width of 500 feet to the wharves used by the largest transatlantic steamers. A contract has been made for dredging about 200,000 cubic yards, which will be completed before the close of the working season of 1887. July 1, 1886, amount available ... Amount appropriated by act approved August 5, 1886 $1,865.00 30,000.00 31,865.00 July 1, 1887, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of liabilities outstanding July 1, 1886 July 1, 1887, outstanding liabilities $3,904. 75 3,90%.59 27,959. 41 July 2, 1887, amount available... Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project (See Appendix A 7.) 105, 000, 00 40,000.00 8. Channel in Back Cove, Portland, Maine.-The project for improving this channel, as adopted in 1886, consists in widening and deepening it to give 12 feet depth at mean low water and a width of 300 feet for a distance of about 5,600 feet, following the harbor commissioner's line. A contract has been made to cover the entire amount of available funds for dredging in the chanuel; this will make a channel about 72 feet wide on the bottom and 4,000 feet long. The work will be completed before the close of the season of 1887. The appropriation asked is to be applied to continuing dredging, to extend the channel and widen it as far as the available funds permit. Amount appropriated by act approved August 5, 1886 .... July 1, 1887, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of liabilities outstanding July 1, 1886.. $26, 250.00 July 1, 1887, outstanding liabilities.. July 1, 1887, amount available .......... $1,439. 21 1,447.37 24, 802.63 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project. (See Appendix A 8.) 154, 750.00 30,000.00 9. Breakwater at mouth of Saco River, Maine.-The present project for this improvement, adopted in 1885, consists in repairing and strengthening the old breakwater so that it shall bave a height of 15 feet above mean low water and a width of 12 feet on top. The object is to prevent the drifting sand from forming a bar at the mouth of the river and to assist in concentrating the current so that the channel may be maintained to a navigable depth. The amount expended on this improvement to June 30, 1887, has been $20,024.04. The breakwater has been completed for a distance of 710 feet from the outer end, except the cap stones for 100 feet. Under the last appropriation a contract has been made for placing stone upon the break water, and 4,475 tous were deposited in the months of May and June, and the entire work, covering about 11,500 tons, will be completed during the summer months. The appropriation asked is to be applied towards the completion of the old breakwater to a height of 15 feet as designated. July 1, 1886, amount available... Amount appropriated by act approved August 5, 1886.. July 1, 1887, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of liabilities outstanding July 1, 1886. July 1, 1887, outstanding liabilities July 1, 1887, amount available ... $26.36 12,500.00 12,526.36 $4,634,30 5,050. 40 7,475.96 (Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1889 Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix A 9.) 10. Saco River, Maine.-The present project for improving the Saco River was adopted in 1886, its object being to give a channel having not less than 6 feet of water to the cities of Saco and Biddeford. The channel is obstructed by bars and in one place by a ledge and does not give more than 33 feet of water at mean low water throughout the entire channel, though a large portion is much deeper. Contracts have been made for removing the ledge and for dredging in the vicinity of Little Islands, 24 miles below the city wharves. The work will be completed before the close of the working season of 1887. Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project .... $50,000.00 Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1889 12, 500.00 Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix A 10.) 11. Kennebunk River, Maine.-All the projects for improving this river have been completed. There has been no appropriation for the work since 1881. A small balance, however, remains which may be used for repairs and incidental expenses of maintenance. The works completed consists of stone piers supplemented by cribwork for keeping the channel open at the mouth of the river. Total expended from 1870 to 1887 was $20,660.66. No expenditures have been made in the last year, and no further improvements are at present contemplated. July 1, 1836, amount available..... July 1, 1887, amount available.. (See Appendix A 11.) $336.34 336.34 12. York Harbor, Maine.-The project for this improvement, adopted in 1886, has for its object the widening of the channel in three bends where at present the width does not exceed 75 feet of a navigable depth, and where the tidal currents are very rapid. The channel at the points mentioned is to be widened by dredging to a depth of 10 feet at low water. A contract for the work as far as it can be carried with the available funds has been made, and will be completed September, 1887, The amount estimated as required for completing the project is greater than the original estimate, for the reason that the contract prices for the work have been higher than was anticipated. Amount appropriated by act approved August 5, 1836 July 1, 1857, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of liabilities outstanding July 1, 1880..... July 1, 1887, amount available .... $15,000.00 680.65 14, 319.35 15,000.00 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project ... (See Appendix A 12.) 13. Portsmouth Harbor, New Hampshire.-The project for improving this harbor was adopted in 1879, the object being to check the violent tides in the harbor and to give a navigable depth over the ledge known as Gangway Rock, opposite the navy-yard. There has been expended to June 30, 1887, the sum of $94,730.36. A contract has been made for completing the removal of Gangway Rock to a depth of 20 feet at mean low water, and that work will be completed during the working season of 1887. The results thus far have been to entirely stop the cross-currents which sets into the main channel from between Great and Goat islands; and the removal of Gangway Rock will clear away the dangerous ledge by the navy-yard. There remains to complete the project only the removal of the point. of ledge projecting from Badger's Island. The officer in charge recommends that if any work be undertaken upon this point the ledge as far as taken out should be removed to a depth of 18 feet, in order that passing vessels may not be injured by being drifted upon the ragged rock. The appropriation of $25,000 is required to complete the original plan. July 1, 1886, amount available.... Amount appropriated by act approved August 5, 1886. $8.72 15,000.00 15,008.72 July 1, 1887, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of liabilities outstanding July 1, 1886 July 1, 1887, outstanding liabilities. $2,549.38 2,739.08 12, 269.64 July 1, 1887, amount available.... Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project.... Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1889 Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and し harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix A 13.) 25,000.00 25,000.00 14. Cocheco River, New Hampshire. The present project for this improvement was adopted in 1884, its object being to give a clear channel to the wharves of the city of Dover, N. H., having a width of 50 feet and a depth of 5 feet at mean low water or 113 feet at mean high water. The channel was obstructed by a ledge and by sand, gravel, and bowlders, which gave a clear channel depth of less than 3 feet at low water. A contract has been made for removing the ledge and bowlders, and those portions of the work will be completed during the summer of 1887. The original estimate for cost of the work was $47,000, Of this amount there has been appropriated the sum of $38,000. Total expenditures to June 30, 1887, including outstanding liabilities, $28,497.36. The balance of funds on hand will be practically expended before the close of the present working season. July 1, 1886, amount available .... Amount appropriated by act approved August 5, 1886 July 1, 1887, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of July 1, 1887, amount available.... $12. 12 10,000.00 10, 012. 12 $374.48 135.00 509.48. 9,502.64 9,000.00 9,000.00 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project.... (See Appendix A 14.) 15. Harbor of refuge at Little Harbor, New Hampshire.-The present project for this improvement was adopted in 1886, the object being to form a harbor of refuge for vessels at times when they can not reach Portsmouth Harbor. The project consists of dredging a channel 100 feet wide and 9 feet deep at mean low water for a distance of 3,000 feet to the small anchorage, which is to be slightly enlarged. A contract has been made for carrying on the work as far as it can be done with available funds, and this part of the work will be completed during the summer months of 1887. The harbor has a sandy bottom and is for the most part shallow, having in the channel an average of less than 6 feet depth at low water. The local commerce of the harbor is very small, but the place would be of greater value as a refuge if improved to give more depth and room. Amount appropriated by act approved August 5, 1886... $10,000.00 July 1, 1887, amount available ... 349.71 9,650.29 23,000.00 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project..... (See Appendix A 15.) EXAMINATIONS AND SURVEYS FOR IMPROVEMENT, TO COMPLY WITH REQUIREMENTS OF THE RIVER AND HARBOR ACT OF AUGUST 5, 1886. The required preliminary examinations of the following localities were made by the local engineer in charge, Major Smith, and reported by him as not worthy of improvement: 1. Big Rapids of St. John's River, Maine.--(See Appendix A 16.) 2. St. George's River, Maine, from Warren to Thomaston.—(See Appendix A 17.) 3. Matinicus Isle, Maine, with a view to a harbor of refuge.-(See Appendix A 18.) And it appearing, after preliminary examination that the localities were worthy of improvement, he was charged with the survey of the following: 1. St. Croix River, Maine, from Ferry Point Bridge, at Calais, to Breakwater Ledge.-(See Appendix A 19.) 2. Bar Harbor, Maine, with the view to establishing a breakwater and deepening the waters of said harbor, and especially the channel between Rodick's Island and Mount Desert Island.-(See Appendix A 20.) 3. Belamy River, New Hampshire.-(See Appendix A 21.) The reports on the surveys of the following localities, not yet com pleted, will be duly submitted when received: 1. Bayaduce [Bagaduce] River, Maine, between the towns of Penobscot and Brooksville. 2. Camden Harbor, Maine. 3. Rockport Harbor, Maine. 4. Kennebec River, Maine, at Bath, and from Augusta to lower end of Perkins Island. 5. Penobscot River, Maine, from Bangor to Bucksport Narrows. IMPROVEMENT OF RIVERS AND HARBORS IN MASSACHUSETTS. Officer in charge, Lieut. Col. George L. Gillespie, Corps of Engineers 1. Newburyport Harbor, Massachusetts.-The object of the improvement is to create a channel through the outer bar, 1,000 feet wide and with a least depth of 17 feet at mean low water, or 24 feet at mean high water. The project adopted in 1880, and modified in 1883, is to build two converging rubble-stone jetties so located as to give a proper direction to the current, and thereby produce and maintain the desired result. The estimated cost of the project was $375,000, and the amount appropriated to date is $207,500. To June 30, 1886, $166,757.54 had been expended. During the fiscal year the sand-catch in rear of the south jetty was repaired and rebuilt; 860 feet of dike and spurs were constructed. The river and harbor act of August 5, 1886, appropriated $37,500 for continuing the improvement. A contract was made November 25, 1886, to extend the full section of the north jetty about 300 feet. Under this contract 7,937 tons of stone had been deposited in the jetty. The contract is still in progress. A survey of the bar was made before and after the spring freshet, and by comparisons with previous surveys it is apparent that the improvement is in a very satisfactory state. The north jetty is now 2,675 feet long, of which 1,540 feet are fully completed, and the residue, 1,135 feet, is a core of stone, built up to low water. The south jetty is 1,300 feet long, of which 1,077 feet are fully completed, and the residue, 223 feet, is a core of stone built up to low water. The Plum Island dike is 817 feet long, 53 feet high above mean low water, except near the center where a weir is left temporarily, 150 feet long and 2 feet deep at mean low water. The sand-catch in rear of the south jetty is in two branches, one 480 feet long, and one 572 feet. |