Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-08-12

which, In many ways, is on a par Trith
the building of the lsthmian canal
for 1t involved an estimated escara
ti0n OF aOout A. 100000 cubic yards
of material for a length Of seven
miles Of channel. "
Rlt this is not all the engineer
corps Is doing In the way Of deeDen'
ing and widening channels to our sea
ports. 1t Is working on a 35-f0nt
enamel into Eoston harbor; and one
Of the same depth from Delaware
bay into the harbor of Philadelphia
with a width of 800 feet in thu
straight parts, 200 feet wide at .Bnlk,
head Bar, and 1000 feet wide at thu
other bends OF the Delaware river,
The latter improvement will cost
$lO,92O 900 and there will be an an
nual charge of $300,0OO for mainten.
nee.
Baltimore is to have a channel of
IS feet at mean low water, and GOO
feet wide at bottom, with increased
widths at the entrances and the
bends from Fort McHenry to deep
water In Chesapeake bay. When this
project is completed-and reports IN
the engineers ONCE in this city show
that substantial results have already
been 4 ~achieved--this busy, growing
metropolis OF the south will have one
Of the great harbOrs OF. the country.
What IL true of Baltimore, Boston.
New York and Philadelphia also Is
true of Norfolk harbor, for here, too.
tha uFrrlT ar UiItnU hnrfn1He n. De fnNf
channel, with a width of 400 feet
from deep water IN Hampton Roads
to the navy yard at Portsmouth. Va,
a distance of about II miles, Is well
under way, with hope OF completion
by the close of the next fiscal year.
While the engineer corps is ex-
tremely busy on the big harbOrs OF
the Atlantic coast, the same holds
true of conditions on the Pacific side
Of the continent. for two jetties are
being constructed at the mouth of the
Columbia, while big work is going on
at Los Angeles. On the Gulf coast.
a 35-foot channel into Galveston har-
Dor, and a 35-foOt channel to Texas
City are being rapidly constructed.
Leaving out of consideration the
millions that are being spent on tn"
widening and deepening of the chan
nels into the big harbors of the ma
ton. one of the greatest projects
which the engineer corps has under
way, and upon which a cool $10), 900
monthly is being spent, is the i'm
prOvement Of the Hudson river in the
vicinity Of Albany and Troy, where
locks and dams are being built to
connect the channel with the 'Stata
Barge canal, the aim of the engineers
of the army being to complete their
portion of the work before the com
pletion of the canal proper-anothar
engineering feat rivalihg, in some re-
spects, the construction of the great
ditch across the Isthmus of Panama.
In the scheme of building an inta-
rior waterway from the rugged rocks
of Maine to the sandpits of Florida.
congress early recognized the necas-
sity Of connecting up we'll defined wa
ter avenues along the Atlantic coast.
to the end that the perils of Hatteras
and other danger spots along the At
lantic shores might be avoided.
As a part Of the project the Chesa-
peake and Albemarle canal was Ar-
chased by the federal government at
an upset price of 0 100000 title to
the same having passed to the United
States within the past go days. This
is a connecting waterway between
Norfolk, Va, and Beaufort. N. G., be.
ing a part of the Boston to Beaufort
inlet On. CO. section of the proposed
continuous inland waterway from
New England to the Rio Grande. The
purchase of the canal having been &C.
complished, the engineer corps will
advertise for bids to deepen
this waterway to II feet, with a width
of 200 feet. To aid in the work at
excavation, u dredge will also be con-
for. ar
I'VE are conducting the improve
ments on our rivers and harbors on
the theory that we will have a river
and harbor bill every year, as con. |
gress has outlined will be done," said
the engineer officer referred to-, I"and
Jul estimates for completing projects
Or continuing work on them are bas.
ed upon the assumption that the mo-
ney appropriated will be used up, and
there will be no hangovers.
What Is true of betterments 60.
ing on along the Atlantic, Pacific and
Gulf coasts is also true of activities
along the Ohio, the Mississippi and
in the Lake region"