Ist Session House Document No. 4 1958 ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED JUNE 30 A Ai THE ARMY DFFIC[ ( . SFFICEF OF ENGINEERS DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS VOL. 1 OF TWO VOLUMES F:86th Congress, 1st Session an .. - - - - House Document No. 4 ANNUAL REPORT, DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1958 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS U.S. ARMY ON CIVIL WORKS ACTIVITIES 1958 IN TWO VOLUMES Vol. 1 CFTHE ARMY . OFF ,'DE . .. F ENGINEERS y UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON For sale by the Superintendent of Documents. U.S. Government Printing Office Washington 25, D.C. - Price 35 cents 3PROPERTY OF THE UNITErD STATES GOVERNMENT CONTENTS Volume 1 Page Letter of Submittal ---------------------------------------------- V CHAPTEI I. A PROGRAM FOR WATER RESOURCES DEVEL- OPMENT 1------------------------------------- 1. Scope of the Program 1-----------------------------. 2. Status of Program 2-------------------------------- 3. Organization 3------------------------------------ II. PROJECT CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATIONS PROGRESS 4----------------------------------- 1. Navigation 4-------------------------------------- 2. Shore Protection -------------------------------- 13 3. General Flood Control --------------------------- 13 4. Multiple-Purpose (Power) Projects--- -------------- 18 5. Hydroelectric Power Production--------------- ---- 21 6. Mississippi River Flood Control--------------- ----- 25 7. General Operations ------------------------------ 32 III. BENEFITS OF THE PROGRAM------------------ 34 1. Navigation ------------------------------------- 34 2. Flood Control ---------------------------------- 36 3. Other Benefits ---------------------------------- 38 4. Public Recreation Use of Project Areas--------- --- 40 5. Fish and Wildlife_ ---------------------------- 41 IV. CURRENT PROJECT PLANNING AND DEVELOP- MENT -------------------------------------- 43 1. Program Policy Matters_-------------------------- 43 2. Omnibus River and Harbor and Flood Control Bill -- 46 3. Examinations and Surveys--------------- ----- 47 4. Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors-------- -- 51 5. Beach Erosion Board ----------------------------- 51 6. Advance Engineering and Design---- -------------- 52 7. Collection and Study of Basic Data- --------------- 53 V. FUNDING TRENDS------------------------------ 55 1. Funds Available for Work_------------------------- 55 2. Annual Appropriations---------------------------- 58 3. Expenditures (Costs) ----------------------------- 61 VI. OTHER CIVIL WORKS ACTIVITIES----------- --- 64 1. St. Lawrence Seaway-----------------------------64 2. St. Lawrence River Joint Board of Engineers - -- 64 3. Flood Fighting and Other Emergency Operations ... 65 4. Administration of Laws for Protection of Navigable Waters_----------------------------------------- 67 5. Regulation of Hydraulic Mining, California-------- -- 69 6. Civil Works Investigation Program---- ------------ 69 7. United States Lake Survey ------------------------- 70 8. Washington, D.C., Water Supply----------------- -- 72 9. Work for Other Agencies_-------------------------- 72 10. Foreign Technical Assistance ------- 73 11. Publications of the Corps of Engineers- ------ 74 II IV CONTENTS Page CHAPTER VII. ECONOMY MEASURES_- ____---____---76 1. Organization, Facilities and Procedures -- - 76 VIII. WATERBORNE COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES -.... _______________ __ __ - 79 Volume 2 Reports on individual project operations and related civil works activities published as a separate volume. SUBJECT: Annual Report on Civil Works Activities. TO: THE SECRETARY OF THE ARMY. 1. Herewith is my report for fiscal year 1958 on the civil functions of the Department of the Army administered by the Chief of Engineers. 2. These activities include the planning, funding, construction, op- eration, and maintenance of works for navigation and flood control including the multiple-purpose water resource developments associ- ated therewith, as authorized by law. The first volume of my report gives a brief description and summary, along with a record of ac- complishments during the year. The second volume sets forth the detailed engineering, fiscal, and statistical data. For the entire pro- gram-navigation, flood control, multiple-purpose projects with power, and Mississippi River and Tributaries-construction was initiated on 44 new projects, including 3 new features of the Mississippi River and Tributaries project. Construction operations were carried out on 264 additional projects, of which 80 were placed in effective operation. The major features and problems of the programs pursued during the year are outlined below. 3. The active civil works program, consisting of 3,177 project au- thorizations, has a total estimated cost of about $17 billion. Appro- priations through fiscal year 1958 for that work total about $7.9 bil- lion, leaving about $9.1 billion still required to complete the active program. Passage of additional authorizing legislation shortly after the end of the final year increased this backlog by about $750 million. 4. Navigation. Waterborne commerce of the United States during calendar year 1957 reached a record high of 1.13 billion tons, represent- ing an increase of 4 percent over the 1956 total which also was a record year. Traffic on the Great Lakes continued at a high level, amounting to 117 billion ton-miles. Traffic on the inland waterway system, ex- clusive of the Great Lakes, reached a record high of 115 billion ton- miles, an increase of 6 percent over the preceding year. 5. Work was initiated on 23 projects. Construction activities were carried out on 123 improvements, of which 55 were placed in useful operation. Maintenance operations, such as dredging, repairs, and restoration of structures, were conducted at 266 projects at a total cost of $76.9 million. These maintenance activities were confined princi- pally to deep-draft harbors and major inland waterways, and in a few lesser channels where hardship would result from non- maintenance. VI REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, U.S. ARMY, 1958 6. A major navigation improvement under construction is the St. Lawrence Seaway project, being constructed for the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. During the year all features re- quired to accommodate existing 14-foot navigation were completed to permit raising of the pool. Other major navigation improvements under construction include: Delaware River; Old River, Louisiana, navigation lock; Great Lakes Connecting Channels; the Calumet-Sag portion of the Illinois Waterway; and five replacement locks and dams on the Ohio River. 7. Flood Control. The authorized flood-control program was car- ried forward at an accelerated rate. Construction was under way on 104 specifically authorized projects, of which 17 were fully completed, and an additional 16 were advanced to the stage which permitted their beneficial use. Work was initiated on 14 new projects. Work accomplished on the Alluvial Valley of the Mississippi River project included construction or enlargement of 47 miles of levee, placement of 19 miles of bank protection, and dredging of 36 million cubic yards of material. At the end of the year construction of the entire Mis- sissippi River project was 68 percent completed. 8. Large-scale benefits have accrued to the Nation as a result of the Federal flood-control program. Flood damage prevented by Corps of Engineers' projects in useful operation is estimated to total $9 bil- lion through 30 June 1958, including $296 million during fiscal year 1958. Severe general flooding occurred in the Central Valley and other portions of California; in the Ouachita and Red River Basins of Arkansas and Louisiana; in the Wabash River Basin of Indiana and Illinois; and in seven basins of Texas-the Sabine, Trinity, Brazos, Colorado, Guadalupe-San Antonio, Nueces, and Sulphur. In Cali- fornia, during the period January through April alo 1 e, about $32 mil- lion in flood damage was experienced and about $154 million of damage was prevented by flood-control works. 9. Multiple-PurposeProjects With Power. Large multiple-purpose reservoir projects are under construction for navigation, flood control, and development of hydroelectric power. Construction was carried out on a total of 23 multiple-purpose projects, 1 of which was suffi- ciently completed for full beneficial use. At 8 of the 23 projects some or all primary project features were in useful operation at the end of the year. Maintenance activities were continued on 32 projects al- ready in operation. Generating capacity installed during the year amounted to 792,000 kilowatts. At the end of the fiscal year the gen- erating capacity in operation, 5.6 million kilowatts, represented 20 percent of the national hydroelectric capacity, or 4 percent of the total generating capacity, of the utility systems in the United States. The 27 billion net kilowatt-hours of energy generated at Corps of Engi- LETTER OF SUBMITTAL vII neers' projects during the fiscal year, an increase of 20 percent over the preceding year, represents about 20 percent of the hydroelectric energy produced and 4 percent of the total electric energy produced by all sources of the Nation's utility systems. 10. Water Supply. Besides serving their primary functions, reser- voir projects produce many collateral benefits, including water supply. The Corps is now providing over 1.2 million acre-feet of storage space for domestic and industrial water supply in 18 reservoirs serving about 40 cities and towns.