Smyrna times., 1912-01-03
CONGRESS MAY AUTHORIZE
BUILDING OF SHIP CANAL
APPROPRIATION EXPECTED AND
WORK STARTED IN SPRING
Delaware-Chesapeake Canal Recon-
mended by the Engineers, Will
be Made Stupendous Enterprise

Information has come to Della
ware says the Wilmington Sunday
Star of last issue: that in a report
which Secretary of War Stimson will
send to Congress this week, prob
ably today, it will be recommended
that work start at once on the con-
struction of the ship canal connect
ing the Delaware and Chesapeake
Bays, and also on the proposed in
land waterway from Norfolk to
Beaufort, N. C. The combined cost
of completing both waterways, in
cluding the acquisition of the pres
ent Chesapeake and Delaware canal
and the Albermarle and Chesapeake
Canal, will appropriate SIT, 700, 900.
They will be built simultaneously.
With an appropriation by Congress
of these funds, or an initial appro-
priation with which the task can be
begun, work will start on the first
and most important links of the
great inland waterway of two thous-
and miles, from Boston, on the
north, to the Rio Grande River, in
Texas, on the south. The cost of
building the Delaware Chesapeake
section-the key to the whole prob
lem-will approximate S12, 900, OOO
This will include the purchase of
the existing canal for So. 514, 289. 70.
This price was determined by a
commission comprising General Fe-
lix Agnus, of Baltimore, Major C.
A. F. Flagler, Engineer Corps, U.
S. N. and Lieutenant E. T. Cham
bers, civil engineer U. S. NJ, a re-
port to this effect being made Janu-
ary /, 1907, in connection with
which the route of the present
Chesapeake and Delaware Canal was
favored for the immense waterway.
The cost of building the section
from Norfolk to Beafort, N. c., will
approximate $4,000, 900. Of this
sum, $500, 900 will be used in buying
the Albermarle and Chesapeake
Canal. This viii leave 81, FOO. 900
with which to do the construction
work on that particular section.
Some Idea of Immensity of the Canal
Some idea of the immensity of the
canal that will connect the Delaware
and Chesapeake Bays can be gained
from the fact that it will have a
width on the bottom of 125 feet and
an average depth at low tide of 25
feet. Tidal conditions will obtain
because all locks will be removed
and the tide will ebb and flow Just
as it does in the respective feeders
1t is intended that boats drawing 25
feet will be able to proceed through
the waterway at any time. In
order to make this possible, it will
be necessary to make the actual
depth about q feet at low tide. The
ship canal entrance proper from the
Delaware Bay will be just below
Fort dupont. The waterway at this
point will be six hundred feet in
width. The present canal entrance
with a depth of ten feet on the
northerly side of Fort DUPONT will
be maintained for the use of light
vessels.
Built in Less Than Four Years
1t is computed that the Delaware
Chesapeake section can be built in
less than four years, probably in
three years. The soil is not hard
to dig. The Norfolk Beaufort sec
tion can be completed in about two
years and six months. While the
uniform width of the ship canal
between the two bays will be more
than 125 feet-that width on the
bottom making this necessary-it
will be greatly widened on the turn
in order to expedite navigation.
From the point where the large and
small stems shall Join, the route of
the present canal will be followed
generally. The waterway will pro-
ceed through the deep cut at Sum-
mitt Bridge, it being intended to
widen it by excavating the southern
side of the cut. The northern side
may also be encroached upon. The
entrance from the Chesapeake Bay
will remain as it now exists. AS
now outlined, it is proposed that
steamboats,, sailing vessels, barges,
etc., will be able to proceed at the
same speed they maintain on the
Delaware and Chesapeake Bays.
In the case of ocean-going vessels,
however, their speed will probably
be limited to from eight to ten
miles per hour. This will be done
in order to protect the canal banks.
Henry Talbot Sells His Farm
Henry Talbot has sold his 1873
acre farm adjoining the town of