The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1897-01-01
The Work Done 10 Help Navigation
Near Richmond.
ylSTDgAL OF ROCK AND MUD REMOVED
s.xcnt~en and a Half Feet In the Cha""e'
Mt Low Tide to the Upper Part OF '"''eS
Neck shoai, aud Eighteen feett"
the Chemical Works.


appropri atoms by Congress begins at '"o
lower city limits. near the hichmohu
Cedar Works. II is under the direction Oh
Major Charles ]. Allen. Corps OF LII
gineers. L. 5. A.. who succeeded Ooio''o'
Peter G.. Hams Corps OF Engineers, -
S. A.. August /, 1886. Mr. III. ID. "hil-
comb IL in local charge as assistant.
Some work was done in removing oah-
perous rocks and maintaining oep'n7
over the bars. between 1872 and lS''' uAoel
Tho direction of Colonel De Russ5, ana
This work was continued by Richmond
city Up TO 1851. ..,...,.o,, ,,os
The available depth for navigation was
then. and In 1870 when work vas It9u'"
ed. feet al low tide or 10 - ieet a. i'sh
TIDE. from Richmond TO trent Noa'.-
i'm the bend now cut OF an bu'0" p"P.
"A distance of about twenty miles apouI
=. g., al bigh tide was available below
tna, and vessels Of that draushi Iesorteu
90 uebterage on parts Of their caIeoe~
before they could reach the city '"0
heavier class did not me Withih Nv
miles OF the city even them .,-, ...
Work on the Improvement IN lN'V ""9
begun under the direction OF MAJOR 'ho"
General VIM. H. Craighiil. ii was Oo'
timed NnfN ihNf vi "a NN'N"NN f'
a dcpth of u feet at high tide al Ilc"-
,,ond and tue same at. low tide below
Warwiok Bar; and vessels loaded TO 10
Cot draught were taken from the CITY
,yharVcs 10 the sea without olllcui'N pi'
,tous 10 ISL In that year Congress
sdopted a project 20 secure - ieel az ~"
tide from the sea 10 Richmond.
The estimated cost Of this project was
g. SsS 2S2. OF which $2,762.ojO or u per cent
III tho CITY line
ana of this latter less than p per cent
has been expended on the Worn
DUE To- ROCKY BED.
,rho greater uroportionate cost Of the
seven miles Ohree-Qnarters OF when Is
for less than half the distance) is due
"a The rocky bed which Is nearly con-
tinuous from the city line TO the Io"eV
mart Of Richmond Bar. short Instance
ahovo where the Monitor fleet was re-
Gently moved At this point the rock
masses under the level Of p feet az 10"
tide and does not appear again IN ths
channel at any depth OF interest 10 naVl-
channel in this rocky bed must he
dredced. and in many places blasteu, u
Is two and one-third miles ionS
and includes Rockets Reef. Ioone
Rock. and many smaller p",om
Is OF solid rock, Overland gen
orally with disntegrated rock of more
or less depth.
BELOW this section dredging is now re-
eor;ed TO only where material is louH-
moi readily moved by the cement. rms
may be coarse gravel, boulders ana IN
duratcd earth. but the area OF these wiz
less than p feet depth Is comparatively
limited.
eut brought down by the river IN recent
times tho plan of Improvement Is 10
contract the waterway with dlkos OF
,vinp-dams If the depth Is insufficient
md contraction is also used where cham
nels in hard material are cut, TO ana III
keeping them free from sill.
This regulation as II Is termed IL
nearly continuous from the CITY me 10
prewrys Bluff. and is used on seven
shoals between the Bluff and Curle's Neck.
where no dredging whatever has been
done since 1850. except in the indurated
earth i'm Kingsand beach and Dutch Gap
cut off. .,,,
MAINTAINED IT'S DEPTH.
The river has not only maintained It's
depth at points where regulation Is IN
use but Increased IL. and there IS fair
rroenect that the fun width and depth Of
the project will be attained in lew
Years especially II aided by heavy
freshets.
The same may be said OF the stretch be-
tween Richmond Bar and Drewry's Bluff
where no dredging to remove silt has
been done since 1891. There are, however.
areas Of heavy material which may re-
auire the dTedge to remove 10 the iul
depth OF the project
4 low stage of river. or a year with oc-
casional rises of less than - feet on low
tide. are found 10 leave deposit In the
enlarged channels of the regulation. This
was found to be the case In the low stage.
which ended in October this year.
survey made In August showed deposit
Of great uniformity from four TO SIX
inches. in the ten miles below the city
since the survey Of May, 1898. a survey
i'm October showed that the rise Of Octo-
her lst. 166 feet had removed this In the
main but had not decpened the sections
Of the preceding year. except where
further contraction had been made IN the
intervening time.
But for the freshets IL would be impos-
sible to maintain the projected width and
depth of channel within seven miles OF
Richmond. GOO by p feeO without very
large amount Of dredging every year
In the lower part Of the river, where
IL IL properly an estu ry the shoals are
few. and a small expenditure in dredging
has kept the channels open 10 II feet or
more IL is probable that regulation may
also be found expedient there. where tidal
currents are comparatively strong when
the means are provided.
COMPLETING a CHANNEL.
The work I'm the past year was done
under contracts with u. Sanford Ross. Of
Jersey city. and Captain J. a. Curtis. os
Richmond The former IS completing =
channel Of 100 feet wide by Il feet deep
at low tide i'm the rock section mentioned.
II is completed for about mile. or from
the lower part OF Richmond Bar 10 above
the Quarry Wharf The remainder 70
labout SO feet below the city line. should
be completed early I'm 1897.
Captain Curtis. in addition 10 some
dredging I'm heavy material at Warwick
bar and elsewhere, has constructed
about 500 line feet Of wing-dams. mainly
in shoals between Drewrys Blur and
Curlos Neck. and repaired some 800 feet
Of bikes.
These contractors have removed about
1000 cubic yards Of material from the
channel near Richmond. 81 000 Of which
were earth and cobble and 5000 OF soft
and solid rock.
IL Is safe 10 say that there is a depth
OF l. i-2 feet at low tide in the channel
from the sea 20 the upper part of Curle's
Neck shoal, and Is feet from there 20 the
Richmond Chemical Works. but the
channel FOR that devh Is not 100 feet
wide at all points for a mile below the
works. From the Chemical Works 10 the