5. Northwest entrance, Key West Harbor, Florida.-A bar having channel depth of 10.5 feet obstructs the northern entrance to this ha bor. During storms the available depth is so much reduced that ves sels bound to and from Gulf ports can not use it, but are compelled t make a detour of about 100 miles by Dry Tortugas to enter or leav the Gulf. An examination of the entrance, with a view to its improvement, wa made in 1867 and again in 1881. In 1882 Congress made an appropri ation of $25,000 for dredging a channel 300 feet wide and 17 feet dee across the bar. As was anticipated, the improvement was only tem porary. In the act approved August 5, 1886, $2,500 was appropriated for: new examination and survey of the bar. This was made in December 1886, and January, 1887. The bar was found to be formed and main tained by interfering tidal currents. The project for its improvemen comprised the construction of one or more training walls, with dredg ing, if necessary. In the act of August 11, 1888, Congress appropriated $25,000 for this work, with the proviso that the Secretary of War should appoint a board of three engineer officers, who should consider the subject and report on the advisability of continuing the work under the above project, and that he should submit the report, together with the views of himself thereon, to Congress at its next session. The final report of the Board was submitted in November, 1889, and printed as a part of Appendix P 4, Report of the Chief of Engineers, 1890. The Board was of the opinion that the work is of national importance. It recommended that the improvement be begun by the im mediate construction of a jetty along the northeast side of the entrance. Up to the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1891, $9,087.67 had been expended on the present project. Work under the appropriation of 1890 was continued until May 12, 1892, when the contract was completed. Twenty-six thousand eight hundred and twenty-one and nine-tenths cubic yards of stone was placed in the jetty during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1892, making a total of 27,982.2 cubic yards now in the jetty. The jetty has a total length of 6,888 feet, with an average width at the base of 25 feet and an average crest width of 10 feet, with a depth over it at mean low water varying from 2.5 to 10 feet, and averaging 5.5 feet. A deepening has occurred between the jetty and the main channel across the bar, producing a channel of a least width of 400 feet and a least mid-channel depth of 11 feet. The depth in the main channel across the bar has increased from 11.8 feet in 1889 to 12.5 feet. 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 appropriated by act approved July 13, 1892 .. Amount available for fiscal year ending June 30, 1893 ........ $55, 912. 33 55, 793.73 118.60 25.00 93.60 75,000.00 75,093.60 385,000.00 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 0 5.) 6. Caloosahatchee River, Florida.-Before improvement the lower part of the river was so obstructed by oyster bars that the available channel depth was only 5 feet. About 17 miles above the mouth the river loses the characteristics of an estuary, and there are numerous islands and a broad shoal. The project adopted in 1882 called for the formation, by dredging, of a channel 100 feet wide and 7 feet deep from the bay to Fort Myers, a distance of 17 miles. In 1886 this project was modified so as to include the improvement of the upper river as far as Fort Thompson by removal of snags and overhanging trees. Up to June 30, 1891, $27,453.39 had been expended on the improvement. A channel 6 feet deep and 100 feet wide existed between the mouth and Fort Myers. A narrow cut, 5 feet deep, had been made through the shoals at Beautiful Islands and partially protected by a training wall, and the worst obstructions had been removed from the river as far as Fort Thompson. Three thousand six hundred dollars was appropriated in the act of September 19, 1890, for completing the improvement. With this sum the remaining obstructions were removed from the channel between Fort Thompson and the Beautiful Islands. The cut at the Beautiful Islands shoal and its protecting dike were extended, and the channel through the oyster bars at the mouth of the river was enlarged and marked. When work stopped there was a clear channel from the mouth to Fort Thompson, having a mean low-water depth of 6 feet as far as Fort Myers and a depth of 4 feet for the remaining distance. An annual expenditure of $1,000 will be required to maintain this improvement. July 1, 1891, balance unexpended.. August 10, 1891, amount refunded by land-grant railroad June 30, 1892, amount expended during fiscal year. July 1, 1892, balance unexpended .......... Amount appropriated by act approved July 13, 1892. $146.61 3.63 150.24 127.65 22.59 1,000.00 Amount available for fiscal year ending June 30, 1893. . Amount (estimated) required for maintenance of existing project.......... Submited in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix O 6.) 1,022. 59 1,000.00 7. Channel of Charlotte Harbor and Pease Creek, Florida.-The portion under improvement lies between the Boca Grande entrance from the Gulf of Mexico and the wharves at Punta Gorda, 2 miles from the mouth of Pease Creek. The available depth at the entrance is 19 feet at mean low water. Immediately within the entrance there is an anchorage with a depth of 18 feet and over. Between that point and Punta Gorda, a distance of 24 miles, the channel depth varies from 10 to 20 feet. In the act of September 19, 1890, $35,000 was appropriated for improving the channel between the limits named. A survey of the defective portions of the channel was made, a project was prepared for its improvement, and a contract entered into for doing the work. The approved project contemplates the immediate formation of a channel 12 feet deep and as wide as the funds will permit. The estimated cost of a channel 200 feet wide and 12 feet deep is $127,500; of a channel 200 feet wide and 15 feet deep, $468,000. The amount expended up to June 30, 1891, was $2,886.44. It was decided to expend the money available in deepening the cha nel from the wharf at Punta Gorda to Beacon No. 2, a distance about 10,000 feet. The present depth of water in this portion of th channel varies from 10 feet at the wharf to 12 feet at Beacon No. 2. is estimated that the amount available is sufficient to excavate a cha nel 300 feet wide for a distance of 300 feet in front of the wharf, an 100 feet wide from that point to Beacon No. 2 to a depth of 12 feet. Active operations will begin as soon as the contractor has complete the work in Hillsboro Bay, Florida. July 1, 1891, balance unexpended June 30, 1892, amount expended during fiscal year. July 1, 1892, balance unexpended....... July 1, 1892, amount covered by uncompleted contracts. July 1, 1892, balance 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 O 7.) $32, 113. 337. 31, 776. C 29,500.0 2,276. 0 92,500.0 8. Sarasota Bay, Florida.-The total length of Sarasota Bay is 34 miles. The portion under improvement extends from Tampa Bay to Sarasota, a distance of 21 miles. The general available channel depth is 5 feet, but there are two reaches, aggregating 1 mile in length. where the available channel depth varies from 3.5 to 4.3 feet. The ap proved project contemplates the formation of a channel 100 feet wide and 5 feet deep at mean low water between the limits named above. The amount expended up to June 30, 1891, was $273.00. Work was begun by the United States snag and dredge boat Suwanee October 31, 1891, and discontinued, owing to the exhaustion of the appropriation, February 13, 1892. The work was much retarded by stormy weather and accidents to the pump dredge, caused by its being choked with large clams, some of which were as much as seven inches in diameter. 4,363.5 cubic yards of material, measured in place, were removed, forming a cut 1,673 feet long and 38 feet wide through the shoal near Palma Sola Point. 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 O 8.) $4,727.00 4,666. 73 60.27 2,500.00 2,560. 27 10, 000.00 9. Manatee River, Florida.—The portion of the Manatee River under improvement is the lowest reach, between Rocky Bluff and the mouth, a distance of about 12 miles. This had a midchannel depth of from 7 to 20 feet. The general width is about three-fourths of a mile. At the mouth was a long shoal with a minimum depth of 7 feet. Between Palmetto and Manatee, about 6 miles from the mouth, was another bar, covered by from 3 to 5 feet of water. The river was examined in 1881. The project adopted had for its object to form a channel 100 feet wide and 13 feet at mean low water from Tampa Bay to MeNeil Point (Palma Sola). Owing to the changed commercial relations since the adoption of the project, brought about by the extension of the railroad to Tampa, the transfer to Tampa of the principal Gulf steamship lines, and the service of the smaller towns around Tampa Bay by coasting steamers from Tampa, the project was modified in 1886 to provide for the passage of these lighter-draft vessels to all of the towns of the lower river by the removal of the bar above Palmetto. Up to the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1891, $27,881.93 was expended on this improvement. A dredged cut was made across the bar at the mouth of the river, another cut was made across the bar between Manatee and Braidentown, and a survey and map of the river were made. The cut at the mouth had been nearly obliterated, but a channel 8 feet deep and of sufficient width existed from Tampa Bay to Manatee. In the act approved September 19, 1890, $6,000 was appropriated for continuing the improvement. The amount was insufficient to make any permanent improvement in the channel at the mouth, the only place where work is now required, and the money available is held until required elsewhere in the river or until further appropriations shall increase it to a sum sufficient for economical work at the mouth. 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 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 O 9.) 10. Tampa Bay, Florida.-The harbor at Tampa Bay, at the head of f this bay, was separated from deep water by a flat 2 miles wide. Through this was a narrow channel with an average available depth of about 5 feet, formed by the waters of Hillsboro River. The original project was adopted in 1879, and had for its object the formation of a 9-foot channel, 150 feet wide in the bay and 200 feet wide in the river, from the 9-foot curve in the bay to the wharves at Tampa, in Hillsboro River, at an estimated cost of $97,000. Up to June 30, 1891, $95,194 had been expended. The work consisted entirely of dredging and rock excavation, and extended over a distance of 8,200 feet, making a cut varying in width from 200 feet in the river to 60 feet in the bay. On June 30, 1887, it had a depth along its center line of from 8.3 to 9 feet. The depth on the flats beyond the outer extremity of the cut is 7 feet. In 1888 the project was modified. Port Tampa, 94 miles from Tampa, on Old Tampa Bay, had become the deep-water port of Tampa. The modified project is to form and maintain a channel 8 feet deep in Hillsboro Bay and Hillsboro River to the city of Tampa, and a channel 20 feet deep and 200 feet wide from the outer bar to Port Tampa. Up to June 30, 1891, no further work had been done in Hillsboro Bay. In Old Tampa Bay the channel through the outer bulkhead had been dredged to a depth of 20 feet for a width of 100 feet, and from 16 to 20 feet for the remaining 100 feet in width, and that through the inner bulkhead for a width of 150 feet with a mid-depth of 19.7 feet. By the act approved September 19, 1890, $25,000 was appropriated for continuing the improvement. Under this appropriation work was resumed in Old Tampa Bay December 19, and in Hillsboro Bay April 7. The channel called for by the project was completed in Old Tampa Bay May 12. Work still continued in Hillsboro Bay at the end of the fiscal year. On June 30 a. continuous channel 8 to 9 feet deep and 70 feet wide had been secured from the mouth of the Hillsboro River to the S-foot contour in Hillsboro Bay, near Ballast Point. In a bend in the channel near Spanish Town Point the channel has been made 100 feet wide. July 1, 1891, balance unexpended.... $24,806.00 14, 801. 36 June 30, 1892, amount expended during fiscal year.. July 1, 1892, balance unexpended. 10, 004. 64 July 1, 1892, outstanding liabilities.. July 1, 1892, amount covered by uncompleted contracts. $5,327.59 9,408. 26 July 1, 1892, balance available Amount appropriated by act approved July 13, 1892.. Amount available for fiscal year ending June 30, 1893 (See Appendix O 10.) 596.38 10, 000. 00 10, 596. 38 11. Withlacoochee River, Florida.-This river is 120 miles long and has a normal width varying from 75 to 180 feet, though at numerous points a defined channel is almost lost in broad marshy lakes and cypress swamps. The low-water depth varied from 1 to 7 feet. Before improvement the river was so obstructed by shoals, loose rocks, snags, fallen trees, floating-grass islands, and bars as to be practically impassable excepting in isolated reaches. The river was examined with a view to its improvement in 1879. The approved project calls for the removal of snags, overhanging trees, loose rocks, and some of the worst shoals between the Gulf of Mexico and Pemberton Ferry, a distance of about 77 miles, so as to permit boats of 2 feet draft to navigate the river during one-half the year. Prior to June 30, 1891, the river had been cleared and made navigable as called for by the project between Pemberton Ferry and Dunnellon. Work was still required on some of the ledges in order to make navigation safe. Work was also required below Dunnellon. The amount expended up to June 30, 1891, was $17,859.83. In the act approved September 19, 1890, $5,400 was appropriated for continuing the improvement. Work under this appropriation was begun March 23 and still continued June 30. On account of the very low stage of the river the United States snag and dredge boat Suwanee could not be taken up where the work was most required. The boat was laid up and a party formed from the crew and the work of removing obstructions was carried on from the small boats and from the banks; 79 snags and 10 overhanging trees were removed; 465 cubic yards of rock was blasted and 296 cubic yards of rock was removed from the channel; 128 linear feet of dams was built. The channel called for by the project is nearly completed, |