Toll Bri and Center Street Bridge, Newark, from Point-no-Point to Lister D was widened 100 feet, with a mean low-water depth of 10 to 11 for a distance of 4,000 feet, giving a total width of 200 feet through this distance, and, for an additional 3,000 feet, the existing 100-1 channel was increased in width by 125 to 150 feet, with the sa depth, giving a total width of 225 to 250 feet; a bar below the Z Works Dock removed to the same mean low-water depth, with a wi of 120 feet for a distance of 1,600 feet, and urgent necessary repa made to the dike in Newark Bay. The commerce of this river is reported for the year ending Decem 31, 1891, to be 1,528,565 tons against 1,484,045 tons for 1890, an crease of 44,520 tons. July 1, 1891, balance unexpended... June 30, 1892, amount expended during fiscal year July 1, 1892, balance unexpended......... $39, 313 33, 505 5,807 b. Above Newark.-Before its improvement was undertaken t upper part of the river had a navigable 6-foot channel, except at Mi dle, Belleville, Rutherford Park, and Holzman bars, where the dept were 4.5 feet, 3.9 feet, 3 feet, and 3.5 feet, respectively. The project of improvement was adopted in 1872 and provided f a channel across and above the shoals from 7 to 6 feet deep, mean lo water, and from 200 to 50 feet wide, to be obtained by dredging an diking, at a cost of $123,924. It was modified in 1885 by extendin the channel below Middle Bar 1,500 feet to the Erie Railroad Bridg increasing the estimate to $129,000, which was further increased |