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, amount available $3,976.41 $3,250.00 60, 226.41 25,513.99 34, 712. 42 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project....... 435,500.00 (See Appendix B 7.) 8. Malden River, Massachusetts.-The object of the improvement is to increase the width and depth of the river channel from its mouth to the second bridge in Malden. Previous to the improvement there was a navigable depth of barely 7 feet at mean high water. The mean rise or fall of the tides is 9.8 feet. The project originally proposed in 1880 was to excavate a channel 100 feet wide, 12 feet deep at mean high water, up to the second bridge in Malden, with two "cut-offs," one east of the island, near the mouth of the river, and one through the marsh, about one-half mile above. This project was modified in 1882. It was then proposed to improve the natural channel of the river so that it would be 100 feet wide, 12 feet deep at mean high water, to the first bridge in Malden, and thence to the second bridge, 75 feet wide, with the same depth. The cost of the original project was estimated to be $40,000. The expenditures to June 30, 1886, were $10,000. No work was done during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1887. The channel of the river has a least width of 50 feet (70 feet at turns), with a depth of 12 feet at mean high water, from its mouth to the first bridge in Malden. There was no balance available July 1, 1887. The improved channel is in good order. No appropriation is recommended for the year ending June 30, 1889. To complete the project, it is estimated, will cost $37,000. (See Appendix B 8.) 9. Hingham Harbor, Massachusetts.-The object of the work is to widen and deepen the natural channel, which was 30 feet wide and 4 feet deep, to 100 feet wide and 10 feet deep at mean low water. The project was originally proposed in 1874, and was modified in 1885. The original project was estimated to cost $11,000. The project of 1885 was to cost $18,750. The total amount appropriated has been $16,000. The amount expended to June 30, 1886, was $9,316.58. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1887, 1,247 cubic yards of material were dredged and 1433 cubic yards of ledge were removed from a point in the channel 1,600 feet north of the steamboat wharf. The channel is now 100 feet wide and 8 feet deep throughout, and at the ledge where operations have been in progress this year it is 10 feet deep at mean low water in a cut through the ledge 50 feet wide. To complete the present project will require an appropriation of $13,000, all of which could be expended during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1889. The balance available July 1, 1887, will be expended in examinations and surveys necessary to show the progress of the work. 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.. $6,000,00 $3,635.04 5,923. 26 July 1, 1887, amount available... 76.74 13,000.00 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project........... (See Appendix B 9.) 10. Scituate Harbor, Massachusetts.-This harbor is on the west shore of Massachusetts Bay, about 14 miles south of Boston Light. The object of the improvement is to create a harbor of refuge for vessels bound to Boston from the eastward, which are too far south of their true course to clear the dangerous ledges near Minot's Ledge lighthouse. Originally the harbor had a low-water area of about 57 acres, more than 6 acres of which had a depth of at least 3 feet at mean low water. It was entirely open to the action of easterly winds, and its entrance was obstructed by sunken bowlders. The project adopted in 1880 is to build two breakwaters, one from "Cedar Point" on the north side of the entrance, and the other from the "First Cliff" on the south side; and to dredge the area inclosed and in front of the entrance. The estimated cost of the improvement is $290,000. The expenditures to June 30, 1886, were $37,334.40. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1887, about 65 cubic yards of bowlders were removed from the mouth of the harbor, and 18,326 cubic yards were dredged from the anchorage basin. The condition of the improvement is as follows: The north breakwater is essentially completed. Nothing has been done on the south breakwater. The entrance channel is 1,600 feet long, 100 feet wide, and 5 feet deep at mean low water. The anchorage basin is 350 by 450 feet in plan, 7 feet deep at mean low water. The expenditures during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1887, $9,690.88. The balance available July 1, 1887, $474.72, will be expended in such examinations and repairs as may be found necessary. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1889, $50,000 could be expended to advantage towards building the south breakwater, and in enlarging the basin and entrance channel. 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, amount available............. $165.60 10,000.00 10, 165.60 9, 690.88 474.72 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project.... 242,500.00 (See Appendix B 10.) 11. Plymouth Harbor, Massachusetts.-The object of this improvement is to protect the harbor by the preservation of Long Beach, which covers it, and to deepen and widen the channels of approach to an enlarged basin for anchorage opposite the town wharves. The various devices employed for the purpose of preserving Long Beach are described in the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers for the year 1877. The original project for the improvement of the harbor was adopted in 1875. It was modified in 1877 and again in 1884. The modified project proposed an improved channel, 2,286 feet long, 150 feet wide, and 9 feet deep at mean low water, and an anchorage basin 866 feet long, 150 feet wide, and 9 feet deep at mean low water. In 1885 it was estimated that $22,500 would complete the project. Before improvement there was about 6 inches of water in the channel at mean low water. From 1866 to date $114,800 have been appropriated for this harbor. The expenditures to June 30, 1886, were: For beach protection. For dredging... Total....... $72,587.56 35, 152. 75 107,740.31 During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1887, 14,812 cubic yards of material were dredged from the channel and basin. The channel is 115 feet wide and 9 feet deep at mean low water; one-half the basin has 9 feet depth, and the balance from 7 feet to 3 feet depth. Dredging operations in the basin are still in progress. The balance available July 1, 1887, $2,957.35, will be expended in completing the existing contract. To complete the modified project will require the appropriation of $15,500, all of which, in the opinion of the officer in charge, could be expended during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1889. July 1, 186, amount available $1,059.69 Amount appropriated by act approved August 5, 1856 6,000.00 7,059.69 July 1, 1887, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of liabilities outstanding July 1, 1886........ July 1, 1887, outstanding liabilities.. $1,125.22 4, 102.30 July 1, 1887, amount available 2,957.39 15.500.00 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project.. Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1889 10,000. Ou Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix B 11.) 12. Provincetown Harbor, Massachusetts.-This is one of the most valuable harbors of refuge on the Atlantic coast, and its existence depends entirely on the preservation of the sandy beaches inclosing it. The project for its improvement was adopted in 1866 and modified in 1869, 1872, and 1873. It consists in the construction of detached bulkheads of wood and stone, jetties of wood and brush, dikes, sand-catches, and the extensive planting of beach grass, which has been remarkably successful. From June, 1864, to June 30, 1887, the allotments and appropriations for this harbor have been $139,478.44. The amount expended to June 30, 1886, was $136.473.90. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1887, the hydrographic survey commenced in 1885 was completed, and compared with previous surveys, and the sand-catches near Able Hill Dike were repaired and extended. All the works are in good order. The comparison of the surveys shows in general terms that Long Point has grown slightly eastward, and has been raised and widened except at a few points; that the House Point Island Flats have advanced slightly to the northward, contracting only in a slight degree the harbor's capacity (less than one-tenth of 1 per cent.) on the south side. It is not deemed necessary to commence without further observations the dike (recommended in the last annual report) designed to cross House Point Island Flats. The expenditures during the fiscal year have been $860.50. The balance available July 1, 1887, $2,144.04, will be expended in extending the beach protections of Long Point, near Able Hill Dike, and Wood End Light, and in planting marsh grass on bare spots in House Point Island Flats. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1889, $7,000 could be expended to advantage in leveling up and backing the Long Point breakwater and in repairing probable storm damages. July 1, 1886, amount available..... Amount appropriated by act approved August 5, 1886 $4.54 3,000.00 3, 004.54 July 1, 1887, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of liabilities outstanding July 1, 1886............. 860.50 July 1, 1887, amount available.... 2, 144. 04 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project ..... 7,000.00 7,000.00 (See Appendix B 12.) 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, Lieutenant-Colonel Gillespie, and reported by him as worthy of improvement. He was accordingly charged with the survey of the same, the results of which will be submitted when received: 1. Manchester Harbor, Massachusetts. 2. Duxbury Harbor, Massachusetts. 3. Wellflett [Wellfleet] Harbor, Massachusetts. 4. Winthrop Harbor, Massachusetts. IMPROVEMENT OF HARBORS AND RIVERS ON THE SOUTHERN COAST OF MASSACHUSETTS AND IN RHODE ISLAND AND CONNECTICUT. Officers in charge, Lieut. Col. George H. Elliot, Corps of Engineers, to April 1, 1887, since which date Maj. W. R. Livermore, Corps of En gineers. 1. Harbor of refuge at Hyannis, Massachusetts.-This harbor before improvement was an open roadstead exposed to southerly storms. In the years 1827-38 a breakwater of riprap granite 1,170 feet long was constructed, covering an anchorage of about 175 acres, the entrance to which has a depth of about 153 feet. Between the years of 1852 and 1882 extensive repairs were made in increasing the width of its base and the size of the stone forming its sides and top. The depth of water inside the breakwater is insufficient for many vessels that seek the harbor for refuge, and the present approved project contemplates dredging the area protected by the breakwater to a depth of 153 feet at mean low water, at an estimated cost of $45,743.20. Congress made an appropriation of $10,000 therefor in the act of August 5, 1886. The amount previously expended on this work up to June 30, 1886, was $123,276.77, with which the breakwater had been completed according to the original project and the subsequent plans for strengthening it. The amount expended during the last fiscal year, including outstanding liabilities, was $886.41. The result has been the increase of the 153-foot anchorage area protected by the breakwater about 2 acres. The appropriation of $20,000 asked for is to be applied to extending the 15-foot anchorage area. July 1, 1886, amount available.. Amount appropriated by act approved August 5, 1826. 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 $80.81 10,000.00 10,080.81 $327.29 886.41 9, 194. 40 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project......... (See Appendix C 1.) 35, 662.00 20,000. 00 2. Harbor of refuge at Nantucket, Massachusetts.-This harbor is the only one between the harbors of Martha's Vineyard (Vineyard Haven and Edgartown) and Provincetown, a distance of about 100 miles, except the small harbor of Hyannis, on the north side of Nantucket Sound. It has deep water inside, and the object of the improvement is to make it a harbor of refuge for vessels plying between ports north and south of Cape Cod. Before the commencement of the present work there was a shoal about 1 miles in width outside the entrance, through which the channel or line of best water was only about 6 feet deep and very crooked and subject to changes in location. The present approved project is to construct jetties of riprap stone, projecting from either side of the present entrance to the harbor, for the purpose of concentrating the strength of the tidal currents and excavating a channel of 15 feet depth, by scour, and at the places where the full depth required will not be reached by this means, to complete the work by dredging. The amount expended on this project up to the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1886, was $105,832.12, and the result was the coustruction of the west jetty to a point 3,955 feet from the shore, and the east jetty to a distance of 120 feet from the initial point on the shore, and partially for an additional distance of 100 feet. The amount expended during the last fiscal year, including outstanding liabilities, was $5,699.65. The construction of the east jetty was |