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Coaling Plant at Panama HE Isthmian Canal mission is now evolving its general plans for coaling fa- cilities in the canal zone. It is at present engaged in the work of con- structing a temporary coaling. dock at Balboa on the Pacific side as the excavation work at the Balboa ter- minal will shortly make the use of the present dock impossible. Commis- Storing Coal Under Water. It is planned by the commission to have a coal storage basin at Cristo- bal on the Atlantic side with a ca- pacity of 290,000 tons and one at Bal- boa with a capacity of 160,000 tons. In each place the storage will be within a large basin made of rein- forced concrete in which approxi- mately half the coal will be stored under water for use in time of war and the other half above water for commercial use. It is also the inten- tion of the commission te lease part of the storage basin to such private coaling companies as may wish to maintain their own coal stores; but in all such cases, the handling will be done at the government plant. The specifications are not hard and PANAMA CITY The Government Will Establish Capa- cious Plants at Cristobal and Balboa fast, but merely establish certain gen- eral methods and_ standards, leaving it to manufacturers to devise suitable machines. One of the limiting condi- tions is that the government shall build the substructure or storage bin and place upon the walls such tracks as cranes and other movable ma- chines may require. This substruc- ture will cost more than the coal handling plant. The details will not be decided upon until the bids for the handling plant have been can- vassed, because each plan will re- quire its own special substructure, and one of the points considered in awarding the contract will be the cost of the substructure required under each plan. The Handling System The specifications call for a hand- ling system which will include the transfer from ship to storage and from storage into lighters or colliers. The Cristobal plant must be capable of unloading 1,000 tons and loading 2000 tons. of coal" cath hour; and the Balboa plant 500 or 1,000 tons. Vesels requiring bunker coal will not be permitted to go alongside the but will wharves, be coaled from barges. Location of Coaling Plant The coaling plant at the Atlantic entrance will be situated on the north end of the island formed by the old French canal, the American canal, and the Mindi river. It will be reached from the mainland by means of a bridge to be built by the Pan- ama railroad over the French canal south of the dry dock shops. The storage basin will be opposite Dock No. 13 at Mount Hope, and it will be 1,000 ft. long and 250 ft. wide. The bottom of the basin will be 19 ft. below mean tide, and the elevation of the decks of the wharves 10 ft. above mean tide. There will be 41 ft. depth of water alongside the wharves. The wharves will be founded upon steel cylinders filled with reinforced concrete resting upon hard rock. The maximum tidal os- cillation in Limon Bay is 2.65 it, = For this type of storage basin, at least two layouts of coaling plant are feasible; the first being that in which the loading and unloading wharves occupy opposite sides of the basin. AS SEEN FROM THE TOP OF ANCON HILL