The morning news., 1889-05-29
NOW FOR THE NAVY YARD
THE BORINGs FOR FOUNDATIONS
CoMPLETE-WHAT THEY SHOW.

The Only Matter Which the NavaI
Commission Failed to Satisfy Itself
in Regard To When 1t Was Here
Two Months Ago, Was the Charac-
ter of the Earth and the Feasibility
of Obtaining Good Foundations.
Lieut.. Carter was requested by the com
rnissioners to make three borlngs back OF
Fort Oglethorpe, near the Deptford planta-
ton, and two borings on Hutchnsons
island. near the old dry dock. The work
has been pushed energeticaly, and the
borings have been completed.
A MORNING News reporter called on
Lieut.. Carter last night ana the IN
formation given him concerning the pros
meet of navy yard, prcdicated upon the
successful experiments which have Just been
finished. Lieut. Carter said, should arouse
every Savannahian to renewed eXertlon to
secure the passage Of measures by congress
looking toward the establishing OF the
station. Work was begun on the borlngs
Nav l3, and the result has been watched
with a degree Of interest. In answer TO
a question as to how deep the borings
extended, Lieut.. Carter said that they ex-
tended from depths of sIxty-one TO sixty
eight feet below the surface.
f'Wbat was the character OF the sub-soI
at the different borings"
ssVerv much the same. In the first ten
to thirty feet blue mari mud was found. Be
low this was a stratum OF quicksand. Lower
down the sand became coarser, and
in some places coarse gravel was found.
At depths of forty TO fifty feet the sand be-
came quite compact, and at depths OF nifty
five to sixty feet green mari was encoun-
tered"
'How far down does it extendP
From experience obtained in boring
artesian wells in this locality, it has been
found that the mari extends down to the
water-bearing rock.
From these borings Lieut.. Carter said
that it will be seen that the char
acter of the foundations is as
favorable as can be desired. 1t may be
true that the depth at which a solid tounda-
tion is found is quite great, out In exca-
waiting for basins or dry docks a depth of
Is to 35 feet will have to be obtained. This
will be the depth Of the foundation below
the bottom. No difficulty exists in estab-
fishing foundations at depths Of 90 feet.
Savannah possesses advantages that the
other stations in view do not have.
1t is a large commercial center. 1t is in
direct communication with the west. IL
was never attacked from the water side.
The water is fresh, and vessels drawing
twenty-five feet can come up with all ease. |
None Of them have fresh water, and none |
of them are as high in a commercial point !
of view, except New Orleans, which will be
Savaunah's most formidable COM |
petitor in case the South Atlantic /
and Gulf coast stations are confiued. !
Only one objection can be urged against |
Savannah, and that amounts TO almost less |
than a barrier-the depth Of water on the |
bar. 1t is understood, however, that this |
can be easily remedied once the navy yard |
is established here, and the other advaut- |
ages it possesses will oyerbalance this OBJ |
lection, if it is one.
A great deal of the information gathered /
from old charts about Savannah places tho /
city at a disadvantage, since the most extea- |
sive Improvements have been made since |
the charts were published. The charts put |
down Savannah as having only fourteen |
feet Of water, when in truth she has over
twenty-five feet. In consequence of this |
some people are natura lly preJudIced against |
establishing the yard here. Itremains now
for the business men to take hold Of the
matter and vigorously push it.