The+Delaware+River,+Philadelphia’s+Industry+and+Infrastructure

**Introduction** The Delaware River is a critically important lifeline for the states it passes through. These states include New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. It waters have been used for centuries to provide water and trade to all adjacent cities in these states. It is a pivotal piece of Philadelphia’s infrastructure.

The Delaware River of today has changed drastically from that of the one George Washington crossed on Christmas day in 1776. It has been drastically altered and improved to better support the economies of the cities that it touches. Projects for widening the channel of the river south of Philadelphia were started as early as the late 1700’s. These expansions of the rivers channel were to support the passage of larger ships to Philadelphia’s harbor.

**Contents** I. Early Expansion Projects II. The World Wars 1. World War I 2. World War II III. Post War Era and Present Day Dredging IV. Environmental Considerations V. Conclusions VI. References


 * Early Expansion Projects**

The history of expansion projects for increasing the Delaware Rivers shipping capacity are closely related to the growth of the oil refining industry in Philadelphia. The foundation of the Standard Oil Company by John D Rockefeller in 1870 and subsequently Sun Company Inc later Sunoco in 1886 placed Pennsylvania as the epicenter of oil refining in the United States. This was simply because Ohio the true headquarters of Standard Oil was not located on the coast of the Atlantic.

Due largely to the increased demand to ship crude oil and petroleum products in and out of Philadelphia the United Stated government took on a dredging project in 1885 to create a deep water channel from the port of Philadelphia to the deep water mouth of the Delaware Bay. The project aptly named the “Project of 1885” created a channel that was 600ft wide by 26 feet deep. Slightly later projects expanded this channel to 30ft deep however they were limited by the introduction of the River and Harbor Act of 1899.

These channel projects allowed the passage of large ocean going freighters to make the pilgrimage up river to Philadelphia from the Atlantic Ocean. This vastly expanded the trade capacity of the river as well as the potential for export and import in Philadelphia.

**The World Wars**

American military involvement in WWI came significantly after the wars beginning. The United States had pursued an isolationist stance toward the war, fearing military involvement and trying to negotiate a peace. However the United States had secretly been involved in the war since the beginning.
 * World War I**

The United States had mobilized its civilian economy to produce war goods for Great Britain on a loan program. In this program the US would manufacture supplies for use in the war and ship them to Britain in the hulls of American commercial vessels to bypass the total submarine warfare that Germany had declared on England.

This tremendous demand for export from America to Europe put increased pressure on Philadelphia’s shipping and manufacturing abilities. All of these efforts funneled out of Philadelphia through the Delaware River.

After the United States officially entered the war on April 6, 1917 the port of Philadelphia was further mobilized. The US Naval Yard at Hog Island began producing warships and submarines for the war effort.


 * World War II**

As in WWI Philadelphia’s industry was called upon for wartime production before and during WWII. Shipyards in the Delaware cranked out war ships at alarming rates to keep up with wartime demands.

The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, the first naval shipyard in the United States, saw its peek production during WWII. Located on League Island at the junction of the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers the shipyard employed 40 thousand people during the war and by the wars end had built 53 warships.

The civilian shipbuilding capabilities were also called upon for wartime production. The “Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company (located in the Philadelphia Harbor) -- which turned out 40 percent of all wartime tankers built”, (Sunoco) is a sub company of the previously discussed present day Sunoco.

**Post World War Era and Present Day Dredging**

Philadelphia saw a population drop in the post war era from around 1,900,000 in 1940 to 1,500,000 in 2000 (Census Bureau). As a cause and result of this population decline, the demands for import and export in Philadelphia by means of the Delaware River also decreased. The war industries that supported Philadelphia had dried up and the people of the city moved out to the newly popularized suburbs.

In the WWII era coal and oil were major industries of the Philadelphia region but after the wars end the demands for these power sources were greatly reduced. Alternatives like renewable hydroelectric power and cold war supported nuclear power rapidly reduced coal and oil demands. However demands for coal and oil today do trump demands immediately following WWII and Philadelphia is again being required to utilize its rivers for the supply of these commodities.

Presently Philadelphia struggles to compete with other east coast port cities. The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (PRPA) says this is because the Delaware River is too shallow to support modern day ocean liners and freight ships.

“PENJERDEL (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware) Council members believe if the tri-state region is to remain competitive with other east coast ports it is imperative that our facilities and waterways accommodate and attract today’s modern large cargo vessels,” PENJERDEL Council Executive Director Andrew L. Warren wrote in a letter sent to area members of Congress and other elected officials. “On behalf of the hundreds, if not thousands, of men and women who are employed in tri-state port related industries, the PENJERDEL Council encourages your support of the Delaware River Main Channel Deepening Project.” (PRPA)

Recently the PRPA teamed with the Army Corps of Engineers to investigate the effects, both environmental and economic, of the proposed dredging project. The Army’s conclusion was that “no significant adverse environmental effects” would result from the deepening on the Delaware’s channel to 45ft. This and other findings of theirs were published in an environmental assessment available on their website, [|www.nap.usace.army.mil].

With the Army’s approval the project is to be conducted. The current estimates state that the project will take 5 to 7 years to complete and will cost roughly 277 million dollars (PRPA).

**Environmental Considerations**

The Army Corps of Engineer’s EA (environmental assessment) states that no significant damage will be done to the environment and ecosystems of the Delaware River however further investigation is to be done to evaluate the potential truth of this statement.

In order to shed light on this issue research was done into the environmental effects of the previous dredging and deepening projects done on the Delaware. Specifically in question are the early deepening projects of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. As it is unfair to state that a present project will have no environmental effects if earlier projects had significant effects or if the ecosystems in question have already been reduced to low levels of complexity, stable from habitat destruction, from these earlier projects.

Prior to early deepening projects the Delaware River was used mainly for fishing. Tremendous landings of American Shad were recorded between 1890 and 1901. Around 11 to 17 million lbs of fish were caught annually in these years (Chittenden 96). Far exceeding that of any other river system on the east coast.

However since 1920 yearly yields of only half a million lbs were recorded. These low yields started occurring only after the 1899 channel project to expand the river channel to 600ft wide by 30ft deep took place. It cannot be said for certain that this project conducted only a few years before plummeting fish populations were observed caused the depopulation.

However to say that present projects will have no environmental effect are unfair. The fish populations reflect the habitat provided by the river presently. If the fish populations have been miniscule since the 20’s then no present work will effect the environment, its already been destroyed or reduced to a simpler stable level.

**Conclusions**

The port of Philadelphia and the Delaware River saw their peek use to support the war efforts of WWII. During this era the river was needed to flow war goods out of the manufacturing center of Philadelphia to their destinations in Europe. Ever since then and even before the Delaware’s primary purpose for Philadelphia has been as a cargo superhighway to the east coast and the rest of the world.

The planers of the expansion projects of the river in the late 1800’s shaped the rivers use form then on out crippling the fishing in the river and facilitating the passage of large sea going vessels. They chose to use the Delaware River as a technology for trade and not for harvest. The choices they made to expand and deepen the channel shaped how the river has been developed and how it exists today.

Reflecting on technology as a strategy it is clear to see that the goal of the projects was to expand Philadelphia’s influence on world trade. Their goals were to support the areas then growing oil and coal industries and ensure Philadelphia’s economic success.

It is clear form the approval and conducting of current dredging projects that the goals have remained the same. Philadelphia has and will stay a commercial hub for shipping and trade through the use, improvement, and maintenance of the Delaware River as its major lifeline.

**References**

Duran, Philip Bradley. Distribution of bottom sediments and effects of proposed dredging in the ship channel of the Delaware River between northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Wilmington, Delaware, 1984. USGS Series, Hydrologic Atlas. Report Number 697. 1986

[] Census Bureau Home Page. 22 Jan. 2009 < [] >.

Weigley, Russell F. __Philadelphia : A Three Hundred Year History__. Boston: W. W. Norton & Company, Incorporated, 1982. [|ISBN 0-393-01610-2]

Naval Historical Foundation. __The Navy__. Hugh Lauter Levin Associates. [|ISBN 0-88363-100-8]

Chittenden, Mark E. Trends in the abundance of American shad, //Alosa sapidissima//, in the Delaware River basin. [|Chesapeake Science], Springer New York, [|Volume 15, Number 2 / June, 1974]

[|www.nap.usace.army.mil]

[]

[]

"Delaware River." //Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia//. 18 May 2009, 01:25 UTC. 18 May 2009 < [] >.

“Philadelphia Naval Shipyard." //Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia// . 6 Jun 2009, 10:12 UTC. 6 Jun 2009 < [] >.