Table No. 1 Water-borne Commerce at Camden, Gloucester, and Delair, N. J., and Vicinity, 1943-1946

(East shore of Delaware River from mouth of Big Timber Creek to and including Pensauken Creek, 10 miles; Cooper River from its mouth to former Browning Chemical Works, 1.7 miles; Newton Creek and Petty Island)

SUMMARY

Camden, N. J., is an important manufacturing and shipbuilding center on

the east bank of the Delaware kiver, directly opposite the city of Philadelphia about 101 statute miles from deep water in Delaware Bay. Just below Camden and separated from it by Newton Creek is the city of Gloucester, which is also the site of shipbuilding and manufacturing plants. Although the two cities are separate localities, their industrial and shipping activities are closely related and are allied with those of Philadelphia. Cross-river communication is afforded by passenger and vehicular ferries and car floats and by the Delaware River suspension bridge, which is 1.81 miles long. Delair and Riverside, N.J., are unincorporated settlements, located opposite the upper end of Philadelphia Harbor, 5 miles and 12 miles above Chestnut Street, respectively.

Improvements at Camden and the adjacent localities under Federal authorizations consist of dredging the Delaware River to provide a depth of 18 feet at mean low water from that depth north of Cooper Point to Berkeley Street, a distance of 1.5 miles, and a depth of 30 feet between Berkeley Street and Newton Creek, a further distance of 2.5 miles. In front of Camden Marine Terminals, the depth is increased to 37 feet. The 18- and 30-foot depths extend from the ship channel in the river to a line parallel with and 50 feet from the pierhead line and the 37-foot depth in front of the marine terminal will extend about 2,900 feet along the inshore side and about 5,100 feet along the ship channel. A survey in May 1947 indicated that project depths were being Laintained in the completed portion of the project except near Cooper Point at the northerly end, and that the minimum depth in front of the marine terminal

Was 30 feet.

There are 87 water front terminals at Gloucester, Camden, Delair, and Riverside along the 16-mile stretch of the east shore of the Delaware River

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between the mouth of Big Timber Creek and the Rancocas River. Thirteen piers, wharves, and docks serve the water front at Gloucester, two of which are on Big Timber Creek. The 69 facilities at Camden include 57 on the left bank of the Delaware River, 3 at Petty Island and 9 on Cooper River, Petty Island, which lies eastward of the main ship channel in the Delaware River near the northern limits of the city, is le miles long and is the site of a coal storage yerd and an oil refinery. One wharf is located near the Pennsylvania Railroad bridge at Delir, and there are four at Riverside at and near the mouth of the Rancocas River.

The Beckett Street Terminal and the Spruce Street Pier, both at Camden, are operated by the South Jersey Port Commission as the Camden Marine Terminals for handling both foreign and domestic traffic. They are the only facilities designed for handling general cargo and open to all carriers on equal terms. Included among the remaining terminal facilities at various localities under discussion are 24 piers and wharves at various shipyards and ship repair plants, 6 oil handling terminals, 15 railroad-owned facilities, and several piers or wharves operated by manufacturing plants, such as the Armstrong Cork Co., the Campbell Soup Co., and the American Cyanamid Co. for receiving raw materials and fuel coal and for shipping finished products.

The water-borne commerce at and in the vicinity of Camden, Gloucester, and Delair, N.J., averaged 1,700,449 short tons during the period 1943-46, inclusive. Foreign traffic, including both imports and exports, accounted for 11.5 percent of the total, with an average annual movement of 195,605 tons. The average of 1,504,844 tons of domestic water-borne commerce included 112,967 tons of coastwise receipts and shipments, 446,814 tons of receipts and shipments by way of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, and 945,073 tons transported to or from other Delaware River localities and points on its tributaries and local movements within the area.

Products of mines were handled in all classes of traffic in an average combined volume of 981,059 tons per year, and thus constituted more than 50 percent of the total traffic. A little less than half of the products of mines moved locally within the port area. Manufactured and miscellaneous items accounted for an average of 604,190 short tons; products of forests averaged 106,071 tons; products of agriculture ranked next with an average of 8,092 short tons; and the average annual tonnage of animals and products was 1,029 short tons. Traffic at Riverside averaged 164,842 tons and consisted wholly of internal movements. The principal commodities handled were anthracite, bituminous coal, and gravel and

sand.