RIVERS AND HARBORS AUTHORIZATIONS, 1949

TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 1949

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC WORKS,
Washington, D. C.

The committee met at 10 a. m., Hon. Will M. Whittington (chairman) presiding.

The CHAIRMAN. The committee will be in order.

We have with us this morning as the first witness the Chief of Engineers, Maj. Gen. Lewis A. Pick, formerly division engineer of the Missouri River Division. At this time we will be glad to hear General Pick.

General, we are beginning the hearings this morning on the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1949, and we are delighted to have you with us. This is your first appearance before the committee. We know of your fine work and your splendid record, both in war and in peace. We will be glad to have you, in your own way, make an over-all statement covering the rivers and harbors organization, the appropriations, the unappropriated authorizations that are now in force and any general statement with regard to this program you may have in mind.

Then, as the committee is aware, we have scheduled individual projects upon which favorable reports have been submitted for hear ing today and on the days that follow. It will be the plan to take these projects up in the order in which they have been published, and the representative of the Chief of Engineers will make the statement for the Office of Engineers with their recommendations, telling the cost of the project, the local contribution, the ratio of benefits to cost and so on, and when they have completed those statements the local advocates or opponents of these projects will be heard.

We will be delighted to have your statement at this time, and I am speaking now for Mr. Larcade, chairman of the subcommittee; if he were present he would conduct these hearings this morning, and he will continue to conduct them as they have been published.

STATEMENT OF MAJ. GEN. LEWIS A. PICK, CHIEF OF ENGINEERS

General PICK. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I always deem it a privilege to appear before the committees of Congress. I am especially pleased, after such a short lapse of time since. my appointment as Chief of Engineers, to be afforded the opportunity to become acquainted with the membership of this committee and to work with you on the highly important function of planning the improvement of the rivers and harbors of the Nation.

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In the prosecution of this work the Corps of Engineers functions only as an agent of Congress. At your direction we make the preliminary examinations and surveys. Our reports to you are based on the desires for improvements by local interests as expressed by them at public hearings held by the district engineer in the local areas. The reports of the district and division engineers are reviewed by the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors. Here again, before the Board, local interests have the opportunity to express themselves. Most frequently it is by correspondence, both with the Board and my office. In the instances where interested parties desire to present their views orally the Board holds public hearings. The recommendations of the Board are submitted to my office where my staff reviews the reports. My proposed report is then submitted to Federal agencies, that may have an interest in the proposed improvement, for comment. Further, in accordance with existing law copies of the reports are furnished to the governors of the affected States for their comments. The reports and the various comments are then submitted to the Bureau of the Budget. The Budget studies these reports to ascertain their relationship to the program of the President.

The Federal improvement of rivers and harbors has been planned and carried out by the Corps of Engineers pursuant to specific authorizations from Congress since the first district River and Harbor Act. in 1824. Over this 125-year period, river and harbor improvements have followed a plan of development continually supplemented and modified in line with the policies and actions of your committee, as required to keep pace with the Nation's economic growth and general advancement. There are now some 1,300 authorized river and harbor projects, providing 28,000 miles of improved waterways, 490 locks and dams and 270 harbors. These works comprise a program of far-reaching importance to our transportation system.

The present program of authorized river and harbor construction is being prosecuted as speedily as funds therefor are appropriated. The schedule of work already authorized and remaining to be completed comprises 316 individual projects having a total estimated cost of $3,500,000,000, based on 1948 construction prices. Of that amount, $1,500,000,000 have been appropriated. Hence there remains approximately $2,000,000,000 of construction to be completed under a long-range program.

The substantial and widespread benefits resulting from this river and harbor program have demonstrated that the expenditures made therefor were a sound investment. These projects have facilitated the growth of trade with other nations, developed water-borne commerce among the States, and strengthened the transportation system for the security and continued growth of the Nation. Our harbors and waterways developed during the years of peace made an outstanding contribution to the winning of the recent war. The coastal ports were indispensable. Our inland waterways made it possible for the transportation facilities of the Nation to meet the great demands of war and at the same time permitted the utilization of shipyards on the Great Lakes and along the inland waters for the construction of ships which were floated to the sea over the great Mississippi River system.

The growth of our water-borne commerce has been tremendous. This is illustrated by the all-time record total of 760,000,000 tons

reached in 1947, an increase of over 100,000,000 tons above the previous record total in 1941 and more than double the total tonnage just 15 years before. Our foreign and coastwise traffic reached an all-time high of 310,000,000 tons as compared with the 10-year prewar average of 204,000,000 tons. Total inland waterway traffic for 1947 continued at a high level amounting to 31,500,000,000 ton-miles or more than 9,000,000,000 ton-miles above the prewar record. On the Great Lakes shipping increased to 112,000,000,000 ton-miles in 1947. Continued development of the United States will assuredly impose demands that will push these record totals even higher in the future.

The growth in water-borne commerce is the result of our advancing to larger and more powerful steam and Diesel-driven oceangoing liners and river towboats combined with commercial and industrial expansion generally and a construction program for improvement of our harbors and waterways to accommodate the increased requirements of commerce and navigation. The trend toward deeper draft vessels and more powerful towing equipment has required step-by-step modification of projects in order to provide adequate channels and harbor areas. It is desirable therefore that our survey program be actively carried forward and reports on needed new projects be currently submitted to Congress to keep it informed of changing requirements of navigation. In recent years there has been a marked increase in the number of small boats and a great deal of interest in the development of small boat harbor facilities. In 1932 Congress, recognizing the growing demand for improvements for small craft, authorized the broadening of the term "commerce" to include the use of waterways by yachts, fishing boats, and other small craft. Since that time, it has been the policy to recommend Federal participation in the provision of small boat basins, entrance channels and the necessary breakwaters and other protective works where such works are justified. In many instances local interests share the cost of such improvements, depending upon the extent of local benefits.

In addition to navigation projects the river and harbor program includes the study of beach erosion and the protection of our coastal shorelines against damage by waves and currents. The science and art of beach erosion control are relatively new and much remains to be done in this highly specialized field of engineering. Since the adoption by Congress of a Federal policy in 1946 providing for Federal participation in the cost of protecting publicly owned shore frontage, in recognition of the increasing importance of beaches in the life of our people, this phase of our work has become increasingly important. The approved budget estimates and the civil functions appropriation for the next fiscal year as passed by the House contain $600,000 for expenses of the Beach Erosion Board in this work. The last Congress adopted a project for the protection of the shore line of Harrison County, Miss.. and two additional shore-protection projects, at Winthrop Beach, Mass., and Palm Beach, Fla., have been recommended and are presented for the consideration of this committee this year. Within the next year, reports will be submitted on a larger number of such projects including Atlantic City, N. J., Presque Isle, Pa., Colonial Beach, Va., two areas in Connecticut, two in Ohio, and the Lake Michigan shore line of Illinois.

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The last Congress authorized a group of river and harbor projects having an estimated construction cost of $30,000,000. These additional projects added to those heretofore adopted bring the total work remaining to be completed to $1,966,000,000. Included in this amount is the cost of completing eight large, long-range, multiple-purpose projects.

Since the last authorization act we have completed surveys and submitted to Congress reports recommending river and harbor improvements at 46 localities. While many of these projects are not great in scope or in cost they are each important to the areas in which they lie and in the aggregate to the Nation as a whole. Additional projects have been recommended by the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors and the, reports thereon will reach you when they have passed through the channels that I have already described. These projects range from small-boat harbors to deep-draft channels and harbor areas They have been thoroughly studied pursuant to directives of Congress and are responsive to the desires of the local people. They have been found justified in that the estimated annual benefits exceed the annual carrying charge in each case. They are needed projects, required to meet industrial and commercial needs, to accommodate the larger and more efficient vessels now in general use, and to provide small-boat harbor facilities. It is important that these additional authorizations be granted at this time to permit the scheduling of a country-wide program of necessary and justifiable projects to keep abreast of economic changes and national development.

Mr. Chairman, at this time I want to take the opportunity to present to the committee Maj. Gen. R. C. Crawford, Deputy Chief of Engineers.

The CHAIRMAN. We are delighted to have you with us, General Crawford.

General PICK. Maj. Gen. Glen E. Edgerton, President of the Beach Erosion Board.

The CHAIRMAN. It is a pleasure to have you with us, General Edgerton.

General PICK. And Col. W. S. Moore, resident member, Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors.

The CHAIRMAN. Colonel Moore, the committee is pleased to have you with us.

General PICK. General Edgerton is prepared to describe to you, if you desire, the general aspects of our work in the comparatively new field of shore protection, as well as to present the two shore protection projects scheduled for consideration by your committee. I will ask Colonel Moore to present to the committee the detailed information on the individual navigation projects. I shall hold myself in readiness to appear before your committee at any time you may desire.

At a later date, Mr. Chairman, I trust that it will be possible for me to appear before your committee and present a general statement on the flood-control section of the reports which your committee will consider.

The CHAIRMAN. We would like you to make your appearance on the 16th of May, in accordance with the schedule covering the floodcontrol projects and in accordance with the announced schedule.

Have you completed your statement at this time, General?
General PICK. That completes my statement.

The CHAIRMAN. Members of the committee may desire to propound some questions, and in the absence of Mr. Larcade I will ask Mr. Fallon to take the lead in the examination with respect to the major projects, but before the other members of the committee ask their general questions I would like to ask, so that we may have the information in the record, one or two general questions.

What is the total estimated authorization for rivers and harbors projects, including projects completed or partially completed? You gave the 1948 estimated cost, as I understood you, of the remaining projects or portions of projects to be constructed.

General PICK. The total estimated cost of construction work on all authorized river and harbor projects is $4,274,000,000. This includes the actual cost of completed work to June 30, 1948, of about $2,100,000,000; funds available for fiscal year 1949, $134,600,000; and the 1948 estimated cost of completing remaining work, $2,034,000,000, which latter amount includes some $68,000,000 for inactive projects. not presently needed.

The CHAIRMAN. You gave us the total estimated remaining cost of the projects based on the 1948 estimates?

General PICK. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you recall at the moment what that figure was? General PICK. To complete presently active authorized river and harbor projects based on 1948 costs will require $1,966,000,000.

The CHAIRMAN. Is that the 1948 estimated cost, or is that the cost estimate at the time of the authorization?

General PICK. That is the 1948 cost.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you recall, if I may ask you, Colonel Moore, the estimated cost of the projects at the time they were authorized? Colonel MOORE. No, sir. Many of the river and harbor projects were authorized more than 100 years ago, completed to authorized dimensions, and later increased as the needs of commerce justified. In view of the lapse of time since the original authorizations, and of the many subsequent modifications, the compiling of data showing a comparison between the document estimates and the actual cost of completion would entail considerable research. Since the estimates contained in the project documents represented the estimated cost at the time of the survey, the projects in many cases being completed many years later at which time costs may have increased or decreased, the actual cost of completed work plus the present estimated cost to complete remaining work gives the best figure on the total program for authorized river and harbor work.

The CHAIRMAN. Not the 1948 cost?

Colonel MOORE. That is correct.

General PICK. The total estimated cost for these 316 projects which remain to be completed, amount to $3,500,000,000. The work remaining is based on 1948 cost figures.

The CHAIRMAN. For the information of the committee, what is the total estimated cost of authorized projects that are still to be constructed?

Colonel MOORE. It is $1,966,000,000 for work remaining to be completed on active authorized projects.