Daily Los Angeles herald., 1878-09-06
THE SANTA MONICA wharf.
Official Information Tho Senator the Last
Vessel which will Land There-Arthni
Browns Report.


Col. E. E. Hewitt yesterday re-
ceived communication from Gen.
eral Superintendent A. n. Towne
advising him that, pursuant to the
report of Mr.. Arthur Brown, their
Superintendent of Bridges, the
Company had concluded to aban-
don the use of the wharf at Santa
Monica. The abandonment is put
expressly upon the ground that,
owing to the ravages of the torredo,
the wharf is no longer safe. The
business of the Company there is
not of sGch magnitude as, in their
opinion, to justify the costly au-
nual repairs which would be in.
| volved in maintaining the wharf.
Superintendent Towne says that
the present trains Will be kept up;
and, 1t the business Of the town
| should admit of it, their number
will be increased The road is to
be run, he says, in the interest of
the people OF Los Angeles and
Santa Monica. He adds that his
Company have every disposition to
maintain Santa Monica as a water
ing place and TO further her inter
ests in every possible way.
The following Is Mr.. Browns re-
port, upon which the action of the
Company was predicated. 1t is en-
dorsed by Mr.. Sam S. Montague,
the Chief Engineer of the Central
Pacific Railway, and by Mr..
George E. Gray, the Chief Engi-
neer of the Southern Pacific:
OFFICE OF SuPT. BRIDaE)
CONSTRUCTION,
WEST OAKLAND, Aug. 20, '78.
CHAs. CRoCKER, EsoR President
s. p. r. R.-Dear Sir: In accord
ance with the instructions con-
tanned in your letter of Aug. 14th,
l have made q thorough personal
examination of the wharf at Santa
Monica. l herewith submit the
following report of its stability, to-
gether with general description,
probable first cost and estimated
cost of present necessary repairs,
etc., etc., as follows:
General description-This wharf
was finished July 1875, consequent
iy it is now about three years old.
1t consists of roadway and rail-
road track, 26 feet wide, extending
out into the bay 1884 feet, from
thence for distance of 240 feet it
increases in width to so feet and
continues the same width for an
additional distance of 1855 feet (see
diagram), making total length of
wharf 1740 feet; along the last l66
feet there is a depth of "a feet of
water at low tide; at this point the
steamers and large vessels lay.
There are no indications that sand
has filled in any around the wharf.
The piles are driven about feet
apart on line at right angles to
the wharf, and Is feet apart longi-
tudinally. The wharf is built in
the ordinary manner. Originally
the timber and piles were good as
to quality and size. Probable first
cost $32 900.
COudition-Our examination has
developed an alarming condition
OF the piles, caused by ravages of
the tofredo. This can be readily
understood from the fact that over
three-fourths of all the piles in the
wharf are now infested with these
terribly destructive worms, besides
thirty piles that have been replaced
and as many more hanging loose.
Our examination could only be
carried on between high and low
tide so there is still good deal of
uncertainty as to what is taking
place below low tide where the
worms are usual most destructive.
AS an example of the rapidity of
their work, we replaced some fend-
er piles last Fall and in less than
seven months some of them were
entirely eaten off Ga specimen of
which l send you.) We find from
experiments in the bay of San
Francisco, whes piles are cut in
proper season SO that the bark will
adhere firmly it becomes a valua-
BILE protection against the attack of
the torredo; but at Santa Monica
the bark seems to be rather doubt
full protection, as we have found
some cases where the worms had
penetrated the bark and attacked
the piles; besides this, the action
of the waves in the storms of last
winter detached large masses of
shell, &C.. together with bark,
thereby leaving the piles, in great
many cases, exposed to the attack
| of the worms. From the above
facts you can readily see that the
stability of the wharf is most seri-
ously impaired and at the present
| time / think it is unsafe for trains
to pass over.
Cost of repairs. have estimated
the cost Of repairing the wharf SO
as to make it safe for the present,
at about $4,000, and probably as
much moro will be needed next
year. l think 1 am correct in
stating that all the piles in the
wharf would require renewal every
three or four years. Therefore,
am clearly of the opinion that a
wharf cannot be maintained at that
point with any degree of safety
unless at an unreasonable outlay
OF money.
Yours respectfully,
(Signed) ARTHUR BROWN,
| Supt. b. and B. Dept.
| Col. Hewitt goes down to Santa
Monica to-day to carry out the in
structions from headquarters. The
Senator will enjoy the distinction
| of hainp the Last vessel which dis