Los Angeles daily herald., 1876-01-01
OUR HARBOR.
The Work at San PedrO-2O feet Chan
mel assured-Plan of Operations.

mel assured-Plan of Operations.
Nature has done but little in supplying Los
Angeles with shipping port. The means Of
transfer from the land to the sea were as diff
ferent as the natural facilities OF land trans
portation. Having given us an excellent
climate and fertile soil, nature left to the in.
genuity OF man the provision for transporta.
tion. Devoid of natural water routes we are
compelled to build railroads. without per-
feet harbor. labor and skill must be called
into requisition to construct one. Our pro-
gress is no more TO be retarded by the absence
of an entreport than by the lack of interior
water routes. The obstacles which intervene
in pcrfectlng lines OF transit are perhaps
greater upon the land than upon the sea-
shore. The lofty mountains which surround
us presented to the railroad engineer Diff
| culties which were sufficient to daunt the
| boldest. The money and scientific skill re-
quisite to take the Southern Pacific Railroad
through the mountain barriers at Tehatchipe
and San Fernando would have constructed
an immense harbor at almost ar y point along
the coast, even where nature had done
nothing but furnish the ocean.
!
seconded by Government aid but the harbor
is "a public work and therefore liable to all the
delays and mistakes which are incident to an
enterprise not driven toward completion by
interested personal supervision.
II nature has not given us a good harbor
| she has supplied the outlines of one that can
| be perfected at small cost, and made equal
| to all the demands of our growing commerce.
The harhor of San Pedro (or more properly
of Wilmington is located % miles South OF
| Los Angeles at the terminus of the Whining
ton branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad.
A small bay affording pretty good anchor
! age makes into the coast, and at the extrem-
ity OF this bay narrow inlet penetrates the
| land, terminating in q small basin, and
thence branching into a series of shallow
| lagoons. Across the mouth of this inlet there
| was lnterposed u ridge of stiff clay mixed with
boulders and rock. 1t was necessary, tnere-
| fore, to remove this barrier. The first work
done was the Inauguration of system of
jetties TO concentrate the current of the out
| going tide to increase its securing power.
| From Rattle Snake Island practically the
main land) there was extended into San
| Pedro Bay breakwaterseveral thousand feet
in length to stop the flow of the tide in that
direction. Opposite to this, and at right
angles, Jetties OF less magnitude were con-
structed. These works, however, could not
accomplish all that was desired, the clay
forming the base being so stiff as to wear
| away but little under the action of the water.
| 1t became necessary, therefore, to cut chan
mel through this ridge y hich was 1000 feet
| wide. This work was not fairly commenced
till February 1875, and up to this time about
1000 cubic yards were removed. A channel
~ to 100 feet wide 10 feet deep at mean low
tide and 1000 feet long has been excavated.
The dredge Is now working in clay SO stiff
that the dipper, though weighing 4,2O0
pounds, and impelled by powerful ma
chinery can only take up few Shovel-fulls
| at Il time. Blasting has no effect upon 1t be-
| yond tearing up small hole Immediately
around the charge. The work is therefore
necessarily slow, but the entire ridge will
probably be penetrated by next Summer.
| When the clay ridge Is passed there Is large
| deposit OF sand, but this Will be speedily car
ried out by the current After completing a
| l0O-foot channel through, 1t will he widened
| to 200 ieet, and if the 500, 900 appropriation
| asked from Congress FOR the coming year is
granted the depth OF the channel Will be inn
| nediateIy increased to Is feet at mean low
tide, which will give 20 feet at high tide. A
lU-foot excavation will a. high tide allow ves-
sells drawing IL feet water 10 enter, and, in
| deed, answer present requirements. The
largest Of the GOodall, Nelson s. Perkins
steamers running in the coast trade do not
draw over 10 feet, so that the entire fleet will
be able to enter rs soon as the present cut is
finished. A depth OF " feet will accommo-
| date the largest sized vessels.
But the work does not end with the re-
Il
| OF adequate dimensions, only II narrow inlet
reaching the present wharf of the railroad.
| 'rhis inlet widens into a basin several hun
| dred feet IN diameter within about one mile
and u half from the wharf. 1t will be neces-
sary therefore to excavate y basin around the
wharf where now located, or extend the
! wharf to the natural basin. The latter would
| involve large outlay for construction or
| heavy repairs, as the water swarms with the
toredo, So destructive to wood work, which
renders it probable that dredging will be re-
AA fD,fn ID
the engineer in charge of the work up to a
| recent period, when he was removed to an
otherlOcality and his position is now filled by
| W.P Smith AN engineer of ability. During the
| fiscal year ending July l, 1875 the sum of S22,-
| $50 rs was expended on the work, leaving a.
balance of appropriation in the treasury of
SS2,tS6 "a. The natural depth OF water on
| the bar at mean low tide was only two or
three feet, and it is now seven feet, and will
| be increased to ten with the present appro-
priationS. The work OF clearing away seven
feet Of the bar will therefore cost only $l04,-
62l Ga tritngsum when ompared with the
| results. an amount below the cost of a single
mile OF railroad in many localities on this
coast To complete the excavation to Is feet
| cious basin around the wharf can be
constructed for a like sum. The entire cost
of "a good harbor at Wilmington then will not
reach half a million dollars. Nor will there
be any expense in maintaining these works
| after completion. On the contrary, the out
going tide will be constantly deepening the
channel, and there are no rivers cmptying
into the inlet to fill up with sediment any ar
| tifiGial basin. Once secured, the harbor will
be permanent and selfimproving
We have dwelt at length upon this subject
| because the impression seems 10 prevail
| abroad among those not familiar With the
| surroundings of Los Angeles that she must
| foregO all claims as the terminus of a South
| ern Trans-cOntinental Railway, and forever
| remain incapacitated to handle the trade OF
| the vast interior country to the East of us.
From the foregoing 1t will be seen that for a
| very small outlay, II safe and capacious har-
Dor for the largest sea-going vessels can and
| will be secured within bI ief period, and that
the work is going rapidly forward. Too much
| credit cannot be awarded the able engineers
| who conceived and put into operation the
| present system of Improvements which has
| achieved so much at so small q cost. That
the balance OF the money necessary to COM
plee the work will he obtained there is no
question. The growing importance of Los
Angeles and the large trade which passes
through the port of Wilmington warrants the
expenditure. Where it can be shown that
the arrivals and depal lures OF vessels annu-
| ally averages 400, bringing and taking away
1000 to l000 009 tons of freight, Congress will
not refuse the necessary funds, particularly
on this coast, where harbors are SO scarce.
|