Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-22
WILL DEEPEN HARBOR
CHANNEL m FRONT OF CITY TO
BE ExcAvATED.

All the work preliminary to the starting
of the dredging In the river from the forks
of the Georgetown and Washington cham
rels to the upper end OF the harbor has
been completed. and 1t Is understood that
digging operations will commence this week
at the entrance to the Washington channei
Off the Washington Barracks Park. The
hydraulic dredge Florida belonging to the
Atlantic. Gulf and Pacific Derdging Com
pany, which has the contract for the work.
arrived here about week ago. as has been
stated, and since then the men aboard her
have been employed in putting her In shape
for service. The Florida. like all the big
dredgee that have been used in hartor and
channel improvements In this vicinity,
dredges by cutting the mud loose from the
bottom of the channel AT one end Of the
dredge Is long arm on which is 4 feveiv-
ing shaft. with a cutter supplied with a
half-dozen knives at the outer end. This
arm with its cutting instruments is lowered
into the water and as the knives revolve
rapidly they slice off the material OH me
bottom to be deepened. A powerful pump
sucks up the ioosened substance and il is
forced through the Gredge into a long con-
duft of pipes about sixteen inches in iiamc-
ter running from the aredge to Potomac
Park. where the mixture of mud and water
Is allowed to stand for a week or more
until 1t settles and the clear water then
runs off. The pipes from the dredge TO
the shore are fioated on pontoons ard
resemble a big snake as they move and
down ON the swells caused by the passing
steamers.
Separation of Mud and Water.
Potomac Park, on which he material ex-
cavated from the river bottom Is to be
pumped. has been divided by earthen walls
into number of ponds of about an acre
q fc NJ Of ba NJ g
In solid stream into one of the ponds
furtherest from where the water goes back
into the river. As it flows from one pond
to another. always by the longest rol-e. the
mud settles. and when the outlet Is
reached the water that flows back into the
river is comparatively clear
The bids for the work now about to begin
were opened in the Office of the United
States engineer-in charge of the improve
mentsl to the Potomac river October 80
1900 and shortly after that time the con-
tract was given to the Atlantic, Gulf and
Pacific Dredging Company Under the
terms of the contract the work was to have
started last fall, but some delay occurred.
The work to be done consists of digging
the channel of the harhor to a uniform
depth of twenty-one feet for width of
about 200 feet from the forks of the channel
to near the railway bridge at the foot of
Nth street southwest on lines to be desig-
mated by the engineer office in charge Of
the work. The length of the channel to
be dredged Is about 10000 feet and the
depth of the cuttings will range. according
to the data in the engineers Office from
one to nine feet. Under the contract the
engineer officer reserves the right to order
work done on the other channels In the
vicinity of Washington at lie price bid
for the deepening of the Washington har
Dor channel. The material to be excavated
is believed to be In the main soft mud
though some sand. gravel and stones may
be encountered in the work.
Rights Reserved.
The grade of the fill on the park is not
to exceed thirteen feet above low tide. In
the contract the engineers Office reserves
the right to require the pumping of about
$1,000 cubic yards of the excavated ma
terial upon the grounds of Washington
Barracks In the vicinity of the new Army
War College The engineer also reserves
the right to increase decrease the chan
mel dimensions according to the amount of
the available funds.
The estimated amount of dredging to be
done, approximately, is $4,000 cubic yards
not less than 5000 cubic yards per month.
No work can be done on Sundays and
holidays. At this rate of progress it will
require about four months and a half to
complete the contract. When ii Is done
the channel in Washington harhor will be
deep enough for any vessel that can come
up the Potomac river, but the steamboat
fully twice wide as 1t is proposed to
make it. they also say they wish the work
had been delayed until the busy excursion
season is over and the number of steamers
going in and coming out of the harbor is
decreased by half