through Pamlico Sound and connecting channels to the federally improved Intracoastal Waterway which has a depth of 12 feet and is located 15 miles northwest of Engelhard. Cost to the United States to June 30, 1946, for the inprovement were $34,500 for new work and $65,382 for maintenance. The latest approved estimate for annual cost of maintenance is $2,000. The tidal range is small but winds cause fluctuations in water surface elevations of as much as 3 feet. Commerce on the creek increased from 3,690 tons in 1930 to 18,620 tons in 1940 but averaged only about 4,300 tons annually during 1941 to 1945, inclusive. The district engineer attributes the decline in commerce during those recent years to war conditions, including lack of channel maintenance, and regards it as temporary. Major items of commerce in 1940 were receipts of road-building materials, petroleum products, sea food, and fertilizer, and shipments of agricultural and timber products. Vessels with drafts of 3 to 7 feet made 1,076 round trips on the creek in 1940. Daily freight and ferry service between Engelhard and Hatteras on the barrier beach, which was discontinued for a time, has been restored. The larger vessels regularly operating on Pamlico Sound draw up to 9 feet and hence cannot enter Far Creek. Also the narrow project channel is difficult to navigate at night and in windy weather. At the peak of the shrimping season some 300 vessels use the harbor at Engelhard, and the resulting crowding in the turning basin creates vessel delays and fire hazards. Terminal facilities at Engelhard consist of eight wharves, including two bulk-oil terminals, all privately owned. Local interests desire that the project channel from Pamlico Sound to Engelhard be deepened to 12 feet and widened to 100 feet. They point out that adequate navigation facilities are very important to the economic life of the region, since the only alternate transportation is by highway. The North Carolina State Highway and Public Works Commission advises that the improvement would be of considerable benefit in connection with receipt of materials for highway improvements. The district engineer's preferred plan for further improvement provides for a channel 12 feet deep, 100 feet wide from deep water in Pamlico Sound through the wide section of the creek, a distance of 11,300 feet; and thence 80 feet wide for 2,700 feet to, and including, a turning basin 12 feet deep and about 900 feet long with maximum width of 200 feet at the site of the existing basin at Engelhard. The district and division engineers recommend that the existing project be modified to provide for further improvement substantially in accordance with the plan described in the district engineer's report, subject to certain conditions of local cooperation. The Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors concurs generally in the views of the reporting officers. Adequate navigation facilities are important to Engelhard and vicinity as the community is a long distance from a railroad shipping point and also because commercial fishing is one of its principal sources of income. The existing turning basin and project channel are inadequate for the needs of commerce. In the opinion of the Board, the plan for further improvement recommended by the district and division engineers is suitable. Prospec tive benefits through elimination of delays to the fishing fleet and reduction in transportation costs to shippers justify the expenditures required for the work. Accordingly, the Board recommends modification of the existing project for Far Creek, N. C., to provide for a channel 12 feet deep and 100 feet wide from water of that depth in Pamlico Sound along the general alinement of the existing channel through the wide section of the creek and thence 12 feet deep and 80 feet wide to a point about 200 feet below the highway bridge at Engelhard and for enlargement at the existing turning basin to form a basin 12 feet deep with maximum width and length of about 200 and 900 feet, respectively. In accordance with existing law, a copy of the Chief of Engineers' proposed report was furnished the Governor of North Carolina for comment. He stated that the project will be a real benefit to the affected portions of North Carolina. In accordance with section 4 of Executive Order No. 9384, the report was submitted to the Bureau of the Budget for information as to the relationship of the proposed report to the program of the President. The Bureau of the Budget advised that there would be no objection to the submission of the report to Congress. Mr. Chairman, the district engineer, as it frequently is customary, considered two plans of improvement. One plan would provide 10foot depths and the other plan would provide 12-foot depths. Both plans are economically justified. He recommended the 12-foot depth because he is of the opinion that if the channel is further improved, the depth should be 12 feet at mean low water to conform to the project depth of the Intracoastal Waterway and to enable tankers and other vessels of 9-foot draft to use the creek when the water surface is lowered by wind effects. The Board concurred in the district engineer's opinion. The Bureau of the Budget in their consideration of the reports commented on the larger ratio of benefits to costs for the 10-foot plan in comparison to the 12-foot plan. The Chief of Engineers after due consideration of these reports concurs in the views and recommendations of the Board. The improvement is recommended provided that local interests (a) furnish free of cost to the United States all necessary rights-ofway and suitable spoil-disposal areas for the new work and subsequent maintenance, when and as required, (b) set aside suitable space for a public landing and (c) hold and save the United States free from any damages resulting from construction and maintenance of the improvement, including the furnishing of releases from damages to oyster grounds. The cost to United States for construction is estimated at $80,600. The cost to local interests for lands and rights-of-way is estimated at $6,250. The total estimated cost is $86,850. The annual carrying charges are estimated at $9,655, including $6,000 for increased Federal maintenance. The evaluated benefits amount to an average of $10,245 annually. These consist of $5,250 for elimination of delays to sea-food vessels principally through enlargement of the turning basin and $4,995 for reduction in transportation costs on 10,300 tons of petroleum products, highway construction materials, fertilizer, groceries, and miscel laneous commodities. These estimates indicate a benefit-cost ratio of 1.06. A large portion of the inhabitants of the area are engaged in commercial fishing. The proposed improvement will be of great benefit to them by providing a waterway usable at all stages of the tide. Mr. LARCADE. Have you concluded your statement? Colonel MOORE. Yes. Mr. LARCADE. What is the length of this channel? Mr. LARCADE. Now the local interests have agreed to furnish free of cost to the United States all necessary rights-of-way and suitable spoil disposal areas for the new work and subsequent maintenance, when and as required, set aside suitable space for a public landing, and hold and save the United States free from any damages resulting from construction and maintenance of the improvement, including the furnishing of releases from damages to oyster grounds, and the total contribution by the local interests is estimated to be how much, Colonel? Colonel MOORE. The cost to local interests in order to comply with those provisions is estimated at $6,250. Mr. LARCADE. And the evaluated benefits amount to an average of $10,245 annually? Colonel MOORE. That is correct, sir. Mr. LARCADE. Are there any questions? Mr. ANGELL. Colonel Moore, I take it from your report that the chief purpose of this is to provide transportation to the town of Engelhard; is that right? Colonel MOORE. That is one of the purposes. Mr. Angell. The other purpose is to afford increased safety and convenience to the large fleet of small boats, fishing craft principally, that use the channel and the harbor. The harbor is very crowded when the shrimping fleet is there, a fleet consisting of some 300 vessels. As you will see, the basin is rather small for a fleet of that size. A fire hazard exists, as well as danger of ordinary damage. Mr. ANGELL. It is being utilized under the existing project, is it? Mr. WHITTINGTON. What facilities do the local interests have for maintaining a channel once you have dredged or constructed it in this particular area along the Atlantic seaboard? What do you mean by maintenance so far as channel is concerned? Colonel MOORE. They do not provide the maintenance, Mr. Chairman. They provide the rights-of-way and spoil disposal areas for the original work and for maintenance. Mr. WHITTINGTON. That maintenance doesn't apply to the channel, does it? That is what I am trying to ascertain. It is your job to maintain that channel work, isn't it? Colonel MOORE. That is correct, sir. Mr. WHITTINGTON. And that applies to all channelization work, all channels that you acquire, so far as maintenance is concerned, doesn't it? Colonel MOORE. Yes, sir. Mr. WHITTINGTON. That responsibility falls to the Federal Government and not to the local interests. Colonel MOORE. That is right. Mr. LARCADE. If there are no further questions by the committee, we will now proceed to the next project carried over from April 29, which is Cape Fear River at and below Wilmington, N. C., House Document No. 87, Eighty-first Congress, first session. CAPE FEAR RIVER AT AND BELOW WILMINGTON, N. C. (H. Doc. No. 87, 81st Cong.) Mr. LARCADE. You may proceed, Colonel Moore. Colonel MOORE. The report on Cape Fear River at and below Wilmington, N. C., as published in House Document No. 87, Eightyfirst Congress, is in response to a resolution adopted February 7, 1946, by the Committee on Commerce of the United States Senate and to an item in the River and Harbor Act approved July 24, 1946. Cape Fear River, N. C., is formed by the confluence of the Deep and Haw Rivers in Chatham County, N. C. It flows generally southeast to Wilmington, thence south and enters the Atlantic Ocean 5 miles northwest of Cape Fear. Below Wilmington, the river is a tidal estuary ranging in width from 600 feet at Wilmington to a maximum of 2.25 miles. Brunswick River, a tributary, branches off from Cape Fear River about 3 miles above Wilmington, flows southeasterly 5.5 miles and rejoins the parent stream 4 miles below Wilmington. The mean tidal ranges are 4.7 feet at the ocean bar and 3.4 feet at Wilmington. The area commercially tributary to Cape Fear River at and below Wilmington includes the central and southeastern portions of North Carolina and a portion of northeastern South Carolina comprising in all about 37,500 square miles. About two-thirds of the area is timberland. The population of the area was 2,969,000 in 1940, of which 70 percent was classified as rural. Wilmington, a manufacturing and commercial center, is the principal deepwater port of North Carolina. It had 47,483 inhabitants in 1946. Fourteen companies maintain storage and transfer facilities for petroleum products which are delivered by ocean-going tankers. The inhabitants of the tributary area are engaged mainly in activities pertaining to farming, lumbering, fishing and manufacturing. The principal agricultural crops are tobacco, corn, cotton, peanuts, fodder crops, vegetables, and grain. The principal industrial products are processed agricultural products, lumber, textiles, sea foods, paper, printed matter, chemicals, ceramic products, and machinery. The existing Federal project provides for a channel 32 feet deep and 400 feet wide from the outer end of the ocean bar to Wilmington with increased width at bends; an anchorage basin at Wilmington of the same depth, 2,000 feet long, 900 feet wide at the upper end and 1,100 feet wide at the lower end; a turning basin opposite the principal terminals at Wilmington 32 feet deep, 1,000 feet long and 800 feet wide. The project also provides for other improvements. The project was about 75 percent complete on June 30, 1948. Commerce of the port of Wilmington during the 9-year period 1933 to 1941, inclusive, ranged from a minimum of 1,164,000 tons in 1933 to a maximum of 2,823,000 tons in 1941, and averaged 1,951,000 tons annually for the period, of which 65 percent was petroleum products. Of the average annual commerce, 1,437,000 tons, or 74 percent, were ocean-borne, including 196,000 tons of foreign and 1,241,000 tons of coastwise traffic. The total commerce of the port during 1946 was 2,103,000 tons, of which 1,812,000 tons were ocean-borne. The ocean-borne traffic consisted of 359 inbound vessels, including 62 for tie-up in storage basin, and 303 outbound vessels, of which 65 had drafts ranging from 28 to 31 feet. The internal traffic of the port was handled by 7,069 round trips by motor vessels, barges, and tugs with drafts up to 10 feet. Terminal and transfer facilities in Cape Fear River at and below Wilmington consist of 54 wharves, piers, and docks at the port of Wilmington, providing approximately 21,000 lineal feet of berthing space with adjacent depths of water from 18 to 30 feet; 750,000 square feet of warehouse storage space; and over 2,000,000 barrels of tank storage capacity. Local interests desire modification of the existing project to provide for: (a) a depth of 35 feet in the Cape Fear River channel, including the anchorage and turning basins, between Wilmington and the ocean; (b) widening certain channels; (c) construction of a 4-mile cut-off in the channel below the mouth of Brunswick River; (d) construction of an additional anchorage basin between Wilmington and the ocean; and (e) better aids to navigation. They claim that the channel is inadequate for safe and satisfactory navigation by the large dry-cargo and tanker vessels with drafts up to 33 feet which will constitute the major portion of the postwar merchant fleet. The district engineer recommends that the existing Federal project for Cape Fear River, N. C., at and below Wilmington, be modified to provide for a channel 35 feet deep and 400 feet wide from the 35-foot contour in the Atlantic Ocean through the ocean-bar channel, and thence a channel 34 feet deep and 400 feet wide along the present alinement to the upper end of the anchorage basin at Wilmington, including the anchorage basin, with some widening of the transition channel at the downstream end of the anchorage basin and with increased width at the bends, all substantially as shown in the plans accompanying his report, subject to certain conditions of local coopera tion. The Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors concurs generally in the views and recommendations of the reporting officers. The ocean-borne commerce of Cape Fear River consists largely of petroleum products and the proposed improvement would provide for safe and satisfactory navigation of the channel above the upper end of the anchorage basin, and constructing a cut-off in the channel below the mouth of Brunswick River is not economically justified. The Board accordingly recommends modification of the existing project all substantially in accordance with plans outlined under plan B in the report of the district engineer with such modifications as in the discretion of the Secretary of the Army and the Chief of Engineers may be advisable. In accordance with law, a copy of the Chief of Engineers' proposed report was furnished the Governor of North Carolina. He, in a letter dated March 24, 1948, stated that the proposed project will be a great public advantage. In accordance with section 4 of Executive Order No. 9384, the report was submitted to the Bureau of the Budget for information as to the relationship of the proposed report to the program of the |