Evening star., 1925-04-19

the end of Washington Channel, just
east of the freight car trestle, so as
to carry the boulevard from East Po-
tomac Park onto what Is now Water
street. In this way traffic would be
greatly decreased in what is now a
which passes travel to the Highway
bridge and around the Tidal Basin.
Favors New Bridge.
Col. Sheriff. also favors the erec-
ton of a long ng-contemplated monu-
mental bridge from either Hams
Point at the tip Of East Potomac
Park or from the Washington Bar
racks jutland to the Anacostia shore.
He predicts that this will be the next
big building project considered by
Congress when the Arlington Me-
mortal Bridge is completed.
Maj. O'Connor Is already well in
formed regarding the Washington wa
ter front, and discussed the conai-
tions there in his last annual report.
He finds that there are about 9,440
feet of water front along the Vir-
ginia and Washington channels val
liable for terminal facilities, of which
only 1870 feet are now in use in con-
nection with commerce on the water
way.
The wharves in the Virginia Chan
mel (the Georgetown 'front.', IL in num-
ber, are for the most part bulkhead
buildings of timber, stone or concrete
and such wooden pile wharyes as do
exist are narrow structures extending
but little beyond the bulkheads. In
this section all vessels berth parallel
to the bulkhead. The wharves in the
Virginia Channel are privately owned.
Six are closed to the public and six
are open to the public on equal terms.
On the contrary all of the wharves
on the Washington Channel, "a in
number, are owned by the Federal
Government, 20 under the supervision
and control of the District Commits
sioners and 4 under the immediate
supervision and control of the chief
of engineers. Five are open to the
public on equal terms. The pier and
slip system is used in Washington
Channel, and vessels berth both at
the ends and sides of the piers.
Mai. O'Connor finds that las a rule
the wharyes are in a very poor con-
dition, except those operated by the
municipal and Federal governments"
The District of Columbia has built
four municipal concrete wharves on
the Washington channel at a cost of
about $lO0,0U0.
Terpinal Facilities Inadequate.
The terminal and transfer facilities
at Washington, Maj. -O'Connor says,
are considered inadequate, and adds,
Suitable terminal facilities should be
provided" Deep-draft vessels can
now enter the Georgetown and Wash
ington harbors. Commerce has been
facilitated. 1t has been reported that
freight rates have been materially re-
duced.
Maj. O'Connor's office has already
done a great deal of work in improv-
ing the water front of the District, as
while dredging the channels, the soil
has been deposited in recIaiming 62S
acres in Potomac Park, 172 acres OF
Columbia Island and Anacostia Park,
with a total expenditure of S3,346.O27.
Maj. O'Connor has also collected
commercial statistics as a guide in
making recommendations regarding
the desirability of establishing ter
minals in the scheme Of waterfront
development. Commerce for the cal.
endar year 1928 is reported as 1924
6S2 tons, valued at SI3,560,112. The
principal items, in order of tonnage.
were sand and gravel, 81 per cent:
gas-making oil, per cent; general
merchandise, 3 per cent; forest prod
ucts, 2 per cent; brick, 2 per cent, and
bituminous coal, / per cent.
From these figures it is seen that
the Washington water front is not
doing very much business. This is
klargely due to the fact that Baltimore
Ind Norfolk, each about 200 miles