REPORT OF THE BOARD OF ENGINEERS FOR RIVERS AND HAR-
BORS ON REVIEW OF REPORTS HERETOFORE SUBMITTED ON
WASHINGTON HARBOR, WITH ILLUSTRATIONS

Hon. J. J. MANSFIELD,

WAR DEPARTMENT,

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS,
Washington, February 25, 1935.

Chairman Committee on Rivers and Harbors,

House of Representatives.

MY DEAR MR. MANSFIELD: 1. The Committee on Rivers and Harbors of the House of Representatives, by resolution adopted June 16, 1934, requested the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors to review the reports on the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers, submitted in Senate Executive Document No. 126, Forty-seventh Congress, first session, and House Document No. 87, Fifty-fifth Congress, third session, with a view to determining if further improvement is advisable at the present time. I inclose herewith the report of the Board in response thereto.

2. The Potomac River at and below the city of Washington is a tidal estuary extending 110 miles to Chesapeake Bay. It has been improved by the Federal Government under the project for the Potomac River below Washington to afford a channel 24 feet deep and 200 feet wide from Chesapeake Bay to Giesboro Point, just below the confluence of the Anacostia River at Washington. The natural channel of the river affords this depth except at a few shoals. Under the project for the Potomac River at Washington a channel designated as the Virginia Channel, with a project depth of 20 feet, and width sufficient to afford a cross-sectional area of 25,000 feet, extends up the river from Giesboro Point to the Francis Scott Key Bridge, a distance of 5.2 miles; and a project known as the "Washington Channel ", with a project depth of 20 feet, extends along the water front in the southern portion of the city, a distance

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of 2.2 miles to a dead end. A tidal basin at the head of the Washington Channel forms a part of the park system of Washington and serves to flush the Washington Channel. Under the project for the Anacostia River a channel 20 feet deep and 400 feet wide has been provided up that river to the Anacostia Bridge, a distance of 1.8 miles. The Washington Navy Yard is near the head of this channel. The material excavated from the channels under the two projects has been utilized for land reclamation, for park, and other public purposes, and considerable portions of the channels have depths of 24 feet or over. The total cost of new work on the project for the improvement of the Potomac River at Washington has been $2,258,900.59. The estimated Federal cost of maintenance is $62,500. The cost of new work on the project for the Anacostia River has been $770,100. The estimated annual cost of maintenance is $6,000. The channel in the Anacostia River provided under the river and harbor project is extended by that afforded by a separate park reclamation project which provides for a channel 15 feet deep from the Anacostia Bridge to Massachusetts Avenue, thence 9 and 6 feet deep to the District line. The total cost of this work was $3,426,000.

3. The water-borne commerce of the Potomac River at Washington and the Anacostia River, nearly all of which is inbound, has varied from 1,655,000 tons in 1923 to 2,356,000 tons in 1931, and was 1,827,186 tons in 1933. Approximately one-third of the total is to terminals along the Anacostia River. The principal commodities are building material, petroleum products, naval stores, and miscellaneous freight. Because of park developments and zoning ordinances, commercial wharves are restricted to the east shore of the Virginia channel from the foot of G Street NW., to the Key Bridge, a distance of 3,800 feet; a small section on the west bank of this channel near the Key Bridge; to the north bank of the Anacostia River from its mouth to the Pennsylvania Railroad freight bridge, a distance of 14,580 feet, and to the east shore of the Washington Channel. The entire frontage of the Washington Channel is owned by the United States. A plan for its future development has been submitted to Congress.

4. The National Capital Park and Planning Commission, the Washington Board of Trade, and various commercial interests now request that the United States provide channels 24 feet deep and 400 feet wide in the Potomac River from Giesboro Point to Francis Scott Key Bridge, in the Washington Channel to its head, and up the Anacostia River to the Anacostia Bridge, with a channel of the same depth but of lesser width from the Anacostia Bridge to the foot of Fifteenth Street SE. The Navy Department requests a turning basin 800 feet wide and 24 feet deep opposite the navy yard in the Anacostia River. The National Capital Park and Planning Commission and the Washington Board of Trade also request the removal of shoals between the Virginia Channel and East Potomac Park to provide a suitable course for motor-boat races.

5. The Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors, concurring in the recommendation of the district and division engineers, is of the opinion that the improvement of channels is advisable to afford a depth of 24 feet with adequate widths and with suitable turning basins, in accordance with the plan presented by the district engineer and at a cost of $325,000 for new work with $83,000 annually for