Geology of Hudson County, JVew Jersey. 60 



tide. Knowing the nature of these old channels, and their 

 great depth, this is evidently a most laborious and expensive un- 

 dertaking. The want of some comprehensive plan both for the 

 drainage of the upland and for the reclamation of the salt 

 meadows and shallow areas along New York Bay, has long been 

 felt ; thus far this work has been carried on without system, 

 and consequently much of it is ineffectual. A plan which meets 

 all the requirements of the case, and is based directly on the 

 geological structure of the county, was proposed some years 

 since by Mr. L. B. Ward, C. E., of Jersey City. 



The reef of Archaean rocks which apj)ears at Hoboken, and 

 again along the eastern edge of Jersey City, extends southward 

 along the line marked out by Ellis's, Bedloe's, Oyster and Eob- 

 bins's Eeef islands ; then it curves westward to meet Constable's 

 Hook. West of this line of reefs, the water is shallow, as shown 

 on the Coast Survey charts. In some places, the rocky bottom 

 is exposed at low tide. Directly east of the same line, the bot- 

 tom falls away sharply, and forms the true canon-like channel 

 of the Hudson, with from twenty to sixty feet of water. 



The plan proposed is to complete the work marked out by 

 nature, and by building a sea-wall along the old reef, from 

 Jersey City to Constable's Hook, to shut out the tide, and by 

 means of pumps, as is now done for a large part of London, to 

 remove the water from the inclosed area, and thus render it suit- 

 able for occupation. The drainage of the marshes west of Jersey 

 City and Hoboken, and the interception of the surface water 

 and drainage from Bergen Hill, are to be secured by a large 

 sewer built along the base of the hill, and leading into the 

 lower part of the area reclaimed. 



This comprehensive plan, which we are only able to sketch in 

 the barest outline, has for its object not only the addition of 

 5,100 acres to the habitable area of Hudson County, and that, 

 too, where space is most needed, but also, what is still more 

 valuable, the proper drainage of large areas now densely in- 

 habited. Such a plan, if carried out, will secure for the county 

 an addition of several miles of piers to her already crowded 

 water-front, and furnish over five thousand acres for railroad 

 depots, storehouses, manufactories, etc. 



