DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE,

UNITED STATES SHIPPING BOARD BUREAU,

To: Assistant Director.

Washington, June 27, 1936.

From: Chief, Section of Public Information.

Subject: Port Series No. 8, Part II, Ports of Miami and Tampa, Fla.

Section 8 of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, requires this Bureau, in cooperation with the Secretary of War, to investigate port facilities and the flow of commerce through ports, in order to encourage their use by ships carrying the waterborne commerce of the United States.

Under the cooperative arrangement with the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors, the second revision of Port Series No. 8, Part II, Ports of Miami and Tampa, Fla., has just been completed. In this volume the material on port administration, procedure employed in handling cargo, port labor, steamship services, steamship rates and rate conferences, territory tributary, and economic summary was prepared in this Bureau under the immediate supervision of Ralph I. Schneider, head of port surveys, Section of Public Information.

Recommendation is made that this material, the manuscript of which is transmitted herewith, be approved for publication.

Approved.

GEORGE PARSON, Chief, Section of Public Information.

H. RUSSELL AMORY,

Assistant Director.

INTRODUCTION

This is a revision of the data on the ports of Miami and Tampa, Fla., constituting part 2 of Port Series No. 8, and is one of a series of reports on the principal ports of the United States. The present report has been compiled under authority of section 500 of the Transportation Act and section 8 of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 to meet the needs of the War Department and the Department of Commerce in the development of harbors and the encouragement and betterment of port facilities, with a view to the promotion of water transportation and the upbuilding of American trade.

The War Department is charged by law with the planning and improvement of our harbors and navigable channels, and jointly with the Department of Commerce is required to undertake investigations of ports and terminals and the territory tributary to ports, and to advise with communities regarding the appropriate location and plan of construction of wharves, piers and water terminals; to investigate the practicability and advantages of harbor, river, and port improvements, and to investigate any other matters that may tend to promote and encourage the use by vessels of ports adequate to care for the freight which would naturally pass through such ports. Before establishing shipping agencies, the manufacturer must consider every factor influencing the prompt and economical movement of his products. Traffic does not always follow the shortest route, nor that having the lowest line-haul rate, but it will usually be found that there are sound reasons for this seeming disregard of economy. Frequently the principal of these reasons is to be found at the port. In order to attract business a port must first provide the facilities essential for handling the particular commodities which it is likely to be offered, and this requires a detailed study of production and consumption within the territory naturally tributary to the port, and the provision of equipment especially designed to meet the several requirements of this traffic. The ships, calling or likely to call, at the port must be studied in the endeavor to provide the facilities and render the service which will permit their more rapid turn-around. The railroad situation is frequently a controlling element in port success. There should be ample trackage serving the terminal or terminals, with the most economical interchange both between the several railroads entering the port and between these railroads and the ship. Not only should the physical characteristics of the terminal with regard to the coordination between railroad and ship be examined, but the

railroad rates should be scrutinized, as in various instances a commensurate utilization of a port has been rendered impracticable by unfavorable rate conditions.

The absence of any one essential may prevent what should be an economical route or port from securing its tributary business. The trouble may be lack of adequate terminals, the absence or inaccessibility of storage facilities, the imposition of excessive switching or terminal charges, the absence of repair or docking facilities, the lack of well-balanced cargoes and frequent sailings, or other conditions affecting the movement of goods through the port and ability of vessels to earn a fair revenue. Port coordination and management are apt to play a considerable part in the success or failure of the port community to attract and hold business. Where possible, the control of all deep-water frontage by the public, as represented by the State or municipality, including the ownership and operation of a belt-line railroad connecting all rail lines and all terminals, is a practical solution of the coordination problem, and is an effective remedy for many of the ills that now exist.

Ports should not have to depend upon the good will or selfish interests of either railroads or steamship lines to develop business. The railroads may prefer to have the business go elsewhere, and the water carriers could scarcely be expected to undertake extensive operations designed to bring goods to a particular port. In other words, the development of traffic should be regarded as one of the permanent functions of the port itself. Among the important objects, therefore, which it is hoped to attain from this series of reports is a more general appreciation of the benefits to be derived from the proper development of our ports.

Acknowledgment is made of the courteous cooperation and assistance rendered by various port organizations, shipping interests, facility owners, city officials, and other local interests in the work of compiling data for inclusion in this report.

THE PORT OF MIAMI, FLA.

PORT AND HARBOR CONDITIONS

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Miami Harbor is on the Atlantic coast of the State of Florida near the southern extremity of the peninsula about 335 miles south of the mouth of St. Johns River and 160 miles north and east of Key West, Fla. The city of Miami is located on the west shore of Biscayne Bay at Miami River. The city of Miami Beach is located on the peninsula on the east side of the bay, opposite Miami. The harbor embraces the artificial basins, slips, and channels that have been dredged along the bay front of the two cities and in the bay and through the shoal water of Biscayne Bay to the ocean.

The outer harbor.-The entrance to the main channel is directly east of the city of Miami. The sea buoy marking channel entrance through reef is about 2 miles off shore. The entrance is an artificial cut 1,000 feet wide known as Government Cut, dredged across the southern end of Miami Beach. It is protected by jetties and is well marked. A channel has been dredged 30 feet deep 500 feet wide on the sea end and 300 feet wide through the cut to Biscayne Bay. This entrance affords the most direct access to the port, has the greatest navigable capacity, and is now the only channel used by ocean vessels bound to and from the port of Miami. The original, or Cape Florida, entrance to the harbor is obstructed by many shoals and reefs, and no vessel of over 8 feet draft should attempt to enter it without a pilot. This entrance is over Cape Florida Shoal, about 2 miles southeast of Cape Florida, thence through either of two channels extending westward between shoals to Biscayne Bay. This southerly entrance to the harbor is not generally used by commercial vessels.

The inner harbor.-The inner harbor comprises Biscayne Bay, Miami River, which empties into the bay about 1 mile south of the municipal turning basin, and a number of channels, slips, and basins which have been dredged along the bay frontage of Miami and Miami Beach, and from the basins to the ocean. Biscayne Bay is a shallow body of water about 33 miles long extending in a northerly direction from Card Sound. The first 23 miles of the lower bay has a width

of 7 miles and is separated from Hawk Channel by a number of keys and coral banks, between which there are numerous, narrow, and shallow passages. For the remaining distance the bay has a width of about 2 miles and is separated from the Straits of Florida by a narrow peninsula. There are a few places in the bay with depths of 13 and 15 feet, but the greater part of the bay has depths of 9 and 10 feet or less. A channel 30 feet deep and 200 feet wide has been dredged across the bay leading from the channel dredged through the land cut to a turning basin, in front of the municipal dock, about 1,400 feet long, 1,150 feet wide, and 30 feet deep. Three connecting basins are situated along the Miami waterfront. The most northerly is the municipal turning basin; immediately south thereof is the Florida East Coast Railway Terminal Basin, with a controlling depth of 13 feet; and farther south the municipal yacht anchorage basin with depths ranging from 12 to 16 feet, extending along Bay Front Park to the mouth of Miami River.

This project has been completed except for the widening of the 200foot channel across Biscayne Bay to 300 feet. The dredging to provide a depth of 30 feet was completed during 1935, and the repair of the jetties was completed in 1934. On April 30, 1936, the jetties and revetments were in good condition and the project depth of 30 feet existed throughout the improvement. The further enlargement of the turning basin on the south side is contemplated.

In addition to the main project outlined above, the following improvements connecting with the inner harbor have been made or authorized by the United States:

Miami River, Fla.-The existing project provides for a channel 15 feet deep at high water, 150 feet wide for a distance of 3 miles above the mouth, thence 125 feet wide to a point of 4% miles above the mouth, thence 90 feet wide to a point 51⁄2 miles above the mouth. It also provides for an approach channel, 700 feet wide and 6 feet deep to the harbor line at the seaplane base at Dinner Key, on the west shore of Biscayne Bay, about 4 miles southwesterly from the business district of Miami, with an enlargement at the inner end and for a channel 8 feet deep and 50 feet wide along the easterly edge. The Miami River Channel was authorized by the River and Harbor Act of July 3, 1930, and the channel in the vicinity of Dinner Key was authorized by an item in the War Department Appropriation Act approved July 14, 1932. The project has been completed. The controlling depths on April 30, 1931, were 12.8 feet at low water in the Miami River Channel and 5.6 feet in the Dinner Key approach channel.

Intracoastal waterways.-The existing project, authorized by River and Harbor Acts approved January 21, 1927, and July 3, 1930, provides for an inland waterway in general 100 feet wide and 8 feet deep at local mean low water from Jacksonville to Miami, a distance