REPORT OF THE BOARD OF ENGINEERS FOR RIVERS AND HAR- Hon. J. J. MANSFIELD, WAR DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, Chairman Committee on Rivers and Harbors, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. MANSFIELD: 1. The Committee on Rivers and Harbors of the House of Representatives, by a resolution adopted March 11, 1935, requested the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors to review the reports on Cleveland Harbor, Ohio, including channel in Cuyahoga and Old Rivers, submitted in House Document No. 477, Seventy-second Congress, second session, with a view to determining whether the improvement and maintenance of the channels in the Cuyahoga and Old Rivers are advisable at the present time. I enclose herewith the report of the Board in response thereto. 2. Cleveland Harbor is on the south shore of Lake Erie at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, 176 miles by water southwest of Buffalo, N. Y., and 96 miles east of Toledo, Ohio. Under the existing project for improvement the Federal Government has constructed breakwaters enclosing an outer harbor extending 5 miles along the city front, with an entrance, protected by arrowhead breakwaters, opposite the mouth of Cuyahoga River. Parallel piers have been constructed at the river mouth, and the entrance channel, the westerly part of the outer harbor, and the channel between the piers at the river mouth dredged to a depth of 25 feet. A least depth of 21 feet has generally been secured over the remainder of the outer harbor, 40618-361 DIV. much of which affords natural depths in excess of 30 feet. The total Federal cost for new work of improvement to June 30, 1935, was $7,188,000. The latest approved estimate of the cost of annual maintenance is $40,000. A channel extending 5%1⁄2 miles up Cuyahoga River and a branch channel, known as Old River, extending westward 1 mile from the vicinity of the present river mouth have been dredged and maintained by the city of Cleveland. These channels are crossed by numerous bridges, and sharp bends in the Cuyahoga River offer serious difficulties to its use by the larger lake cargo carriers. A cooperative project for straightening this channel was authorized by the River and Harbor Act of 1917, the Federal contribution to be limited to dredging at a cost not to exceed $400,000. Under this authorization a plan was adopted by the city and approved by the Secretary of War in 1931. However, the river passes through a highly developed industrial area, and the difficulty of obtaining the necessary lands and properties has thus far precluded work under this authorization. In 1935, the city being unable to finance the work, the Federal Government undertook the maintenance dredging of Cuyahoga and Old Rivers for a period of 1 year as an emergency measure with National Industrial Recovery Act and contributed funds, the city of Cleveland contributing $50,000 of the total estimated cost of $175,000. Local interests now urge that the United States undertake the future maintenance and improvement of the channels in Cuyahoga and Old Rivers, deepening them to 24 feet and widening them in general conformity with the plan heretofore approved by the Secretary of War, the United States to bear the entire cost of necessary bridge and bulkhead modifications and land acquisition. 3. The city of Cleveland and its suburbs has a population of 1,195,000. The area tributary to Cleveland Harbor, including the city of Akron, has a population exceeding 2,000,000. The commerce of the harbor has ranged from nearly 17,000,000 tons in 1929 to 4,234,525 tons in 1932, and was 8,659,000 tons in 1934. It consists principally of receipts of iron ore, shipments of coal, receipts of stone, sand, and gravel, and miscellaneous commodities. Over one-half of the total commerce carried in 1934 moved over terminals on the Cuyahoga River. 4. The Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors, concurring generally with the conclusions of the division engineer, points out that Cleveland Harbor is one of the most important ports on Lake Erie for the transshipment of iron ore, coal, and other basic commodities of national importance. The maintenance of reasonably adequate channels to the terminals on the inner harbor appears to be properly a function of the Federal Government, and the expenditure required, estimated at $135,000 annually, is warranted by the value of the waterways to general commerce and navigation. Eventually the widening of the channel in the Cuyahoga River to accommodate the longer and more economical freight carriers will be necessary. The Board concurs in the division engineer's view that the most practicable and satisfactory procedure should provide for a progressive improvement to be carried out as local interests provide the necessary easement and undertake the required modifications of the bridges, bulkheads, and other structures at each of the several localities to be widened. It would not appear that a depth greater than 21 feet can be maintained between the present bulkheads along the river. The Board concurs in the view expressed by the division engineer that the cost of the extensive modifications to bulkheads, bridges, and other improvements should be borne by local interests who will be substantially and directly benefited to enhance property values and reductions in delays to land traffic at the bridges. Because of the difficulties entailed in the acquisition of the necessary property rights and the financing of structural improvements, local interests cannot be expected to accomplish much of this work except as the need for replacement of existing structures becomes necessary by reason of obsolesence. The Board, therefore, recommends the modification of the existing project for Cleveland Harbor, Ohio, to provide: (a) For maintenance by the United States of the channels in Cuyahoga and Old Rivers to a depth of 21 feet of such width as is practicable without dredging closer than 40 feet to existing bulkheads except where necessary at bends, extending on Cuyahoga River from the present upper limit of the Federal project below the New York Central bridge southward to the head of navigation above Clark Avenue Viaduct, a distance of about 54 miles, with a turning basin 18 feet deep about three-fourths of a mile below the head of navigation, and on Old River from its junction with the Cuyahoga River westward a distance of about 1 mile, all as shown on the accompanying maps, and at an estimated annual cost of $135,000 additional to that now authorized; provided that the city of Cleveland will remove the unused bridge at West Third Street, and the abutments thereof, and relieve the United States from all claims for damages incident to dredging operations. (b) For improvement by the United States to a depth of 21 feet of the channels described above by easing the bends and widening the channels, by dredging only, in the areas shown on the accompanying maps, at an estimated cost of $567,100; provided that local interests defray all costs of the modification or rebuilding of bridges, bulkheads, other structures and submarine crossings, grant easements free of cost to the United States for all lands required, and relieve the United States from all damages; and provided, that when the conditions of local cooperation prescribed above have been met in each or any of cuts 1 to 9, inclusive, or partial cuts 3A, 4A, and 5A, as shown on the accompanying maps, the United States will undertake the dredging thereof. 5. After due consideration of these reports, I concur in the views and recommendations of the Board. Very truly yours, E. M. MARKHAM, REPORT OF THE BOARD OF ENGINEERS FOR RIVERS AND HARBORS WAR DEPARTMENT, BOARD OF ENGINEERS FOR RIVERS AND HARBORS, Subject: Cleveland Harbor, Ohio. Washington, December 17, 1935. To: The Chief of Engineers, United States Army. 1. This report is in response to the following resolution adopted March 11, 1935: Resolved by the Committee on Rivers and Harbors of the House of Representatives, United States, That the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors created under section 3 of the River and Harbor Act, approved June 13, 1902, be, and is hereby, requested to review the reports on Cleveland Harbor, Ohio, including channel in Cuyahoga and Old Rivers, submitted in House Document Numbered 477, Seventy-second Congress, second session, with a view to determining whether the improvement and maintenance of the channels in the Cuyahoga and Old Rivers are advisable at the present time. 2. Cleveland Harbor is on the south shore of Lake Erie at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, 176 miles by water southwest of Buffalo, N. Y., and 96 miles east of Toledo, Ohio. Under the present project for improvement, the United States has constructed a breakwater system enclosing an outer harbor 1,600 to 2,400 feet wide extending 5 miles along the lake frontage of the city of Cleveland, with an entrance 700 feet wide opposite the river mouth protected by arrowhead breakwaters. Parallel piers 325 feet apart have been provided at the river entrance, and the entrance between breakwaters, the west basin, the westerly portion of the east basin, and the channel between the piers at the river mouth have been dredged to a depth of 25 feet. A least depth of 21 feet has generally been secured over the remainder of the east basin, much of which affords natural depths in excess of 30 feet. The total Federal cost to June 30, 1935, was $7,188,000 for new work and $2,153,000 for maintenance. The latest approved estimate for annual maintenance is $40,000. The inner harbor, consisting of the lower 5 miles of the Cuyahoga River and a branch, called Old River, extending 1 mile westward from the vicinity of the present mouth, has been dredged and maintained by the city of Cleveland at a reported total cost of $5,030,000. These channels are narrow and winding and are crossed by 27 bridges and viaducts. Sharp bends in the lower Cuyahoga limit its use to vessels not exceeding 540 feet in length. A cooperative project for straightening the lower 41⁄2 miles of the Cuyahoga River channel was authorized by the River and Harbor Act of August 8, 1917, the Federal contribution to be limited to dredging to 21-foot depth at a cost not to exceed $400,000. Under this authorization a plan for straightening the channel was adopted by the city and approved by the Secretary of War, March 13, 1931. However, the river passes through a highly developed industrial area. and the difficulties involved in obtaining the necessary lands and propproperties have thus far precluded work under this authorization. 1935, the Federal Government undertook the maintenance dredging of Cuyahoga and Old Rivers for a period of 1 year as an emergency measure with National Industrial Recovery Administration and contributed funds, the city of Cleveland contributing $50,000 of the esti mated total cost ($175,000). 3. The city of Cleveland and its suburbs, with 1,195,000 inhabit ants, constitute an industrial center with a wide diversification of products. The area tributary to the harbor, which includes the city of Akron, has a population exceeding 2,000,000. Land-transportation requirements of the area are adequately served by a network of rail ways and improved highways. The commerce of the harbor has aver aged nearly 11,000,000 tons annually during the past 10 years, 69 percent being iron ore, 13 percent coal, 10 percent stone, sand, and gravel, and 8 percent miscellaneous commodities. Over half the total of 8,659,000 tons carried in 1934 moved over terminals on the inner harbor. 4. Local interests request that the United States undertake the maintenance and future improvement of the inner harbor at Cleve land, deepening the channels to 24 feet and widening them in general conformity with the plan heretofore approved by the Secretary of War, the United States to bear the entire cost of necessary bridge and bulkhead modifications and of land acquisition. It is claimed that the city is no longer able to finance the improvement, and that assumption of this work by the Federal Government is fully justified by the benefits to the substantial volume of interstate commerce affected. No offer of local cooperation was made. 5. The district engineer has made a physical survey of the Cuyahoga and Old Rivers and, in addition, retained a firm of consulting engineers to report on the cost of reconstructing bulkheads and bridges and of acquiring lands needed in the improvement of the Cuyahoga River. He presents six plans for improving the inner harbor, with estimated. costs as indicated below: ! Dredging shown as maintenance. 1This scheme includes reconstruction of 10 bridges (4 highway and 6 railway), strengthening of 7 others (2 highway and 5 railway), and removal of 1 unused bridge (highway). 6. The district engineer notes that steamship companies have made no discrimination against any ore-receiving port by reason of available depths, difficulty of entrance, or the necessity for the use of tugs, and further that the present volume of the ore movement requires the use of a large number of the smaller vessels of the lake fleet capable of navigating the Cuyahoga River in its present condition. He concludes that the prospective benefits of any improvement would be limited to the savings afforded by the deeper loading of vessels destined to inner harbor terminals. For the 1934 movement such savings would amount to $103,000 for 22-foot draft and $59,500 for 20-foot draft. As the estimated carrying charges on the improvements far exceed the savings, the district engineer concludes that deepening of the channels is not warranted. 7. The district engineer states that the present volume of traffic justifies the continued maintenance of the inner harbor. He notes, however, that a large part of the traffic on the Cuyahoga River is destined either for local consumption, the value of commodities so used being approximately $65,000,000 annually; or for local processing, which results in an increase in commodity values estimated at $38,000,000 annually. He concludes that in view of the substantial local benefits inherent in the foregoing, it is equitable that the city should continue to maintain this channel. The commerce in O'd River being largely for transshipment to distant points, the district |