from the Delaware River to Elk River, therce 400 feet wide down Elk River to deep water in Chesapeake Bay, near Pooles Island. In November 1946, the controlling depth at mean low water was 18 feet to Elk River and 23.4 feet thence to Chesapeake Bay. The canal is crossed by one fixed and three vertical lift type bridges, each of which has a vertical clearance of 140 feet above mean low water. A new fixed highway bridge having the same vertical clearance is under construction at Chesapeake City, Md.

Delaware City Branch Channel.--A branch channel, suitable only for very small craft, connects the Delaware River with the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal at Delaware City, Del., one and one-half miles north of Reedy Point. This branch channel is about two miles long and was the former eastern entrance to the old lock canal.

Delaware Bay Harbor of Refuge

The Delaware Bay Harbor of Refuge at the lower end of the Delaware Bay on the Delaware side, a few miles from the Atlantic Ocean, has been provided by the United States through the construction of a protective breakwater having a top length of 7,950 feet with 15 detached ice piers at its northerly end to break up ice floating down the bay. Its location near the shipping lanes makes it valuable as a haven of refuge and a port of call for North Atlantic coast shipping. Many vessels are customarily sent to the Delaware Bay Harbor of Refuge for orders. Further details are given under "Anchorages", page 9.

FUEL AND SUPPLIES

ELECTRIC CURRENT

At localities on the Pennsylvania shore below and above Philadelphia, the service supplied by the Philadelphia Electric Co. is alternating current 115– 230 volts, single phase, 60-cycle, up to a capacity of 50 k.v.a. for lighting. Depending upon the port or locality served, 60-cycle alternating current is supplied for power as follows:

230 volts, 3-phase, 3-wire. 230 volts, 2-phase, 4-wire. 2,300 volts, 2-phase, 3-wire. 4,000 volts, 3-phase, 4-wire.

A similar service is supplied by the Delaware Power & Light Co. for New Castle, Edge Moor, and Claymont in Delaware, and by the Public Service Electric & Gas Co. for localities on the New Jersey shore. The table of piers, wharves, and docks presented in the following chapter show the terminals at which electric current is available for vessel use, and the type of current supplied.

WATER SUPPLY

Above Philadelphia water may be taken direct from the river for use in boilers but it is not advisable to use the river water below Philadelphia because of pollution. Water boats from Philadelphia will deliver a minimum of 25 tons of water to boats at Marcus Hook, Pa., at a minimum charge of $3 per ton. Several of the larger terminal facilities both below and above Philadelphia have pipe lines for supplying both boiler water and drinking water to vessels and other terminals supply drinking water only. The table of piers, wharves, and docks in the following chapter gives information concerning the availability of water at each terminal, the rate of supply, and the charge for this service.

COAL BUNKERING

There are no coal bunkering facilities at localities on the Delaware River

below or above Philadelphia. The only terminal facilities at which this service is performed are those of the Pennsylvania Railroad at Greenwich Point and those of the Reading Co. at Port Richmond, all of which are within the limits of Philadelphia Harbor.

The Greenwich Coal Pier of the Pennsylvania Railroad is located 12 miles below the foot of Oregon Avenue, Philadelphia. It is equipped with two rotary car dumpers and belt conveyors on booms with telescopic chutes and mechanical trimmers. All bunker and cargo coal is delivered to vessels direct from cars. The handling equipment has a delivery rate of approximately 500 50-ton cars per 24-hour day. A bulkhead wharf of the Pennsylvania Railroad located above and adjacent to the Greenwich Coal Pier is operated by the Northern Contracting Co. for bunkering harbor craft. Equipment on the wharf includes a car pit and inclined belt conveyor to a 300-ton hopper with telescopic chutes having a delivery capacity of 50 tons per hour.

The Reading Co. operates two coal bunkering and cargo loading facilities in Philadelphia Harbor, one at its Pier 18 at the foot of East Huntington Street, extended, and the other at its Pier 11 at the foot of East Lehigh Avenue. The equipment at Pier 18 includes an electric and steam coal-car dumper with a telescopic chute and mechanical trimmer, which has an average delivery capacity of 42 tons of cargo coal per hour. A trestle extends the full length of Pier No. 11 and vessels are bunkered and cargo coal is loaded by gravity through telescopic chutes from hoppers located beneath the trestle at the rate of 150 tons per hour.

Complete descriptions of the terminals of these companies and informa

tion relative to their coal-handling equipment is given in Port Series No. 7.

OIL BUNKERING

The only oil bunkering facilities at localities on the Delaware River below Philadelphia are the two piers operated by the Sun Oil Co. and the wharf of the Sinclair Refining Co. at Marcus Hook, Pa., and the Socony Vacuum Oil Co. Wharf and the Patterson Oil Terminal at Paulsboro, N. J. Standard grades of bunker oil are maintained by the companies operating these terminals and equipment is available to provide efficient bunkering service.

The two companies furnishing bunker service at Marcus Hook operate 235 tanks having a total storage capacity of 10,642,593 barrels and maintain a normal supply of 513,000 barrels of Bunker C oil. Oil storage facilities of the two companies which are equipped to bunker vessels at Paulsboro, N. J. consist of 100 tanks with a capacity of 5,680,000 barrels in which a normal stock of 500,000 barrels of Bunker C oil is usually available. The Sun Oil Co. operates one towed barge, the Sinclair Refining Co. has two barges, and the Patterson Oil Terminal one barge for bunkering vessels in the stream. Details of the oil bunkering facilities at Marcus Hook and Paulsboro are shown in the following table.

There are no oil bunkering terminals at localities on the Delaware River above Philadelphia. Bunker service is provided at the terminals of the Gulf Oil Co., the Atlantic Refining Co., and the Standard Oil Co. on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia Harbor and at the terminal of the Cities Service Oil Co. on Petty Island, Camden, N. J. The Atlantic Refining Co. operates 4 towed barges and the Gulf Oil Co. 3 towed barges for bunkering vessels in the stream, each of the barges having a total bunkering capacity of 1,000 barrels per hour. Because of the close proximity of the ports of Philadelphia and Camden to the other Delaware River ports, a description of the oil bunkering facilities at Philadelphia and Gloucester is also included in the following table.