The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-02-01
navy SLIPS
|. NEARLY DONE
Turned Over to Uncle
Sam In March.
THE WORK is EXTENSIVE
Contractors Claim That They Will
Not be Able to Touch Pearl
Harbor Bar.

Within the next five weeks Navy
slips Nos 1 and 2, which have been
dredged out by the California Con-
struction Company, Will be READY to
be turned over to the United States
government. a. McNally, vice presl-
dent of the company, arrived on the
Sonoma to take charge of the cleaning
up operations preparatory TO offering
the work TO the government. The big
dredger is now engaged in scooping UP
the debris in the slips, and the work
will be entirely completed within the
time specified.
The work was begun November 9,
1898, and has continued with but few
intervals of rest up To the present date.
The contract was let in August OF that
year. Mr.. McNaily has been in Homo
lulu many times looking after the in
terests Of the company.
People here probably have little
idea of the magnitude of this work,
SAID Mr. McNaiIy. I'VE have not only
excavated a large portion OF Honolulu
larbor AID given the port mucn need
ed additional wharfage room, but nave
filled up a number of swampy places
as we'll, all of which is included in the
Navy reservation. The coral eXcayated
from the harbor has been ralroaued
10 the reservation and filled in from
four to twelve feet deep. We have also
filed up much of the Beach road. In
ali, 100000 cubic yards of coral was ex-
cavated.
! slip No. / is 450 lao feet, with an
average depth of thirty rect below low
tide. Slip No. 2 has about the same
dimensions. The character or the ma
terial was coral, something We had
~ oil n1 IL Tho -
waiian government dredger twenty
| four months to take out $4,000 cubic
yards, SO we think We have done fairly
| we'll
| 1--WE have decided to let Pearl Har-
| Dor bar alone. There is not enough
money in it for the amount of work
! and trouble connected with it, and fur
hand that we do not care to take 9TH
ers All our dredging machinery in
Honolulu will probably be disposed OF
| here.
The contract for building the Sar
| Pedro breakwater involves $3.50, goo. Il
] is to be $500 feet long, 200 feet wide al
! the bottom, with an average height
from bottom TO top of 20 feet. and L
feet wide at the top. We have already
built out about 1000 feet, and master:
/ of sailing vessels say they appreciate
i vast improvement in the roadStead
/ The smallest stone on the outside O
the breakwater must not be less thar
eight tons in weight, and on the ba.
i side, four tons.
The contract must be completed
within five years. We are now dump
ing 10000 tons of stone there pc
month, and will soon dump 10000. w
have our own quarries from which w
procure our sandstone and granite
The greatest blasting shot ever mad
in California for quarry rock, wa
made at one of the quarries a weel
before l left for Honolulu, when 1885, 90
tons of fine stone We're dislodged, 5
per cent of which is ready for use
while practically little work will hav
10 be done on the remainder.
THAT shot cost $500. We ran tw
75-foot tunnels into a bluff 100 fee
high. The whole affair was done unde
my supervision, and was perfecte
without any damage to the surround
ing country. | stood half a mile ava
and watched it. There was a Sigh
rumbling, and suddenly the whole blui
seemed to be moving outward. 1t sill
down into the quarry pit. The jar wa
not even felt in nearby farm houses.