Evening star., 1925-09-20

a DOt6ntldl beauty spot anu
public park which all Washing gtonians
will enjoy.
If ever there was an orphan in the
island family the Districts future
Belle Isle" is one such. This small
body of land alongside the channel of
the placid Potomac just grew. The
freshets and flood waters of the tor
tuous river are its parents. The Dis
trict engineers Office is its foster
father. for the island has grown under
its protection. The runaway silt and
sand from far upstream, along the
Maryland and Virginia shores, have
been snatched up by the surging
waters and for many years carried
down to the channelway below
Georgetown, and there deposited as
covering for the river floor.
The smaller the channel and the
narrower the space through which
given volume Of water must flow. the
more the liability of destructive floods
and overf1ows. In order TO keep the
channel clear and to provide an un-
obstructed cross sectional area, ade-
ouate to provide passage for even the
ma ximum Potomac freshets. the Dis
trict engineers Office for many years
has policed the Potomac channel up
10 the notable port of Georgetown,
and has employed hydraulic dredses
to remove the layers of silt and sand
"nlCn dCCuUluldltu ObpIIldC Is
an offspring of these silt-removal ac-
tivities. 1t is man-made island
pumped from the depths of the famous
river.
The core of Potomac Park was once
nothing more than a mighty spoil
ba sin, encircled by earthen levees. into
which the river bottom was deposited.
Gradually the work was completed.
Many acres were added. And all this
extra land surface, which now consti-
tutes the prize Fairgrounds Of the
City Of Presidents. consists of soil
which the Potomac River stole from
Maryland and Virginia and gave to
the District of Columbia.
Since 1908, when the hydraulic
dredges turned their last outpourings
of silt into Potomac Park, their annual
channel clearings have been focused
on Columbia Island, as a readily ac-
cessible and logical point. In the
neighborhood of $50, 900 cubic yards of
silt annually have been sucked up
from the channel course and dumped
into that spoil basin.
In May, 1924, just little while after
the job was finished for that season,
the Potomac's greatest uprising &C.
Cured. 1t deposited 100000 cubic yards
of additional debris in the Potomac
channel. The District engineers had
to repeat their channelclearing task,
all in the course of a few weeks. They
removed more river sediment in that
year than they ordinarily would in
three and one-haf years.
<
THE birth Of Columbia Island be-
gan about 1880. During the period
from the War of 1872 up to that
year. a certain George Mason owned
Analostan Island, which is just across
the water today from Columbia Is.
land. Mr.. Mason maintained an attrac-
tive home on Analostan Island. He
secured consent from Congress, 95
years ago, to built causeway or
dixie from his island to the Virginia
shore, a distance Of about $50 feet.
Previous to the construction OF that
riprap wall mighty ships from Eu-
rope and other parts of the world piled
the Potomac to the port at George
town. AT that time, large custom
house was maintained and extensive
international trade conducted.
A deep, navigable channel led past
Analostan Island. Columbia Island had
not raised it's shoreline above the
Potomac. 1t was buried under deep
blanket of water. The birthday Of
Columbia Island was the day when
Mr.. Mason completed his causeway.
This dixie blocked the passage of the
water on yonder side Of Analostan
Island and provided there a dipper in
which silt and sand could accumulate.
Even today the rocks of that riprap
wall impede boats and canoes that
pass that way during periods Of low
water
History shows that the causeway
satisfactorily served Mr.. Mason's pur-
poses. All the current of the Poto-
mac was centralized in securing the
main channel. The causeway also led
dannsit nf In after laVpr nf
sandy and muddy sediment, where
deep channel had formerly been navi-
gated.
After several scores of years, sandy
fats and miniature swamp were
formed from river wash. 1t was to
this marshland area, just off the Vir-
ginia shore that the District engineer
directed his attention when Potomac
Park was completed. Columbia Is-
land in the making was selected as
the point of deposit for all the bottom
accumulations pumped from the Po-
tomac by great pipeline dredges.
When the Arlington Memorial
Bridge was sanctioned by the Sixty
eighth Congress, Columbia Island
pushed itself into the limelight by its
outstanding geographical location
along the route of the proposed
bridge.
When the District engineering Of
fee first began it's building up of this
body of land it was with the idea Of
some day developing 1T as an integral
part of Washington's park system.
The scheme was to make 1t a popu-
lar public playground, like Belle Isle.
the beautiful recreation center
where the people of Detroit spend
their holidays and leisure. The Ar
lington Bridge project speeded up the
island developmental program.
Columbia Island-it was named in
honor of the District Of Columbia
was christened by the Washington
engineers who have aided in its recla-
nation.
The Arlington Bridge will be sup
ported by eight mammoth piers. each
of which will expose a 80 to so foot
concrete face to the water flow. This
means that the sum total of concrete
surface which will impede the chan
mel current will amount to about 32O
feet of solid masonry. The Potomac
River channel, which is navigable
opposite the Lincoln Memorial, is not
extensive enough in cross-section. but
that such an obstruction would in
the future facilitate floods and over
flows. Residents of Washington who
recall those hectic days in 1873 and
1889, when rowboats were needed for
a shopping tour along Pennsylvania
avenue, well appreciate why 1t Is es-
sential to keep the river channel open
enough to accommodate all the sur
plus freshet waters which may speed
toward our National Capital.
In the ecyly days, before annual
drives were instituted to keep the
boat channel free of silt, floods ef
fected much damage. When the Po-
tomac rose high above its normal
sevel, the channel was not large