two-thirds of the first cost, but not to exceed $500,000, and furnish all necessary rights-of-way and spoil areas for initial work and subsequent maintenance without cost to or claim against the United States. G. R. LUKESH, Colonel, Corps of Engineers, REPORT OF THE DISTRICT ENGINEER SYLLABUS The district engineer recommends the adoption of a project for the improvement of Barnegat Inlet, N. J., corresponding to a plan proposed by the Shore Protection Board and desired by local interests. He estimates the first cost at $750,000, with $25,000 annually for maintenance. He recommends that local interests contribute $250,000 and provide necessary rights-of-way and spoil areas. WAR DEPARTMENT, UNITED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE, Subject: Review of reports on Barnegat Inlet, N. J. AUTHORITY 1. This review report is submitted in compliance with instructions from the Chief of Engineers dated April 3, 1935, and endorsed by the division engineer under date of April 5, 1935, pursuant to the following resolution of the Committee on Rivers and Harbors, House of Representatives, United States, adopted March 26, 1935: Resolved by the Committee on Rivers and Harbors of the House of Representatives of the 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 Barnegat Inlet, New Jersey, submitted in Rivers and Harbors Committee Document No. 19, Seventy-third Congress, Second Session, with a view to determining if the recommendation in said document should be modified in any way at this time. 2. The report under review is a survey report on Barnegat Inlet, N. J., submitted by the Chief of Engineers under date of August 23, 1933, based upon a study of the Shore Protection Board as of May 9, 1933, and published as Committee on Rivers and Harbors Document No. 19, Seventy-third Congress, second session. The shore protection board outlined in this report two plans for improvement at Barnegat Inlet. Plan A for navigation purposes and plan B for a simple maintenance of the status quo without greatly affecting the facilities then available. The estimated costs of plans A and B were $764,000 and $564,000, respectively, for new work, with annual maintenance costs of $35.000 and $10,000. The findings of the Shore Protection Board were briefed in the syllabus, that the improvement of this locality by the United States in the interests of commerce is not advisable at this time." The division engineer concurred in the recommendations of the Shore Protection Board. 66 3. The Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors, in their report dated July 31, 1933, recommended a modification of plan A as outlined by the Shore Protection Board at an estimated cost of $533,000 for new work and $8,000 annually for maintenance, with the provisions that local interests should contribute two-thirds of the total cost of the project, but not to exceed $355,000. The Chief of Engineers concurred with the recommendations of the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors. No action has been taken by Congress on this project. DESCRIPTION 4. Barnegat Inlet is located on the east coast of New Jersey about 50 miles south of Sandy Hook and 23 miles north of Little Egg Harbor. It forms the main entrance to Barnegat Bay, the largest of the New Jersey coastal bays, which are separated from the ocean by narrow barrier beaches. The inlet lies between Island Beach on the north and Long Beach on the south. The distance between highwater lines across the inlet abreast Barnegat Light was 1,200 feet in May, 1935. The inlet channel is very unstable and frequently shifts its position. Outside the gorge, the channel turns sharply to the south. The inner channel from the throat of the gorge into the bay separates into several channels extending through shifting sand shoals. The inlet has been navigable continuously since the settlement of the State. Depths of 20 feet or more in the gorge are ordinarily obtained. Over the outer and inner bars they vary from time to time, but are usually 6 to 7 feet. 5. Depths in the Bay are generally from 1 to 10 feet. The State of New Jersey has dredged a channel through the bay with a minimum depth of 6 feet as a part of its intracoastal waterway extending from the vicinity of Cape May to Manasquan River, and has also dredged channels 6 feet deep in various creeks as set forth in paragraph 23. The shores of the bay are marshy, and many private or municipal improvements have been made by bulkheading or pumping the material ashore, the necessary dredging furnishing channels of approach to the newly made land. At the southern end, the bay is connected through Manahawkin Bay with Little Egg Harbor and at the northern end by the State canal to Manasquan River. 6. The Coast and Geodetic Surveys of Barnegat Inlet date back to 1839. All maps show a southward migration of the inlet. The shore and channel lines as found on the maps of various surveys for 1840, 1866, 1874, 1899, 1915, 1920, and 1932 are shown superimposed on drawing no. 2938, submitted herewith in appendix III1 The movement southward between the years 1840 and 1866 was about 2,500 feet, or at a rate of about 93 feet per annum. Between the years 1866 and 1874 the southward movement of the shore line on the north beach was accompanied by a north movement on the south beach thus decreasing the width of inlet. Between the years 1874 and 1932 the movement extended southward about 1,200 feet or at a rate of about 20 feet per annum. The previous surveys show the channel leading from the ocean across the bar to the point of beach on the north side of the inlet and thence across to the lighthouse. 1 Not printed. From the inlet the principal inside channel leads westward and northward until it passes to the westward of Sedge Island, and thence through Oyster Creek Channel to the inner bay. 7. The outer bar usually has a shoal section which overlaps the inlet from the north point. It is a characteristic of bars on this southern portion of the Jersey coast that the navigable pass, even when it breaks out to the northeast, which sometimes occurs in northeast storms swings immediately to the southeast, and often lies close inshore along the ocean face of the southern point. The width of the bar is usually not great, the distance across seldom exceeding 2,000 feet. Depths of 25 feet in the ocean are found 3,000 feet eastward of the general shore line opposite the inlet. 8. The area of the gorge has steadily decreased since 1840. The following table gives the inlet characteristics since that date: 9. This deterioration of the gorge area was apparently caused by an inner congestion just westward of the gorge where the thoroughfare joins the inner delta in the bay. The sand carried in past the distal end of the north point settles along the eastern face of Sunset Shoal, where it is safe from the erosive force of the ebb tide, which is exerted on the west face of the south point. There is, therefore, a progressive accumulation of sand on Sunset Shoal and in the thoroughfare, which constricts the flow through the inlet and causes a progressive deterioration through a reduction of volume of tidal flow. 10. Other inlets that have in the past connected Barnegat Bay with the ocean are as follows: Still other inlets of small capacity located north of Barnegat Inlet are reported to have opened and closed after a short interval. TRIBUTARY AREA 11. Barnegat Bay, N. J., is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean. Its principal gateway is known as Barnegat Inlet, on the south side of which is located Barnegat City, N. J., a town of about 150 population. The limits of the bay extend approximately from Bay Head, N. J., on the north, to Beach Haven, N. J., on the south. The tributary area comprises the whole of Ocean County, N. J., and is a recreational area for hunting and fishing. Both shores of Barnegat Bay are dotted with summer resorts. There are approximately 40 towns and summer resorts in the area, chief among which are: Bay Head, Seaside Heights, Barnegat, Ship Bottom, Beach Haven, Toms River, Island Heights, Tuckerton, Lakewood, Seaside Park, and Forked River. 12. The 1930 census credited these 40 towns with a total winter population of 23,820. Their estimated winter population as of 1935 is 30,000, practically all of which is generally dependent upon the resources of Barnegat Bay for a livelihood. The estimated resident summer population of these towns is 90,000, with an additional weekend population of 25,000 transients. There are nine banks scattered throughout the area with total resources of $12,473,000. 13. The principal industries include the sea shore recreational business, sea food, poultry raising, lumber, boat construction, and boat repairs. In connection with the latter industry there are 15 boat yards, which have a total of 28 marine railways capable of handling water craft up to 60 feet in length, and there are extensive buildings for the construction of new vessels, and the repair of all types of craft. As indicated in the public hearing (p. 5) the prosperity if not the livelihood of this tributary area depend upon the use of Barnegat Bay. 1 14. The area involved is connected by first-class State highways with New York and Philadelphia, there being two through highways each to Philadelphia and to New York. The Pennsylvania Railroad and the Central Railroad of New Jersey connect with the principal towns and resorts in the area, and there are adequate schedules maintained both winter and summer for both passengers and freight. The nearest railroad connection to the inlet, however, is about 9 miles to the south of Barnegat City on the Philadelphia and Beach Haven Railroad. 15. Travel by way of Barnegat Inlet is the shortest and most convenient route for vessels between Barnegat Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Boats using the inlet are not only able to reach the communities that are contiguous to the tributary waterways of Barnegat Bay, but also those that are located on the barrier beach. 16. All the communities in the mainland lie in an agricultural district producing a considerable quantity of garden truck. The assessed real-estate valuation of Ocean County, N. J., is $67,000,000 and the actual value is estimated at $200,000,000. BRIDGES 17. No bridges cross the inlet or thoroughfare connecting the inlet with the bay at the present time. However, the Board of Chosen Freeholders of Ocean County has an item in its future program for reconstruction of about 21 miles on the highway route between the towns of Beach Haven and Seaside Park, N. J. It is proposed to carry this highway across Barnegat Inlet by means of a bridge, for which a permit has been requested. 1 Not printed. PRIOR REPORTS 18. A preliminary examination of Barnegat Inlet, N. J., made under the authority of the River and Harbor Act approved July 13, 1892, was submitted by the district engineer on August 13, 1892. The improvement desired at that time was the construction of a harbor of refuge with an entrance of sufficient depth to be navigable at all stages of the tide. This report, which was unfavorable, was printed as House Executive Document No. 16, Fifty-second Congress, second session, and is referred to in the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1893, on page 1185. 19. Under date of March 28, 1924, the Chief of Engineers authorized a survey to be made for the Department of Commerce to determine the best method of adequately protecting the lighthouse at Barnegat Inlet, N. J. The report on the survey, which included a plan and estimate of cost required for suitable protection to the lighthouse, was submitted by the district engineer, Wilmington, Del., May 29, 1924. 20. A resolution of the Committee on Rivers and Harbors of the House of Representatives, dated January 20, 1931, directed a review of House Executive Document No. 16, Fifty-second Congress, second session, on Barnegat Inlet, N. J. In accordance with this resolution a preliminary report recommending a survey of the locality was submitted on September 1, 1931, by the district engineer. This recommendation was concurred in by the division engineer on October 6, 1931, and on October 22, 1931, the Chief of Engineers assigned to the Shore Protection Board the duty of making the survey. This survey was made and a report thereon submitted to the Shore Protection Board on February 15, 1933, by the district engineer, who was also a member of the board. The report of the Shore Protection Board, dated May 9, 1933, and action thereon are covered in paragraphs 2 and 3, ante. EXISTING PROJECT 21. No Federal project for the improvement of Barnegat Inlet has ever been authorized. LOCAL COOPERATION 22. Under the provisions of the Federal project as recommended by the Chief of Engineers and outlined in Committee on Rivers and Harbors Document No. 19, Seventy-third Congress, second session, now under review, it was specified that local interests should be required to contribute two-thirds of the first cost of the proposed work but not to exceed a total of $355,000. No positive offers of cooperation, on the part of local interests, have been received. 23. The question of local cooperation was thoroughly discussed at the public hearing held at Toms River, N. J., on May 15, 1935, in connection with the present review. It was generally agreed that the Federal Government was justified in requesting some measure of local monetary cooperation, but that the amount specified in the previous report was excessive. In view of the economic conditions existing at the present time it was considered unlikely that either the State or local communities would be in a financial position to make any greater contribution at this time. 40644-362 |