Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-08-14
SHOWS NEEDS OF
LOCAL HARD0R
Chamber of Commerce Asks u. S.
Engineer to Aid Port De-
vclopment.

William r. Budd, secretary Of the
Chamber of Commerce. in replying TO n
letter from the Y. $. Engineers Depart
ment, seeking data on har Dor improve
ments, cites the need for n channel 900
feet wide on the Chris tana and Of depth
sufficient for commerce commensurate
with the needs of the port The com
m,nication which outlines the reason for
adequate port and harbor development
follows.
Dear Sir: We beg TO acknowledge re-
ccipt Of your favor OF 9th instant advising
that the river and harbor net Of June 8.
1920, provides for preliminary exami-
nation of Wilmington harbor (Christinna
riverl, Delaware; that the duty Of making
this examination has devolved upon yotir
office and asking for such information "a
we may have rs To the scope OF tho inn
provements contemplated, prospective
demands of commerce involved i'm the inn
provements, the benefits that would b. dc.
rived from the development of piers and
terminals, etc, etc.
we assume that the examination mey
result IN the recommendation Of certain
changes in the existing project" and on
that assumption we beg TO submit the
following suggestions
First, we strongly recommend that
there be no lesscning Of the existing
project depth and width Of the channel Of
the Christiana river above the mouth of
the Brandywine MS we believe that the
industries now operating along this stretch
Of the river, particularly the American
Car and Foundry Co jackson d Sharp
plantl, the Wilmington Steamboat Co,
the Christiana Ferry Co, the various
steamboats, using the new municipal wharf
at Front and Church streets, the Pusey
u Jones Co, the George w. Bush d
Sons Co, the Charles Warner Co,
the Bethlehem Shiphuildinu Cor
poration, Ltd, 0iarlan plant, and
the Jessup & Moore Paper Co delaware
Mills), require, for the proper conduct and
expansion Of their various businesses, not
hss than now exists
The water-horne traffic i'm this section
of our harbor is constantly increasing and.
from the writer's knowledge Of the needs
Of the commerce. we hope that the project
width may ultimately be increased to $50
feet at the present depth. to at least
as far as The u Il - railroad bridge above
the shipvard of the Harlan plant
Second, We strongly urge that YOU
the widening and deepening
OF the Christiana river from the Delaware
river TO a point sufficiently far above the
new harbor improvements now being
made hy fhe citv rf Wilmington under
{ he direction Of the Board of IIarbor Com
missioners TO provide adequate facilities
for the commerce which will use these
wharves
cit ia our belief that this section of the
river should be NJ least 900 feet wide
with depth the same as that Of the ship
channel in the Delaware river up To the
TO the thristiana river, thus
nv vessel that can come up the
Delaware river 70 reach the new city piers
Third In view of the recent location
Of n now sugar refinery on the Christiana
river. cast Of the T. n r. cutoff bridge.
and the fact that large number of deep
iraught vessels will he coming to the
wharves Of that now industry. shercbv
greatly increasing the Importance Of this
portion Of the harhor and. also. i'm Wow
VI the contemplated location at an early
hate of large and very important in
lustrv on the north shore Of the Chris
llama river east OF The abova-mcntioned
cut t-of bridge We earnestly request and
lrge that vou recommend the continuation
II the above-mentioned channel depth
with, il possible. an increased width
greater than that provided for IN tho
existing projects, which is $50 feet VIZ 10
this bridge
I'm conclusion, we believe that il the
existing project depth and width he in
creased as suggested above. same TO he
realized ne SCOT as the traffic warrents il,
he business that will be attracted here
will soon warrant the increased espendi-
.ure.
I'm the event of public hearing in the
natter We will be very glad to be repre-
ented