Evening journal., 1904-10-11
Big Dredge Now Doing
Great Work in Della
ware River Off Edge
moor
Waste Matter Taken
From the Channel
Being Used to Fill in
the BuIkhead

~@AC A%AA n ACaN
-
Hand in hand with the work Of
dredging the Delaware River channel to
a depth satisfactory to the growing
maritime interest Is being carried out
system Of engineering works that are
designed 10 keep the channel at it's
maximum depth after 1t has been dug
In other words, the ingenuity OF the
sovernment engineers has worked out
q plan by which the currents that bring
down great quantities Of mud and sand
In time OF freshet are to be converted
! into r natural scourer The nucleus
{ or this plan Is seen along the west bank
OF the river between Edge Moor and the
mouth of the Christiana Creek
This work is closely linked with the
blasting OF the rock from the river bot
tom at Schooner Ledge. The blasted
rock IL the prey OF the big govern
ment dredge He'll Cate. An immense
iron claw swung from a big crane on
the Hell Gate begins to scour the river
bottom as soon as the blast Is over
Work Of the Dredse.
Il Is ponderous, but relentless. APP
parentiy nothing escapes It. Monster
rocks and little stones, with all In the
stone Kingdom that lies IN between are
gathered up In It's clutches. when the
claw has crunched its way over the
loose rocks for a moment Il closes hard
and fast. Then an immense chain is
set In motion and up comes the haul
The crane swings around, the Jaws
open and the load OF stone is shot into
the dredge along side the Hell Gate.
Some times the big claws come up
almost empty. At other times they
are full TO overiowlng. But, big or
little, the load Is swung into the scow.
The rock at the bottom Of Schooner
Ledge is hard and the fragments that
are brought up by the scow are Just
what the government needs to
strengthen It's big bulkhead at Edge
Moor. Every ton of rock dredged UP
and hauled 10 Edge Moor represents
more than a dollar saved TO the govern
ment, and means that the Congression-
/ al appropriation is going to accom-
plish just that much more.
Built on the Ead's Idea.
The bulkhead which is designed to
keep the channel open after Il has once
been dredged is built on the idea which
Eads formulated TO assist in harness
| ing the erratic currents OF the Mis-
sisslppl The Eads bulkheads have
worked wonders with the most freakish
river OF the world and their usefulness,
engineers say has been thoroughly
demonstrated.
In the bulkhead construction OF
Edge Moor two ends were sought. The
la .l4aa
At this point the river is very wide and
the trend Of the body OF the river and
the trend of the channel were at an
angle. Such a state Of affairs, II left
luncorrected. meant that the river cur
rents were washing against the channel
banks, cutting them in and carrying
mud into the channel bottom that was
going TO lie there and not be washed on
out 70 sea.
In addition to narrowing the rivers
width. Il was also desired to shunt the
rivers current so that 1t would run in
direct line with the channel. This
would give the force of the river cur
rents to carry the deposits on out to
the hav.
How the Bulkhead is Built.
These ends the government believes
have been partially accomplished by
the construction OF the Edge Moor
bulkhend. and will be altogether attained
when the bulkhead has been carried to
icompletion and joined to the end OF
piers that run out from Christiana
Creek When all that Is done some
900 feet OF bulkhead will have been
built.
AT present about $500 feet OF bulk
head is built II starts out from Edge
Moor and runs at an angle designed to
carry out the purpose in mind The
lbulkhead seems to have been built TO
withstand all the forces nature could
lhurl against Il in even her widest
moods. There are five rows OF piling
and FIVE rows Of sheet braces. Outside
arc FIVE longitudinals which make a
slide for the ice in winter. and keep the
big cakes shooting down the current
lout Of harms way.
Behind the sheet braces rock is being
piled as fast as the Hell Gate can dig
Il up from Schooner Ledge and the big
scows haul II over. Behind the piling
and braces this wall Of loose rock packs
lin and forms a practically impregnable
fortress. II Is even firmer than the
river bank itself The space between
the bulkhead and the land is being
lnlled up with earth from the river a 8