The morning news., 1899-11-11
NOT A 24-FOoT CHANNEL.
CAPT. GILLETTE EXPLAINS THE
REVERSED PROJECT.

The HarbOr improvement Plan Rec
commended by the Board of Engi-
neers Does Not Mean Channel of
1Yventy-fOur Feet Depth at Mean
High Tide. But One which WOuId
Easily Accommodate Vessels or
That DRIFT on Ordinary High
Tides-It Means Ample Room for
Handling 24-FoOt Vessels, with
some water 90 spare Under Their
KeeIS-Constant Dredging win BE
Bequired 10 Maintain the Channel.
The approaching session of Congress is
Of much interest 10 Savannah by reason
II the fact that The report Of the board of
engineers which made an inspection Of the
river and harbor work at Savannah over
a year ago will come before Congress.
Upon the action taken by that body de-
pends the further improvement of the
channel.
The report makes a number of recon-
mendations the one regarded as most i'm
portsnt being that which recommends the
abandonment of the 26-foot channel aud
the substitution of one for providing a
channel capable of accommodating vessels
with a draft of "a feet. This feature Of the
report has been much discussed, many
people having jumped at the conclusion
that a channel capable of accommodating
vessels drawing q feet is the same thing
as a channel with depth Of "a feet at
mean high water
There being some confusion In the minds
Of the public as the meaning Of this recon-
mendauon, Capt. c. A. Gillette, United
States engineer In charge here, was asked
yesterday for an explanation.
"A project for a channel capable of ac-
commodating vessels drawing tWenty-fOur
feet of water might be given almost any
Interpretation which the engineer in
charge chose to put upon IT," said Capt
Gillette, except that il could hardly MON
a channel limited 20 a depth of twenty
four feet at mean high tide. A channel
capable of accommodating vessels dra wing
twenty-fOur feet all ordinary high tides
would most probably be one in which
vessel drawing twenty-five feet could be
taken out on a very high tide. Should
the project be adopted by Congress the
engineer in charge might interpret it 10
mean a depth allowing a vessel drawing
twenty-four feet OF water to be drawn to
the city on a single tide. As the board
provides in its report for mooring berths
it hardly had this idea in view.
but what would be your Interpretation
of the project2" Capt. Gillette was asked
There win be time enough to answer that
after Congress has taken action" ne re-
piled However, / should say thai a rea-
sonable Interpretation of the boards idea
of a channel capable of accommodating
vessels drawing tWcnty-four feet would be
chat the channel should be such that a
ship loaded to TWEEN nty-four feet could leave
her wharf on the next tide after she was
prepared to go to sea and reach the sea
on two tides without running the risk of
going ashore because of shoals or narrow
places in the river or danger of trouble
on the bar"
Capt. Gillette said that although vessels
drawing twenty-four feet are now taken
out on two tides, the operation is one at
tended with some danger and difficulty.
In his opinion, in order to accommodate
vessels drawing tweuty-four feet, not only
the shoaled places should be dredged out.
but the channel should be widened at sew
erel points In brief, his idea of the
boards report is that, vessels drawing
twenty-four feet should be taken out with
ease on ordinary high tides, and that In
a pinch, vessels Of even greater depth
should be taken out on spring tides. Il
would be safe to allow for at least foot
of water under the vessels keel he said.
The dredging contract, held by Mr.. Rit-
tenhouse Moore, will expire next June.
This contract was awarded to Mr.. Moore
beginning in December, 1896, and work has
continued steadily since. The dredging
work was not interfered with in any way
by the charges against Capt. Carter or
the developments Of the courtmartial. The
contract was for $4,000 cubic yards, of
which about $4,000 yards have already
been eXcavated, leaving $50 900 yards yet
TO be taken out.
Capt. Gillette estimates that to keep the
channel clear will require the removal of
about $4,000 cubic yards of earth annually.
In spite of the amount of dredging just
referred to, the river has shoaled steadily
For few months after the completion
of the Savannah river project In 1896, the
channel had a depth Of twenty-six feet of
water" said Capt. Gillette 1T has never
had that depth since. Notwithstanding the
continuous dredging which has been in
progress. There is now only seventeen
feet at low water at Long Island. This
shoal would have been removed by this
time. however, but for the running down
of one of the dredges by the steamship
Itasca. An attempt was made to account
for the shoaling OF the river by the state
ment that IL was due to the caving IN Of
the banks. An examination of the river
at these points showed that the banks had
not caved in. but that there had been a
gradual decrease In the depth of the chan
rel"
Capt. Gillette is of the opinion that con-
stant dredging will be required to main
tain the channel. Owing to the general
cutting away Of the forests along the 'iv-
er throughout almost its entire length, a
great deal of soil is washed into the river
and brought down in solution. The mo-
ment this soil laden water encounters the
soil water precipitation follows. the detri-
tus being deposited at the bottom of the
river in the form of mud.
HNnn Il IN LIS en- A rrtr,,, nNrrrr