Evening journal., 1898-01-07
HIS FAVORABLE OPINION
Major Raymond Endorses the
Thirty-Foot Channel.
JUSTIFIED BY PRESENT NEEDS

WILSON WHAT HE PROPOSES |
TO DO IN THE DELAWARE If
CONGRESS WILL GIVE HIM THE |
MEANS TO DO 1T.
In his letter to Brigadier-Gonerall |
Wilson. chief Of engineers of the army |
transmitting his report upon the sur |
vey of the Delaware river. with a view |
to obtaining a channel coo feet Wide |
and 80 feet deep at low water, Major |
Raymond. United States engineer az
Philadelphia, says. In my opinion, the |
projected improvement Is worthy Of ex-
ecution and Justified by the needs OF
commerce involved"
The closing paragraph OF the report |
is as follows: The project new under
consideration oontemplates AN inn
provement much greater chan has ever
been attempted in any tidal river OF a
similar character, and l have therefore
found Il necessary 10 be conservative in
the prediction OF probable results. |
Nevertheless, after an experience Of
nearly eight years In studying and exc
cutting improvements In this river, and
In view OF the satisfactory results al
| ready obtained, I feel justified In ex-
pressing the opinion that this project
| can be undertaken with a reasonable
probability of success
The survey was made in accordance
with the river and harbor bill OF June
3, 1896, and the exact estimated cost of
the proposed channel is $685., 900. OF
This amount. S4.75i,S45 Is for dredging;
S6i4 400 for rock removal and S53S, Zoo
for engineering and contingencies The
| estimated total amount Of material 10
be removed by dredging Is 32,3T5,000
cubic yards, scOW measurement. The
estimate of cost includes the removal
OF a small rock ledge in the harbor,
near Pctty's Island. IL Is proposed TO
deposit The immense amount of dredged
material either in a deep hole in the
bay, Just below Ben Davis Point shOal
or to place 10 on shore above high
water. dependent upon the location of
The work. The estimated time for the
completion OF the project Is six years.
Major Raymond says in his report
that the survey was postponed until
the removal of certain legal reatric-
10 ticns upon the expenditure OF funds APP
proprlated for the improvement Of the
= | river. and chat authority to continue II
y vas granted on June / last. Tho sur
veys necessary for the present investl-
cation were made under Major Ray
mond's direction by r. +. Pearson
United States surveyor
The Improvement OF the barber oi
= Philadelphia, the report says, was prae
|. tically completed on Janury /, 1898
= and the channel has now a depth of "
= least twenty-six feet at low water owe
Il width of 1000 feet. From the foo
\ Of Pettys Island to a point opposit
= Christian street the channel s nov
/, practically thirty feet deep for a wldtl
=, Of 600 feet. For a long time to come !
/. Will be neither necessary nor desirable
to increase the depth Of the upper par
of the harbor TO thirty feet, but a rocl
NJ opposite the foot Of Pettys Island, dc
n ve.oped by the dredging, should be re
N moved from the channel. Accordingly
~ the point to which the survey extend
m Is opposite Christian street. The dis
,e tance from Christian street TO dee
al water in the bay, measured along tn
channel is about fifty-six miles am
n as the conditions 1ary greatly in dii
\ ferent parts of the channel, II has bee
In found convenient to divide the rive
ye into nine sections, and investigate eac
n- section by itself The sections ar
as numbered In succession from the hea
AS | Of the bay to Christian street, Phila
lis delphia.
as The report then proceeds 10 dlscuz
ry the proposed improvement under III
two heads Of the cost Of forming th
channel" and "the probability Of mail
T. tanning it at reasonable expense"
&c Under the head Of "the ccst OF form
he ing the channel the report gays N
n cost will vary greatly In different par
ytt of the river, according 10 the chara
an ter of the material, the method en-
he ployed for its removal and the distan,
M TO the place OF deposit According
.at a separate estimate has been made
Ia each of the sections into which u
ts river has been divided In discussir
no the methods OF dredging, the rep0
ID SAYS "The hydraulic method Of exc
he waiting the material and depOsiting It
m a semi-huid condition above high wat
-as can doubtless be used to advantage
les a considerable part of the work, but d
on limitations and uncertainties Of q
method make its adoption undeslrah
as a general basis for estimates"
no As to places for the deposit Of Z
material. the report says that expel
Cnce shows that IL is not easy to o
tain places for the deposit OF materi
, above high water without incurrii
~ | hedVy expenses Tor lne conoIucll
'i,- and repair of meadow banks. and
rye damages, or to satisfy the demands
he riparian owners Accordingly, the {
Ct Inmates are based on the assumpti
raj that the material is TO be excavaed wi
APP dipper and gTapple dredges and tran
ported in scOws to a suitable place
deposit; but the fact that the hydrau
method may be used to advantage
nv. some places has been given due cons
in Grafton in the estimates Of the cokt
to the higher sections of the river"
at Very few places remain where ma
and rial can now be deposited without d,
led. ger to the main channel II is
by sumed, therefore that The soft mater
must be deposited in the bay beyond
limits Of the 1iver proper, or be plai
-lA. on shore above high water. Hard 4
rus terial, such as rock and gravel, may
}. is deposited to advantage at places in
nd channel where depths are now exc
( of sive The nearest dumping ground
the bay is a deep hole just below s.
John Light, where all the mater
4 Hon 49, =