IMPROVEMENT OF RIVERS AND HARBORS IN THE NEW ENGLAND DIVISION The New England Division, an operating division with both district and division functions, comprises all of New England except western Vermont and small portions of Massachusetts and Connecticut along their western boundaries, and includes small portions of southeastern New York all embraced in the drainage basins tributary to Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean east of the New York-Connecticut State line. It also includes Fishers Island, N. Y. 1. PORTLAND HARBOR, MAINE Location. This harbor is on the southwestern coast of Maine about 100 miles northeast of Boston, Mass. (See U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Chart No. 325.) Previous projects. Adopted by joint resolution of June 5, 1868, and River and Harbor Act of June 10, 1872. For further details see page 1736 of Annual Report for 1915, and page 40 of Annual Report for 1936. Existing project. This provides for an anchorage area 35 feet deep at mean low water, approximately 170 acres in area, northwest of House Island; an anchorage area off the eastern end of the city, with a minimum depth of 30 feet; dredging a 35-foot channel from the westerly side of the Maine State pier in the lower part of the main harbor through its channel of approach to the sea; dredging to 35 feet the present 30-foot channel from the Maine State pier to Portland Bridge for its full width, thence to Vaughan Bridge for a width of 400 feet, thence to the Boston & Maine Railroad bridge for a width of 300 feet; dredging a 35-foot turning basin easterly of Vaughan Bridge; and construction of stone breakwater about 900 feet long from Spring Point to Spring Point Light; for a channel 30 feet deep and 300 feet wide from the anchorage to the Grand Trunk Bridge at the mouth of Back Cove; for rock excavation to give a depth of 14 feet between the Grand Trunk and Tukey's Bridges, and a channel 12 feet deep and 300 feet wide thence to the head of Back Cove; for the removal of two obstructing ledges in the main ship channel to a depth of 40 feet; for a stone breakwater about 2,000 feet long on the southerly side of the mouth of the inner harbor; and the maintenance of Soldier Ledge Channel in Hussy Sound, Casco Bay, at a depth of 40 feet. The project depths refer to mean low water. The mean tidal range is 8.9 feet, extreme 10.2 feet, though variations as great as 16 feet have been observed under storm conditions. The estimate of cost for new work (1955) is $4,620,000 exclusive of amounts expended on previous projects. The latest (1955) approved estimate for annual cost of maintenance is $47,600. The existing project was authorized by the following River and Harbor Acts: June 23, 1866. Mar. 3, 1905 (sundry civil) July 25, 1912. Extension of breakwater. Dredging to 30 feet over greater part of inner harbor 30-foot anchorage: 14 feet at entrance to Back Cove; Aug. 8, 1917. 35-foot depth in lower part of main harbor and the Mar. 2, 1945 35-foot anchorage, approximately 170 acres in area Do...... July 24, 1946.. northwest of House Island. Maintenance of Soldier Ledge Channel in Hussey Deepening 30-foot channel to 35 feet; 35-foot turning 1 Contains the latest published maps. Documents H. Doc. 491, 23d Cong., 1st sess. S. Doc. 271, 54th Cong., 1st sess. H. Doc. 489, 62d Cong., 2d sess. H. Doc. 71, 65th Cong., 1st sess. H. Doc. 560, 76th Cong., 3d sess.1 H. Doc. 510, 79th Cong., 2d sess.1 Local cooperation. Fully complied with. Terminal facilities. There are 51 waterfront facilities, of which 3 are not used. Five of the wharves are publicly owned, 3 by the United States Government, 1 by the State of Maine, and 1 by the city of South Portland. Mechanical handling facilities are available at 15 of the wharves. Railroad connections have been made to 29 of them. The facilities are considered adequate for the needs of existing commerce. (For a further description of terminal facilities, see Port and Terminal Facilities of Northern New England No. 1 Revised 1953.) Operations and results during fiscal year. Maintenance dredging by Government-owned hopper dredge Gerig to restore project depth in the 35-foot channel between the mouth of the harbor and Portland Bridge was started on October 1, 1954, and completed on October 31, 1954. During the period 104,778 cubic yards (pay place plus natural shoaling) of ordinary material were removed at a cost of $109,995, all maintenance funds. A contract for improvement dredging by the hydraulic process in the 35-foot anchorage basin northwest of House Island was awarded on April 21, 1955. Operations consisted only of contractor's preparations for the remainder of the fiscal year. Preliminary Government costs in connection with this work for engineering and surveys were $5,907, for new work. Condition at the end of fiscal year. The existing project was about 65 percent complete. To complete the project there remains the removal of the outer ledge in the main ship channel, the dredging of the 35-foot anchorage area northwest of House Island, and the dredging of the hard areas in the 35-foot channel. The controlling depths at mean low water in the various improved channels of Portland Harbor at the dates they were last surveyed were: 29 feet in the southerly quarter, 33 feet in the northerly half and 34 feet in the remaining quarter of the 35-foot channel from the sea to abreast of the Maine State Pier (1954), thence 28 feet in the southerly quarter and 32 feet in the remaining three-quarters of the 35-foot channel to the Portland Bridge (1954); thence 31 feet in the 35-foot Fore River Channel to 200 feet downstream of the site of the old Vaughan Bridge (1954), thence 35 feet deep to 200 feet upstream of the site of the old Vaughan Bridge (1955), thence 35 feet in the northerly three-quarters and 31 feet in the southerly quarter to the Boston and Maine railroad bridge. (1954); 18.0 feet in the entrance channel to Back Cove (1945); 130 feet between the Grand Trunk and Tukey's Bridges (1945); 8.0 feet in Back Cove (1945); 28.0 feet in the 30-foot anchorage (1951) and from 16 to 45 feet in the 35-foot anchorage (1954). The costs under the existing project have been $4,288,749, of which $3,266,305 was for new work and $1,022,443 for maintenance. Unobligated balance, fiscal year ending June 30, 1955-. 2. KENNEBUNK RIVER, MAINE $82, 593 575, 000 19, 602 Location. The source of Kennebunk River is in the central part of York County in southwestern Maine. The stream flows about 15 miles in a southeasterly direction and discharges into the Atlantic Ocean about 30 miles southwest of Portland, Maine. U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Chart No. 1205.) (See Existing project. This provides for the construction of a stone breakwater on the easterly side of the mouth of the river about 550 feet long, a pier or jetty on the westerly side of the mouth about 290 feet long, the construction of a wharf about 700 feet upstream from the shore end of the breakwater (transferred to Treasury Department in 1936), the construction of a jetty on the east bank a short distance farther upstream, and securing a depth of 4 feet at mean low water for an average width of 100 feet up to Kennebunkport, a distance of about 1 mile, by dredging and rock removal. The mean tidal range is 9 feet; the extreme 13.5 feet. Work appears to have been commenced by the State of Massachusetts in 1798, since which date a number of small appropriations have been made for maintenance and further improvement. The cost of new work for the completed project was $83,584. The latest (1955) approved estimate for annual cost of maintenance is $2,400. Those portions of the existing project adopted since 1829 were authorized by the following river and harbor acts: Local cooperation. None required. Terminal facilities. There are a total of 10 wharves in the river. Nine of these are privately owned and one is publicly owned by the Town of Kennebunkport, Maine. None of these have railroad con nections or mechanical handling facilities. All are in poor condition. The facilities are considered adequate for existing traffic. Operations and results during fiscal year. The damaged sections of the stone breakwater at the easterly side of the river's mouth were repaired, by contract, during the fiscal year. Work was initiated on September 9 and completed on October 26, 1954. Costs were $14,403, all maintenance funds. Condition at the end of the fiscal year. The existing project was completed in 1893. The project depth of 4 feet was restored in 1950. The costs under the existing project have been $234,130, of which $83,584 was for new work and $150,546 was for maintenance. 3. ISLES OF SHOALS HARBOR, MAINE AND N. H. Location. A group of islands in the open sea about 6 miles northeast of Portsmouth Harbor, N. H. Three of them, Smuttynose, Cedar, and Star Islands, are so situated that, with the shoals connecting them, they afford a small harbor of fair depth, open only to the west and northwest, known as Gosport Harbor. (See U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Chart No. 330.) Previous projects. The first work of improvement by the Government was ordered by the Act of March 3, 1821. Subsequent modifications and additions were authorized by the act of May 7, 1822, and the River and Harbor Act of July 13, 1902. For scope of previous projects see page 1739 of Annual Report for 1915. Existing projects. This provides for the construction of three rough stone breakwaters as follows: One from Smuttynose Island westwardly to Malaga Island on the north side of the harbor, having a length of 240 feet; one extending southeastwardly from Smuttynose Island to Cedar Island, protecting the harbor on the east, having a length of 700 feet; and a third extending southwestwardly from Cedar Island to Star Island, affording protection from the southeast and south, having a length of 530 feet. The mean tidal range is 8.7 feet and the extreme 9.9 feet. The cost of new work for the completed project was $39,238, exclusive of amounts expended under previous projects. There is no approved estimate of cost for maintenance. The existing project was adopted by the River and and Harbor Act approved June 25, 1910 (H. Doc. No. 1122, 60th Cong., 2d sess.). The latest published map is printed in the Annual Report for 1913, page 1530. |