The Delaware Bay Breakwaters

For almost a century, mariners inward-bound from Atlantic voyages have been greeted by a pair of lighthouses at the entrance to Delaware Bay. Just off Lewes and within the curve of Cape Henlopen, the East End Light has been beaming illumination to men of the sea since 1885; while in water of greater depth the Harbor of Refuge Light has served the same purpose since 1901. Each tower rests on the eastern end of a massive granite breakwater. They may be seen at a relatively close range from land at the birdnesting area at Cape Henlopen State Park. The opposite extremity of each breakwater is marked by a range light.

The haven formed by the two breakwaters is often spoken of locally as the Harbor of Refuge. Technically, the inner breakwater (also called the first or old breakwater) is the Delaware Breakwater; its construction got underway in 1828. It was initially composed of two sections—the breakwater and an ice breaker pier—separated by a gap measuring 1350 feet. The breakwater is anchored by the East End Light, the rust-colored conical structure on a circular concrete base.

The interval between the first breakwater and the ice breaker was closed by work performed during the last two decades of the 1800s. Simultaneously, construction was commenced on a new and enlarged harbor—the outer breakwater also called the second or new breakwater—but officially listed as the National Harbor of Refuge. Completed by 1901, its terminus has been home to the Harbor of Refuge Light, the white cylindrical tower rising above a substantial black base.

The following is an account of the construction of the two breakwaters that present a formidable feature in Lewes's coastal portrait and figure prominently in its maritime history.

In addition to encountering the shoal-laden Delaware Bay, ships heading upriver, many to the port of Philadelphia, were ever at the mercy of storms and in special peril at the trysting place of ocean and bay. The need for a sanctuary for sailing vessels caught in storms, or otherwise temporarily detained, prompted merchants and mariners to look to the federal government for assistance in the construction of such a shelter. After untold numbers of attempts and urgings, promoters found an ally in America's sixth president, John Quincy Adams, who favored large internal improvement projects and supported the idea of an artificial harbor off Lewes. Congress first appropriated funds in 1828, and contracts were let for stone from the Palisades in New York's Hudson River. (Eventually, all stone for the breakwaters and ice breakers came from the Brandywine area in upper Delaware.)

An architect and engineer, William Strickland of Philadelphia, was appointed chief engineer to superintend the construction of two detached barriers—a breakwater and ice breaker pier of his own design. At first, stones of about 1/4 ton were used but soon were found to be too small to furnish an adequate base. When boulders ranging from 2 1/2 to 6 tons were found suitable, improved machinery for handling them was required. Strickland is credited with designing the man-powered crane put to use in 1831.

Trial and error reigned since there was no precedent on which to rely. The work season, restricted because of weather conditions, generally ranged from April through September. Adverse winds were matched by the uncertainty of Congress's willingness to provide a constant flow of money. Work, which stalled during 1834 because of lack of appropriation, proceeded at a reduced pace when resumed. Shoaling was experienced, and anticipated completion dates were set, passed, and forgotten.

By 1840, approximately 90 percent of the original intent of the project had been met, but the final date of completion was not until 1869 when the design height of 14 feet above low water was attained. Records of the Corps of Engineers cite the breakwater as 2586 feet at its base which averages 160 feet in width, with a top width of 22 feet, and the ice breaker pier as running a distance of 1400 feet. Additionally, the Corps claims that the project was the second greatest structure of its kind in the world, on a par with the Plymouth, England, breakwater. Building of this precedent-setting structure in America spanned the terms of a dozen presidents and cost over two million dollars.

Another Strickland signature was placed on the project when he designed a stone and concrete lighthouse built at the then-western end of the barrier. Called the Strickland Lighthouse, it was on station from 1838 until 1903, and the structure performed other maritime duties until 1942. It has been removed.

Even prior to completion of the first breakwater, larger ships were beginning to find the protected area too shallow to navigate. However, the haven served well in time of need, and it is known that by 1840 approximately 25 vessels used it daily. Within a few hours of storm threats, over 200 ships crowded into the harbor. One writer of the day described such a time as presenting "a forest of masts moving and swaying to and fro as trees bent into the wind."

A temporary light on the eastern end of the breakwater was replaced in 1885 by the East End Light which took over lighthouse duties earlier performed by the Beacon located on the point of Cape Henlopen. (This Beacon is not to be confused with the older and more lofty Cape Henlopen Lighthouse which fell seaward in 1926, ending a 160-year career of cautioning seamen of the dangerous shoals and the restless sandy cape at the bay entrance.)

The 1350-foot space between the inner breakwater and its ice breaker pier was found to cause tidal action that greatly diminished the harbor’s effectiveness. After years of discussion, studies, and political pleas, money was appropriated to close the gap. Approved in 1882, work continued until 1898. A steam derrick for handling ever-larger boulders allowed more precision and economy in the process. This construction, and that of the new and larger breakwater to follow, utilized a brush mattress foundation; the mats were woven from pine trees cut at Cape Henlopen.

A new and larger outer breakwater to run for about 1 1/2 miles and to include a series of ice breakers at its upper end for the purpose of breaking up ice floes, was authorized by Congress in 1896. The construction, placed 6500 feet north of the inner barrier, was completed on December 11, 1901. The steam derricks handling the stone allowed the use of boulders weighing up to 13 tons which were placed in a step arrangement to reduce the intensity of wave action The dressed stone provided a more regular appearance than that of the Delaware Breakwater.

The length of rock measures 7950 feet at water level and extends to a depth of about 50 feet; the top surface is 40 feet wide. The cost was some over two million dollars. Names closely associated with the latter project include those of Col. C. W. Raymond, officer in charge of the Philadelphia District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and a noted marine engineer, J. F. Hasskarl.

The Harbor of Refuge Light was built as soon as the breakwater base was ready, and it assumed the job of illumination previously furnished by the Strickland Lighthouse. According to varied accounts of the amount of stone required to build the breakwaters and ice breakers, it appears that slightly under 2 1/2 million tons of granite were delivered to the work sites by water transportation during a time span from 1828 until after the arrival of the 20^th century.

Neither stretch of the sea-surrounded stone is laid in a straight line; each is angled. Some evidence of the configuration may be seen by travelers using the Cape May-Lewes Ferry. When leaving Lewes, the vessels normally follow a route through the National Harbor of Refuge, emerging between the outer breakwater and its archipelago of ice breakers.

Recently accepted for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places is the complex titled National Harbor of Refuge and Delaware Breakwater Harbor Historic District. This nautical district is a "first" on the Register and includes not only the breakwaters, their lighthouses and the ice breakers, but the former

Coast Guard station now owned and used by the Pilots Association of the Bay and River Delaware.

And what of today and the role played by the breakwaters in modern-day shipping? In this era when tankers range as much as four times the length of those early 200-foot-long sailing schooners and the lighthouses perform their duties electrically without the need of human hands, the haven offered between the granite structures continues to serve. Not only recreational fishing boats, but ships of medium size and small coastal craft in pursuit of their trades find the shelter helpful.

The bulwarks of stone remain changeless during times awash in a sea of change.

©copyright Hazel D. Brittingham