District was alerted late in the fiscal year on the possibility of reactivating plans to initiate construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway as authorized under Public Law 358, approved 13 May 1954, in the event the engineering and construction of this important waterway is assigned to the Corps of Engineers by the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. A complete review of the design of this project, as prepared by the Corps of Engineers in 1940-41, has been initiated. Construction. During fiscal year 1954, major construction operations were carried out on 21 navigation projects, of which 6 were placed in useful operation as shown in table 1: Maintenance. Maintenance and operation activities were conducted on 235 navigation projects during the fiscal year at a cost of $64,300,522. Every effort consistent with budgetary requirements is made to maintain the navigation projects adequately to serve the reasonable requirements of commerce and navigation. In allocating the limited amount of funds being provided for project maintenance, it is the present policy to provide for only the essential needs of commerce and navigation at deep-draft harbors and major inland waterways, and for those relatively few channels serving areas where hardship to the locality would result from nonmaintenance. The maintenance program for dredging and structure repairs is held to the minimum, including restrictions in widths and depths of channel dredging, deferment of shallow-draft dredging, and deferment of repairs to structures on a calculated-risk concept. The program for operation, maintenance and repair of locks, dams and bridges is limited to activities necessary to meet current needs of commercial navigation. The operation of locks is curtailed or suspended whenever commercial traffic on any canalized waterway or section thereof is found to have receded to the point where continued operation cannot be justified economically. Inactive canalized waterways. The following 11 canalized waterways have been declared inactive, and the project structures are no longer operated because commercial navigation has receded to the point where little or no benefit to general commercial traffic exists. During the year the operation and maintenance of the lock and dam on the Yamhill River, Oreg., was discontinued. Also, a bridge no longer used by general vehicular traffic at the Black Rock Channel, Buffalo, N. Y., was transferred to the city. An agreement was consummated with private parties regarding the operation of Lock No. 1, Muskingum River, at their Table 4. Canalized Waterway Projects on Which Maintenance Has Been Discontinued Project Big Sandy River, Ky............. Congaree River, S. C............... Green River, Ky............ Illinois and Mississippi Canal, Ill.. Rough River, Ky............. Upper Fox River, Wis... Upper White River, Ark. Yamhill River, Oreg... Structures 5 locks and dams. 1 lock and dam. 2 locks and dams (Nos. 5 and 6.) 34 locks and other structures. 5 locks and dams. 11 locks and dams. 1 lock and dam. 1 lock and dam. 9 locks, 7 dams. 3 locks and dams. expense. A previous agreement of similar nature for operation and maintenance of Dam No. 1, Big Sandy River, was continued in effect. Negotiations were in progress with the State of Wisconsin for the transfer of the Upper Fox River locks, dams and related property. The State has agreed to take over the properties, provided certain work is done on the structures prior to the transfer. Similar negotiations were continued with the State of Illinois in connection with the transfer of the Illinois and Mississippi Canal to State jurisdiction. It is reported that an amendment to the constitution of the State of Illinois will be voted upon in the November election to provide necessary authority for the State to accept the transfer of and maintain the Illinois-Mississippi Canal properties. Federal legislation will also be necessary authorizing the Corps of Engineers to transfer this canal and the other listed waterway projects to the States, or to convey them to others, and to accomplish necessary work on the project structures prior to such transfer or disposal of the real property. 2. GENERAL FLOOD CONTROL The statutory backgrounds and broad descriptions of the authorized general flood-control program and the program for the Sacramento River, Calif., were fully discussed on pages 4 through 9 of part I, volume I of the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1953. Those remarks are still pertinent. It is estimated that Federal flood-control works, including multiple-purpose projects in operation at the end of the fiscal year, have prevented flood losses aggregating over $1,140 million. During the fiscal year these projects prevented flood losses estimated at over $65 million. Construction. During the year three flood-control projects, exclusive of multiple-purpose projects, were completed for beneficial use as follows: Table 5. Flood-Control Projects Placed in Useful Operation During Fiscal Year 1954 During the year work on the following 4 flood control projects, exclusive of multiple purpose projects, were initiated: Table 6. Flood-Control Projects Initiated During Fiscal Year 1954 The 47 major flood-control projects still under active construction at the close of fiscal year, exclusive of multiple-purpose projects and those projects initiated during the fiscal year as given in the preceding table, are as follows: Table 7. Major Flood Control Projects Under Construction 30 June 1954 Table 7. Major Flood Control Projects Under Construction 30 June 1954-(Con.) • Construction of this project has been suspended indefinitely. Maintenance. Maintenance and operation activities were conducted on 101 flood-control projects during the fiscal year at a cost of $4,070,500. 328344-55-8 3. MULTIPLE-PURPOSE (POWER) PROJECTS The importance of multiple-purpose projects in relation to the over-all activities of the Corps of Engineers continued to increase during the fiscal year as a result of the large construction program relating to these projects currently underway and the completion and placing in operation of primary-purpose features at several projects. These projects have been designed to serve primarily in the interest of navigation and/or flood control and the production of hydroelectric power, although frequently other benefits, such as irrigation, pollution abatement, water supply, and recreation are also realized. The inclusion of power features in conjunction with other project features has often resulted in an enhancement of their economic value. Pertinent information on the power aspects of multiple-purpose projects is contained in section 4, Hydroelectric Power Production. Construction. During the year four multiple-purpose projects were completed for full beneficial use as follows: Table 8. Multiple-purpose Projects Completed for Full Beneficial Use During Fiscal Year 1954 * These primary purposes completed for beneficial use prior to fiscal year 1954. During the year work was not initiated on any multiple-purpose projects. There were 22 multiple-purpose projects under active construction at the end of the fiscal year. Of these, there were 12 projects with some or all primary-project features in useful operation at the end of the year. These projects are listed in table 9. |