24 [ 2 ] 
The moie on the Rip Rap shoals, on which fort Calhoun is to be erect- 
ed, has progressed very satisfactorily also. The mole is now about 
six feet above the waterj and has withstood the violence of the sea 
in such a manner as to prove its solidity and the permanency of the 
foundation. It already exhibits to the eye the advantages which 
this position, in connexion with fortress Monroe on Old Point Com- 
fort, possesses in defending Hampton Roads. Great care has been 
manifested by the Engineers in carrying on these works, and the 
execution of the workmanship is creditable to the superintending 
officer. 
The work at Mobile Point progresses slowly, but satisfactorily: a 
large quantity of materials is collected there under the late appro- 
priation. 
Tiie works at the Rigolets and Chef Menteur have been prose- 
cuted vvith all the vigor which the circumstances ef the climate 
would admit. The fort at the Rigolets is nearly completed, and 
that at Clief Menteur commenced, and well advanced. 
The new work at Plaquemine Bend on the right bank of the Mis- 
sissippi, op[)osite to Fort St. Pliilip, called Fort Jackson, has been 
located, the land around it cleared and drained, and a number of 
materials collected. This work was also retarded by the sickness 
which prevailed there last season; but, notwithstanding, the local 
Engineer reports, that the whole of the sums appropriated to that 
work will be applied in tlie course of the month of January next. 
The repairs contemplated by the act of Congress of the last session, 
on Fort Jackson, at Five Fathom Hole, in the Savannah River, below 
the city, have been completed. 
The progress of the Board of Engij;eers in its labors, comprehend- 
ing the Topographical Engineers, from the commencement of this 
vcar, has been extensive and important. The Board of Engineers 
has been engaged, in the course of the year, on projects for the de- 
fence of Boston, Salem, and MarbJehead in Massachusetts; Ports- 
mouth in New Hampshire; Portland in Maine; and the mouths of 
Cape Fear River and harbor of Beaufort in North Carolina: in 
which period all the plans and estimates for the three first places have 
been completed: those for Portsmouth carried as far as possible with- 
out farther sui-veys; those for House Island and Fort Preble Point, 
Portland harbor, completed, there being a little more levelling ne- 
cessary before the other defences of the harbor could be begun; the 
plans and estimates for the defence of Cape Fear River completed, 
with the cxcept^ion of a small work on Federal Point; and those for a 
woi'k fur the defence of Beaufort harbor neai'ly finished. 
The Board, in conjunction with Commodore Bainbridge of the 
.Navy, visited the capes of the Delaware, to examine the practica- 
bility of establishing a Breakwater there, for tiie protection of ves- 
sels from ice and tempests; and projected plans and estimates for 
that purpose. In the course of the summer, tise Boar-d examined the 
harbor of Erie, on Lake Erie in Pennsylvania, with a view to its 
improvement, and furnished a project and estimate for that purpose. 
