It is hereby declared to be the intent and purpose of this act to carry into effect, as soon as practicable, a project to prevent the future accumulation of wastes including coal, silt, industrial processes and municipal sanitation and the prevention of pollution in the Schuylkill River and its tributaries, and to dredge and dispose of the existing accumulations in the Schuylkill River above the Norristown dam at Norristown, Pennsylvania. Such project, among other things, will involve the acquisition of dams, canals, lands, easements, right-of-ways and other rights, and of properties for the disposal of material dredged from the Schuylkill River and its tributaries; the construction, repair and maintenance of dams required to carry on dredging operations; the construction of dikes and other protective works at disposal areas and physical dredging operations.