10. Harbor of Refuge on Lake Pepin, at Stockholm, Wisconsin.-The project for this work proposed the building of a breakwater to protect, and facilitate the landing of, steam-boats and afford safety to rafts caught in the lake by storms. A crib work pier 579 feet in length was completed in 1885. It has passed through two winters with but trifling injuries and has proved of considerable advantage to boats and rafts. The amount expended to June 30, 1887, is $18,790.61. No further ap propriation is asked for for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1889. July 1, 1886, amount available..... July 1, 1887, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of liabilities outstanding July 1, 1886 ... July 1, 1887, amount available (See Appendix Z 10.) $6,251.59 42.20 6, 209.39 PRESERVATION OF THE FALLS OF ST. ANTHONY AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE MISSISSIPPI ABOVE THE FALLS-IMPROVEMENT OF CHIPPEWA AND ST. CROIX RIVERS, WISCONSIN, AND OF MINNESOTA RIVER AND RED RIVER OF THE NORTH, MINNESOTA AND DAKOTA-RESERVOIRS AT THE SOURCES OF THE MISSISSIPPI. Officer in charge, Maj. Charles J. Allen, Corps of Engineers. 1. Preservation of the Falls of St. Anthony, Minnesota.- The project for the preservation of the falls, adopted in 1874, provided for the construction of a concrete dike underneath the limestone ledge to prevent percolation through, and consequent destruction of, the soft underlying sand-rock; the construction of dams to keep the upper surface of the ledge flooded during the winter in order to prevent injurious action upon it of frost; and a timber apron and wings to prevent recession of the crest, and consequent destruction of the dike. The dike was completed in 1876, and the other works by 1878. Since 1878 work has been confined to the preservation and repair of the timber structures. No work of repairs was done during the past fiscal year for want of funds. The concrete dike is in good condition, but the wing and apron are very much undermined by the action of ice and water, and of loose saw-logs, which find their way to the apron from the log-booms above the falls. The rock filling of the apron crib-work has been removed, in large part, by the undermining action of the water, and the deck planking is in parts torn off by running ice and logs. Should the timber apron be destroyed the ledge would recede until the concrete dike would be endangered. The total amount expended to June 30, 1887, under the project of 1874, is, including outstanding liabilities, $415,000. The attention of the Senate Committee on Commerce was called in February 18 last to the urgent necessity for repairs to this timber apron. July 1, 1886, amount available July 1, 1887, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of liabilities outstanding July 1, 1886 July 1, 1887, outstanding liabilities.. (See Appendix A A 1.) $101.54 $14.71 101.54 2. Construction of lock and dam on Mississippi River at Meeker's Island, Minnesota.-The river and harbor act of March 3, 1873, appropriated: For construction of the lock and dam on the Mississippi River at Meeker's Island, Minnesota, according to the surveys and plans of the War Department twenty-five thousand dollars; Provided, That all rights and claims in and to the land grant made to the State of Minnesota for the above work by act approved July twenty-third, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, shall be fully relinquished to the United States before any of this appropriation is expended. None of this appropriation has been used, the required relinquishment not having been made, and the appropriation has been lying unused for fourteen years. (See Appendix A A 2.) 3. Mississippi River above the Falls of St. Anthony, Minnesota.- The present project, adopted in 1880, consists in improvement of the river mainly between Aitken and Grand Rapids, a distance of 165 miles, by removal of snags, bowlders, bars, and leaning trees from the channels, and construction of wing-dams when nesessary to afford 3 feet depth during low-water stage, the cost being estimated at $54,127. The last appropriation for this improvement being that of $10,000 by the act of August 2, 1882, no work was done upon the channels during the past fiscal year for want of funds. The total expended under the present project to June 30, 1887, including outstanding liabilities, is $35,000. Before improvement commenced in 1880 the stream between Aitken and Grand Rapids was so obstructed that navigation was difficult, and at times almost impossible, for steamers of lightest draught. There is now a general depth in the improved channels of 3 feet at low water, and the three completed reservoirs at the headwaters of the Mississippi River above Grand Rapids may be relied upon henceforth to provide sufficient depth for the steamers which carry passengers, supplies, and freight to the settlements and lumbermen's camps above Aitken; but there are many snags, leaning trees, bowlders, and gravel-bars yet remaining to be removed, as they contract the channels and thus interfere with the movement of steamers at any stage of water. Prior to the adoption of the present project, $45,000, appropriated in 1874 and 1876, had been expended between the Falls and Saint Cloud, 76 miles above the Falls, in the removal of sand, gravel, and bowlder bars and construction of wing-dams; but steam-boat navigation having discontinued upon that stretch of river the present project was adopted. The sum asked for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1889, is to be expended in continuing removal of obstructions to navigation between Aitken and Grand Rapids. July 1, 1886, amount available... $5.57 July 1, 1887, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of liabilities outstanding July 1, 1886.... $1.90 July 1, 1887, outstanding liabilities.. 3.67 5.57 19, 127.50 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project between Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1889 10,000.00 (See Appendix A A 3.) 4. Reservoirs at headwaters of the Mississippi River.-The object of the reservoirs is to collect surplus water, principally from the precipitation of winter, spring, and early summer, to be systematically released so as to benefit navigation during the season of drought upon the reaches of the several streams below the dams, and also upon that of the Mississippi below Saint Paul. The system, as originally reported upon, provided for 41 reservoir dams in Minnesota and Wisconsin, at an estimated first cost (omitting that of land, etc., damages) of $1,809,083. During the fiscal year construction of the dam on Pine River at the outlet of Cross Lake, Minnesota, was finished. The reservoir created by this dam, and by a dike at the south end of Whitefish Lake, has a capacity of 7,000,000,000 cubic feet. In addition to the Pine River reservoir dam are three dams completed in 1884, viz: at Lake Winnibigoshish, Leech Lake, and Pokegama Falls. During the dry season of 1886 the volumes of stored water discharged from these reservoirs added 1 foot and upwards to the depth at Saint Paul. The officer in charge calls attention to the necessity of legislation in regard to the numerous private dams at the headwaters of the Mississippi River and its tributaries erected by lumbermen in order to impound water for log driving, many of the dams being closed from July to the April following, thus depriving the Mississippi of water when it is most needed, the impounded water being liberated in the spring for driving purposes, when the river does not generally need an increase in volume of water. He recommends that the system of reservoirs on the Mississippi River above Minneapolis be completed before extending it in other directions, in order that a full test of the project may be made. He also calls attention to the necessity of legislation to prevent waste of reservoir water by the logging interests, and suggests that the difficulty in this particular respect can be obviated by an act providing that no logs shall be sluiced through a Government reservoir dam before August 1st, of any year, and then for a period not longer than forty days. The appropriation of $37,500 made by act of August 5, 1886, is to be applied to increasing the lift of the Pokegama reservoir, 2 feet, to an examination of Sandy Lake and River with a view to creating an additional reservoir in that locality, and to maintaining the four completed reservoirs. The total expended upon the project, including examinations at proposed dam-sites, meteorological, etc., observations, land damages, and amounts set aside as awards to Indians, allotments and outstanding liabilities to June 30, 1887, is $583,573.33. The sum asked for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1889, is to be expended in maintaining and operating the completed dams. July 1, 1886, amount available Amount appropriated by act approved August 5, 1886 . July 1, 1887, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of liabilites outstanding July 1, 1886.. July 1, 1887, outstanding liabilities... $16, 518. 93 37,500.00 54, 018. 93 $14,389.92 15,092.26 38,926.67 1, 186, 583.50 12,000.00 July 1, 1887, amount available Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project 1889 Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix A A 4.) 5. Chippewa River, Wisconsin.-This work consists in the construction of dams and jetties to confine the low-water volume to a practicable channel, and in revetment of caving bends between Eau Claire and the mouth of the river, a distance of 57 miles. The project was adopted in 1877, and its cost then placed at $75,790. Revised estimates in 1883, 8872 ENG 87-15 however, increased the estimate to $132,476.35, including in this latter all the expenditures from the commencement of the improvement. The total expended to June 30, 1887, including outstanding liabilities, is $111,497.96. The work during the past fiscal year consisted in construction of a dam at Eau Claire of a total length of 810 feet and in construction of dams at Five Mile Bluff Bar and Twin Islands. By the works constructed for the improvement of the river a lowwater depth of 3 to 4 feet has been maintained where before they were undertaken the depth seldom exceeded 18 inches. The jetties at the mouth of the river have been of great benefit to raft and steamboat navigation, in securing a stable channel of sufficient depth where before improvement commenced there was a broad bar intersected by shallow, shifting channels, passable with difficulty at times of low water by steamers and rafts. A number of bars between the mouth and Eau Claire still require improvement. The sum asked for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1889, is to be expended in furtherance of the plan of improvement, and mainly between Durand and the mouth of the river. Amount appropriated by act approved August 5, 1886.. July 1, 1886, amount available...... $629.87 18,750.00 19, 379.87 July 1, 1887, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of liabilities outstanding July 1, 1886.. 12, 955. 52 July 1, 1887, outstanding liabilities.. 1, 172.31 14, 127.83 5, 252. 04 15,750.00 15,750.00 July 1, 1887, amount available.... Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project.... (See Appendix A A 5.) 6. Chippewa River, at Yellow Banks, Wisconsin.-The object of this work is to prevent erosion of the high sand-banks or bluffs on the Chippewa River below Eau Claire, and thereby relieve the channels of this river and of the Mississippi below the junction of the two streams from the masses of sand contributed by those banks. The project for improvement was adopted in 1883. The estimated cost of the work was originally placed at $64,102.50. The estimate, however, as revised in 1883, was increased to $96,000, from experience as the work progressed. The protection work consists of revetment of piles, brush, and sand at foot of slopes. The total expended on the project to June 30, 1887, including outstanding liabilities, is $29,782. Slight repairs were made to the works during the fiscal year, but no further protection work was undertaken owing to want of funds. The amount asked for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1889, is to be expended in the work at Waubeek, Runsey's, and Mary Dean banks. July 1, 1886, amount available........... July 1, 1887, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of liabilities oustanding July 1, 1886.. July 1, 1887, amount available..... $254.84 36.84 218.00 $66,000.00 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project... harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix A A 6.) 7. Saint Croix River below Taylor's Falls, Minnesota and Wisconsin.The original project, adopted in 1878, contemplated removal of obstructions from the channels between Taylor's Falls, Minnesota, and Prescott, Wis. There was expended under this project $18,000. The present project adopted in 1880 and modified as to cost in 1882, consists, in addition to the removal of obstructions from the channel between Taylor's Falls and Prescott, the contraction of the low-water channel into one of nearly uniform width, especially at the bars and crossings, by means of jetties of brush and stone and dams of same material, to close island chutes and secondary channels. The estimated cost was $83,450. The work done during the past fiscal year consisted in dredging the channels at Hudson and Catfish bars, and in construction of a dam of brush and stone 1,105 feet in length at Catfish Bar, to maintain the dredged channel. The work, since the adoption of the present project, has resulted in a least depth of 3 feet on the improved bars above Stillwater and 4 to 5 feet on the bars below that place. At many places navigation has been made permanent where formerly it was uncertain, and in other places it has been made practicable where before improvement commenced it was impossible. There was expended under the present project to June 30, 1887, including outstanding liabilities, $64,041.51. The sum asked for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1889, is to be expended principally at Hudson and Catfish bars, and in repairs to and extension of the revetment at Kelly's Island, where a diversion of the channel has been threatened for several years past. 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 .......... $419.90 7,500.00 7,919.90 7,362.95 7, 461.41 458.49 18,950.00 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project...... (See Appendix A A 7.) 18,950.00 8. Minnesota River, Minnesota.-For want of funds no work for improvement was done during the past fiscal year. The last appropriation for this stream was made by the river and harbor act of June 18, 1878. The original plan for the improvement of the river was based upon the results of an examination made in 1866, and also a report made in accordance with requirement of the act of June 10, 1872. For this project there was appropriated in all $77,500, which was applied to removal of snags, bowlders, and overhanging trees between Minnesota Falls and Mankato. |