The $275,000 Plan to Dredge Olympia Into a Deep-Water Port

Colonel Presser, of the harbor commission, is now in Washington City, urging the approval of the plans of Captain Thomas W. Symons for the improvement of Olympia's harbor. The report of Captain Symons, with a map showing his proposed plans, has been referred to the committee on rivers and harbors by the speaker of the house and ordered printed.

A. J. McMillan, who made the preliminary examination of Olympia's harbor, said in his report to Captain Symons:

"From the mouth of the Des Chutes river to 4,500 feet north of Fourth Street bridge, in the city of Olympia, is bare mud flat or tide land at low water, with the water of the Des Chutes meandering through it. It takes something over a quarter tide for the stern-wheel steamers to reach Fourth Street bridge. There is a wharf piled out over the tide land for over a mile, but even that distance does not reach water deep enough for the class of steamers that come to Olympia. What the people want is a channel deep enough for ocean steamers to reach the vicinity of Fourth Street; and that will necessitate the dredging of about two miles. The material consists of fine gravel, sand, and clay, making easy dredging."

Captain Symons, in his report to Brigadier General Thomas L. Casey, chief of engineers of the United States army, said:

"Twelve feet at lower low water was fixed upon as the proper depth to be given the channel at Olympia, as this depth will accommodate very nearly all the vessels plying on the Sound. It is fair to suppose, however, that, as Olympia grows, vessels of the largest class will visit it.

"A width of channel of 250 feet was fixed upon, as this will permit boats to pass each other. It is, however, deemed wise in laying out the work to provide for a width of 400 feet in future, which will be desirable should the commerce of Olympia grow as anticipated. This will enable vessels to lie at each side of the channel and yet leave room for others to pass in and out.

"It is proposed to provide for this width by placing the bulkheads (beyond which the dredged material will be deposited) 400 feet apart. It is also proposed to dredge out now a basin at the upper or southern end of the channel. This basin has an extreme length of 1,660 feet and a maximum breadth of 500 feet, and is designed with a view of interfering as little as possible with existing wharves and docks.

"The method of construction as proposed is to build a pile and brush bulkhead and to pump the material from the channel and deposit it beyond the bulkhead.

"It is deemed best to keep the Des Chutes River out of this channel, as it is feared that, under favoring circumstances, it would tend to fill the channel with debris from above. This deflection will be accomplished by building the bulkhead completely around the upper end and sides of the channel. Provisions for passing small boats through the draw of the Fourth Street bridge can be made by limiting the height of the bulkhead at the draw to just sufficient elevation to turn the waters of the Des Chutes. This will enable anything that is likely to desire to do so to get above the bridge.

"The work of constructing the 250-foot channel with basin, as shown, is estimated to cost $275,000. The estimate for the improvement of Olympia's harbor, by a dredged channel 250 feet wide (bottom width) and 12 feet deep at low water, bulkheads 400 feet apart, and a basin of equal depth, is as follows:

70,775 linear feet of piles, at 15 cents driven ... $10,616.25 16,705 feet B. M. cross bracing for basin bulkhead, at $20 in place ... $334.10 9,130 feet B. M. longitudinal bracing, bulkhead, at $20 ... $188.00 3,000 cords brush, at $2.50 in place ... $7,500.00 1,000 tons stone ballast, at $2 in place ... $2,000.00 1,141,575 cubic yards excavation, at 20 cents dredged ... $228,315.00 3,000 pounds iron spikes, at 10 cents in place ... $300.00 Add 10 per cent for superintendence and contingencies ... $24,525.33 Total ... $274,178.68 In round numbers, $275,000.00."

Included in his report, Captain Symons gave statistics regarding Olympia's industries, secured nearly a year earlier. He listed the West Side Mill Company, with 60 employees, a capacity of 50,000 feet of lumber daily, 10,000 lath daily, and 10,000 pickets daily, and a payroll of $4,000 per month; D. Allison & Co., 20 employees, 10,000 feet daily, payroll $1,300; George S. Allen, 30 employees, 25,000 feet daily and 10,000 lath daily, payroll $2,200; Springer White, 50 employees, working up 2,000,000 feet per year, capital $50,000, payroll $3,200; T. Z. Slater, 20 employees, 100,000 shingles daily, payroll $1,200; Tumwater Shingle Company, 15 employees, 70,000 shingles daily, payroll $1,000; Puget Sound Pipe Company, capital $50,000, capacity six miles of assorted pipe per month, 50 employees, payroll $4,000; Olympia Foundry and Machinery Company, 15 employees, four tons daily in the foundry, payroll $1,000; Sternberg's Furniture Factory, 15 employees, payroll $1,000; Miller & Springer cigar factory, seven employees, payroll $450; the electric light and power plant, with three arc dynamos operating 130 arc lights, two railroad generators of 150 horsepower each, one 100-horsepower motor, 15 employees, payroll $900 per month, and 28 miles of arc wire and 15 miles of incandescent wire; the flour mill, capacity 125 barrels daily and 50 tons of chopped feed, with a complete corn meal plant, 10 employees and a monthly payroll; and the Olympia Water Works, 15 employees, payroll $1,000 per month, capacity 2,000,000 gallons daily, pressure 45 pounds for fire and domestic use, and a reservoir holding 2,700,000 gallons. There were also several smaller industries manufacturing articles for home consumption.

The report also reviewed the vast amount of railroad building and steamboat transportation, which Symons advanced as a strong argument in support of the improvement.