Referring now, General Pick, to H. R. 5472, which has been reported to the House.

General PICK. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. In order to clear the record and save the time at the hearings, in the future I wonder if you would express your views on the desirability of H. R. 5472 as it was reported by the House, that is, whether you approve or disapprove of the measures included in that bill.

General PICK. I consider it a very satisfactory bill, sir. It is well balanced. As I have just said, the projects are all economically justified. Their benefit to cost ratio is satisfactory.

The program set up in the bill provides for a 3-year program to carry on this work in a satisfactory manner.

The CHAIRMAN. Is it your opinion that those authorizations will be fully adequate for the period of 3 years as you have indicated? General PICK. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. I know, General, that it has been the practice to prepare the plans in advance within the limits of the appropriations that are supplied you. Can you tell us something about how far in advance your plans are prepared now?

General PICK. We try to have our plans 12 months ahead. In other words, we are making up plans now for next year's work, and the authorization which is included in the bill, you might say, would be the minimum authorization for carrying on the work as now planned and under way. That will take us on with a minimum program for 3 years.

The CHAIRMAN. Now, General, with reference to the general provisions of the 1948 act and the reported provisions of H. R. 5472. You are directed in those acts to make surveys and examinations in the territorial possessions of the United States, such as Alaska and Hawaii and Puerto Rico?

General PICK. That is correct, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Now what is being done in Alaska and Puerto Rico and Hawaii, if anything, at the moment?

WORK IN ALASKA

General PICK. Mr. Chairman, the 1948 authorization bill authorized us to do certain additional work in Alaska. I have a report here on that which I would like to give the committee, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Go ahead.

General PICK. The Corps of Engineers has been actively engaged in surveys and construction for the Federal Government in Alaska for almost 40 years. This work has included both civil and military construction. Insofar as the latter is concerned, I will mention only that our military construction was greatly accelerated during the recent war and that a large military construction program is still under way in that territory. Some idea of its magnitude is indicated by the fact that $100,000,000 has been expended since June 1946 for improved ground and air facilities at Fort Richardson near Anchorage and at Ladd and Eielson Fields near Fairbanks. New dock and warehouse facilities have also been constructed at Whittier at the terminus of the Alaska Railroad.

The civil works program of the Corps of Engineers in Alaska is like similar work in the United States prosecuted under specific authorizations by the Congress and it dates back to 1911. Since that time, the Corps of Engineers has completed 19 projects for improvement of rivers and harbors for navigation at a total cost of over $4,000,000 and three projects for flood control at a total cost of over $1,000,000. The works which we have completed include channels, harbors, and harbor protection works at Nome, Ketchikan, Cordova, Valdez, Juneau, and Seward. These completed navigation projects are maintained by the Corps of Engineers. The completed flood-control projects include those for Salmon and Skagway Rivers and for Chena Slough for the protection of Fairbanks. These flood-control projects are maintained and operated by local interests.

In addition, there are nine navigation projects and one additional flood-control project which have been authorized by Congress but not yet completed. The estimated cost of this work is about $6,000,000. The work now under way includes the project for deepening Wrangell Narrows to provide an adequate channel between Seattle and Alaskan ports at a total cost of $4,700,000. The project for protection of Nome Harbor will be initiated during the ensuing fiscal year with funds contained in the current War Department civil functions appropriation bill. Detailed planning is also under way for additional authorized flood-control work at Skagway.

The River and Harbor and Flood Control Act of 1948 authorized the Corps of Engineers to accomplish preliminary examination and survey of the "harbors and rivers in Alaska, with a view to determining the advisability of improvements in the interest of navigation, flood control, hydroelectric power, and related water uses.' Under this authority a preliminary examination was completed by the divsiion engineer, North Pacific Division, in December 1948. He found that an urgent need existed for further detailed surveys of the water resources of Alaska. The Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors concurred with the division engineer and recommended an investigation of survey scope on January 26, 1949. The division engineer was consequently instructed to proceed with a comprehensive study of the water resources of Alaska. This study has for its purpose the development of basic surveys of the waters of Alaska similar to those which were made for the waters of the United States which were authorized by Congress pursuant to H. D. 308, Sixty-ninth Congress. It was recognized that the rivers and harbors of Alaska constituted one of its most important resources and that their proper development was a matter of concern not only to the people of Alaska but to the United States as a whole.

This comprehensive survey is now under way and is being prosecuted vigorously. It is anticipated that at least one and perhaps two interim reports will be completed in this calendar year for transmission to the Congress.

The CHAIRMAN. Let me interrupt you there, if I may. But not in time for the committee to take action during these hearings? General PICK. No, sir, not in time for the committee to take action. in these hearings.

Planning for the remainder of the survey is also under way, and reports on additional river basins will be completed as rapidly as possible.

The work of the Corps of Engineers in Alaska is carried on by the district engineer at Anchorage. This permanent office, with some 800 personnel, is responsible for both military and civil work in Alaska and is staffed by engineers experienced in the needs and construction problems of the territory. The organization is capable of rapid expansion to meet either civil or military requirements and is, to the best of my knowledge, the only Federal construction agency now operating in Alaska.

That is a brief résumé of what we are doing up there, sir, and how we are getting along.

The CHAIRMAN. That will answer the purpose for the moment. At your convenience, and before the hearings are over, will you give us a brief report on Hawaii and Puerto Rico?

General PICK. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Whatever work you are doing there.
General PICK. We will be glad to do that.

(The information requested is as follows:)

HAWAII

The civil works of the Corps of Engineers in Hawaii began with the authorization of improvements for Honolulu Harbor in the River and Harbor Act of March 3, 1905. In accordance with congressional authorizations since that time, the Corps of Engineers has completed eight harbor projects at a cost of $20,444,000. The completed harbor projects include breakwaters, entrance channels, dredged mooring basins, seaplane runways, and navigation aids. Harbor projects have been completed at Honolulu, Kahului, Hilo, Nawiliwili, Port Allen, Kaunakakai, Welles (Midway), and Keehi Lagoon. No construction work has been done on the harbor project at Wake Island. One flood control project, estimated to cost $73,000, has been authorized for protection on Hanapepe River, at Hanapepe, on the Island of Kauai, but no construction thereon has yet been undertaken. The following tabulation shows a breakdown of total costs of projects in the Honolulu District to June 30, 1948:

Eight river and harbor investigations and seven flood-control investigations are under way in compliance with specific directives from Congress.

Section 204 of the bill H. R. 5472 now under consideration would authorize a flood-protection project at Kawainui Swamp, Oahu, as recommended in House Document No. 214, Eighty-first Congress, first session, at an estimated cost of $848,000. Section 205 of the same bill would authorize preliminary examinations and surveys of Iao Stream, Island of Maui, and Kaunakakai Stream, Island of Molokai, both in the Territory of Hawaii.

The work in Hawaii and the mid-Pacific islands is under the immediate direction of the district engineer, Honolulu District and under the supervision of the division engineer, Western Ocean Division. The limits of the Honolulu District include the Hawaiian Islands, Line Islands, Gilbert Islands, Marshall Islands, Midway Island, Wake Island, and Johnston Island, and such other islands in the South Pacific Ocean lying between the one hundred fifty-ninth meridian of east longitude and one hundred eighth meridian of west longitude as may be under the jurisdiction of the United States.

Prosecution and completion of authorized work in Hawaii, and such other future assignments as directed by Congress, will be accomplished as rapidly as possible.

PUERTO RICO

Corps of Engineers projects in Puerto Rico are under the direction of the Antilles suboffice and the district engineer, Panama District, and under the general supervision of the division engineer, South Atlantic Division. The Antilles area includes the rivers and harbors of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands of the United States, and other nearby islands.

Civil works in Puerto Rico by the Corps of Engineers were first authorized in 1907 for San Juan Harbor. Prior to that time and before the American occupation some $647,000 had been expended for habor improvements by the Spanish administration. Five active harbor projects at San Juan, Ponce, Mayaguez, and Arecibo, Puerto Rico, and at St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, have been authorized by Congress. The San Juan, Mayaguez and Arecibo Harbor projects have been completed, but some Federal dredging and some local wharf construction at Ponce Harbor remain to be done. No work has been done on the existing project for St. Thomas Harbor. Project works include entrance channels, dredged mooring and turning basins, seawalls, bulkheads, and terminal facilities. The tabulation below summarizes the cost of these projects to 30 June 1948.

Two authorized harbor projects at Guayanes Harbor and Fajardo Harbor, Puerto Rico, are in inactive status, due to further action awaited by local interests on local cooperation and requests for modification, respectively. These projects are estimated to cost $103,100 and $317,000, respectviely.

There are no authorized flood-control projects in Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands. Nine river-and-harbor investigations and 12 flood-control investigations have been authorized by Congress, and have been completed or are in progress.

HAMPTON ROADS AND HARBORS OF NORFOLK AND NEWPORT NEWS

Senator MCCLELLAN. Senator Robertson, we are glad to have you present, and you may proceed.

STATEMENT OF HON. A. WILLIS ROBERTSON, UNITED STATES SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF VIRGINIA

Senator ROBERTSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

General, I was very much pleased to hear you say in your general statement that the harbors of the United States are very important to the economic life of the country. I want to ask you if it is not a fact that the harbor of Hampton Roads with its 53 square miles of water area is not the largest harbor in the United States and one of the best in the world.

General PICK. It has a very large water area. It is one of the greatest natural harbors in the world.

Senator ROBERTSON. And did it not in 1947 handle 45,000,000 tons of cargo and 12,000,000 passengers?

General PICK. I think those are the correct figures, sir.

Senator ROBERTSON. Do not four great rivers the Rappahannock, the James, the York, and the Potomac-flow into the Hampton Roads Harbor?

General PICK. Yes, that is correct, sir.

Senator ROBERTSON. You will, no doubt, recall that Solomon said that all of the rivers of the earth flow into the sea but the sea is never

full. He did not say that these rivers would not fill up a harbor with driftwood and other refuse in periods of flood, did he?

General PICK. No.

Senator ROBERTSON. Is it not a fact that these rivers, without an adequate, comprehensive, and over-all flood control plan, bring a lot of driftwood into this great harbor which is a menace to navigation? General PICK. That is correct, sir.

Senator ROBERTSON. I have introduced a bill, S. 1774, and it is very brief and I will read its provisions to you:

Hereafter direct allotments from appropriations for the maintenance and improvement of existing river and harbor works or from which other available appropriations may be made by the Secretary of the Army for the collection and removal of drift in Hampton Roads and the harbors of Norfolk, Newport News, Va., and their tributary waters; and this work shall be carried out as a separate and distinct project.

Please state to the committee what in your opinion is the merit of a program of that kind.

General PICK. That is a very worth-while undertaking, sir. A tremendous amount of drift comes into the port at Norfolk down there and into Hampton Roads.

I have a detailed report on the bill here, sir.

Senator ROBERTSON. Mr. Chairman, with your permission, I do not imagine the committee would want to hear the detailed report, so could the general just submit that for the record?

Senator MCCLELLAN. It will be inserted in the record at this point. (The report referred to is as follows:)

COLLECTION AND REMOVAL OF DRIFT IN HAMPTON ROADS AND THE HARBORs of NORFOLK AND NEWPORT NEWS, VA.

This report is in response to the request of your committee for the views of the Chief of Engineers on S. 1774, Eighty-first Congress. The complete text of the bill reads:

That hereafter direct allotments from appropriations for the maintenance and improvement of existing river and harbor works, or from other available appropriations, may be made by the Secretary of the Army for the collection and removal of drift in Hampton Roads and the harbors of Norfolk and Newport News, Va., and their tributary waters, and this work shall be carried out as a separate and distinct project."

Hampton Roads is a natural harbor located 300 miles south of New York and 180 miles south of Washington, D. C. Its principal tributaries are James River, affording a natural deep harbor for shipping at Newport News, Va.; the Elizabeth River, with its southern, eastern and western branches, providing harbors for Norfolk and Portsmouth, Va.; and Hampton Creek serving the harbor at Hampton, Va. The geographic limits of Hampton Roads encompass a tidal water area of approximately 25 square miles. Hampton Roads and the tributaries serving the ports of Norfolk, Newsport News and Hampton, have a total water area of approximately 53 square miles.

There are numerous existing projects in the water area under consideration. These projects range from improvements with depths of 40 feet, to accommodate world commerce, to shallow-draft improvement for small-boat traffic.

Commercial vessel traffic has varied from 24,254,167 tons in 1938 to 44,768,616 tons in 1947. Passenger traffic has ranged from 7,195,318 in 1938 to 12,293,307 in 1947, with a high of 23,824,819 in 1944. In addition car ferry traffic amounted to 3,697,070 tons, and cargoes in transit amounted to 1,157,972 tons in 1947. The United States Coast Guard reports also that 2,640 small local boats operate in the Hampton Roads area. This figure does not include an indeterminate number of transient fishing and oystering boats from other localities which make numerous calls at the ports of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News and Hampton.

There are approximately 32 miles of developed water front in the Hampton Roads area, on which 275 terminal facilities are located.

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