Evening star., 1935-05-02
POTOMAC RIVER
DREDGING LIMIT
HERE IS $4,000
Local Sector Gets Only Por-
ton of $234,OOO De-
cIared Needed.
GEORGETOWN SILT DUE
TO GAIN AS MENACE
Funds Available for D, c. to Be
Expended on Flats Off
Park Seawall.

A study of the allotment of funds
by Mai. Gen. Edward w. Markham.
chief of Army Engineers, under which
$4,000 is made available for river
and harbor improvements in the re-
cion drained by the York, Kappa
hammock. Potomac and PatuXent
Rivers. discloses that while S234,000
was estimated as the amount needed
for dredging and improving The Po-
tomac River here, only $4,000 has
actually been made available.
This means that the channel depth
mere will get worse as silt is swept
down the Potomac River and fills in
the area near Georgetown. There
will be no dredging done under the
limited funds.
The annual report of Gen. Mark
ham shows that now there is only
17-foot depth in the Virginia cham
mel leading to Georgetown. Maj.
Robert w. Crawford. War Department
District engineer for the Washington
area and his associates, in order to
remedy this navigational situation, es-
timated the work would cost S234.000.
Observers say that apparently the re-
duced fund made available by Con-
gress to the chief of Army Engineers
resulted in the elimination of the
larger part of the fund estimated for
profitable expenditure in the fiscal
year 1886
Make fOr Free Flow,
With the money now available for
the Potomac River in Washington,
Mai. Crawford will dredge a channel
across the fats off the Potomac Park
seawall into the inlet gates OF the
Tidal Basin. This will make the water
fleF more freely. as mud piles up at
the gates. interfering with the full
sweep of the tide.
Reinforced levees for the deposit
basin on the site OF the proposed
Gravelly Point airport, will be con-
structed by the engineers. This will
inclose the area as some work has
previously been done. When the large
amount of channel dredging-estimat-
ed under the 1924, 900 programs ac-
complished the levees will be strong
enough to hold the dredged material
and lay the groundwork for a per-
manent airport.
Miscellaneous surveys will be car
ried forward on the Potomac River
to ascertain shoalings that occur, their
locations and quantity. The main
tenance and operation of the inlet and
outlet gates at the Tiday Basin also
will be made possible out of the SIS
600 allotment for improvement of the
Potomac River at Washington.
$4,000 for Below City.
For the Potomac River below Wash
fngton Gen. Markham has made avail
able 100000. With this money the
engineers will be able to restore the
24-foot channel depth at the upper
and lower Smith Point bars; the Matte
woman bar. near Indian Head, Md,
and the Marshall Hall bar, near
Mount Vernon. The depths have
shoaled from the project depth of "a
feet.
Gen. Markham has assigned So, 900
for the Rappahannock River. There
the project depth of II feet will be
restored and sever bars in the 2O-mile
stretch downstream from Fredericks-
burg. Va. will be eliminated. Recent
activity and increased plant buildings
at the cellophane factory at Fred
ericksburg has resulted in more traffic
on the Rappahannock River. Self
propelled barges delivered caustic soda
and sulphuric acid at the plant.
Tho
Perry, on Lake Erie; through the lakes
and the New York State barge canal,
down the Hudson River, off the coast
OF New Jersey in the ocean and into
Chesapeake Bay and up the Kappa
hammock Rivera journey of some
1900 miles. The engineers have been
advised that this creates an appre-
cisble saving over freight rates by land
carriers and points the way to in
creased potential use of water borne
traffic of limited draft in this sec
tion of the country. The sulphuric
acid comes from Baltimore on water
Journey of some 200 miles.
$4,000 on York River.
The chief of Army engineers has set
aside s25,000 for the York River.
Dredging will be done there by Maj.
Crawford to accommodate steamers of
the Chesapeake Steamship Co., a sub
sidiary of the Southern Railway, in
handling through traffic from the
South to Baltimore.
Other ALLEGATIONS made by Gen.
Markham for work in this locality
include $4,000 for navigational i'm
provements at Milford Haven, Va;
$4,000 for work on the Pomonkey
River. Virginia, and $35,000 for pre-
liminary examinations and surveys
throughout the whole Washington
area.