Evening star., 1937-01-10
ROUTINE Dredging
PROVIDES AIRPORT
Reclamation Project May
Break Deadlock Over
GraveIIy Point Site.

The 10-year deadlock over site for
. civil air terminal for Washington
may be broken by routine channel
dredging operations in the Potomac
River. in the opinion Of officials Of
the National Aeronautic Association.
! AS q result of the dredging, dry land
! Is appearing on the Gravelly Point
site, long advocated by the association
and other local aviation organizations
as site for model local air terminal.
, Most taxpayers are unaware" the
association stated in an article in
the January issue Of its house organ,
the National Aeronautic Magazine,
that within months time about IS
acres Of land will be showing off what
is known as Gravelly Point. For some
years there has been levee existing
far out into the river bed, constructed
as part of a waterway control and
land reclamation project by the War
Department. The last Congress ap-
propriated some more money to move
the job forward, and now the space
between the levee and the shore line
Is rapidly being filled in with dredg-
1ngs from the river channel.
The irony is that Washington is
Just on the verge of having an air.
port-or at least a suitable filled-in
site-whether or not Congress gives
approval"
Decade without Action.
The association pointed out that for
. decade such bodies as the National
Park and Planning Commission and
local trade and civic organizations
have joined with it in advocating the
1illing of Gravelly Point for airport
purposes.
= Year after year." 1t said, "Con-
sgress had evaded direct action by
throwing the problem into the laps
sof commissions and further study.
"A decade has passed without action"
1t also was pointed out by the as
.sociation that when the Mount Ver-
mon Boulevard was constructed by the
Bureau OF Public Roads, Agriculture
Department, provisions were made
for road connections to an airport at
Gravelly Point. There is a roadway
overpaSs with no road.
'It is also known" the association
explained, that Thomas Macdonald,
chief of the Bureau Of Public Roads,
has In his Offices complete plans for
the airport, although his bureau has
no intention of constructing the air
port itself; his bureau merely made
provisions for one when it construct
ed the highway.
Present Airport Improved.
Meanwhile Washington Airport,
the commercial airport now in use by
the airlines. has improved its field
substantially and has paved several
runways. 1t is less than a mile north
of the Gravelly Point site"
It was pointed out that the present
airport commission, headed by Sem
ator King Of Utah, now Is studying
the local airport problem but is not
yet ready to report.
THE Aero Club of Washington,
headed by Chet Warrington, has
pointed out that 4,500-foot runways
could be constructed at Gravelly Point
with adjacent seaplane facilities, CIV
ing the airport an international fla
vor," the association said. while the
congressional commission is making
further study, the Gravelly Point site
Is beginning to appear above water
and within few months will be a
reality. Some observers believe only
Machiavelli could have staged a
scene by which Department of Agri-
culture agency and the War Depart
ment were building an airport site
under the name of reclamation with
out anybody knowing about it,"