Maritime History of the Great Lakes

Marine Review (Cleveland, OH), May 1919, p. 244

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Foreign Ports Rush On Anticipation of Heavy Traffic, Foreign Harbors Are Being Made Ready to Handle Increased Tonnage and Larger Vessels extended during the last 50 years to keep pace with the in- crease in trade. The depth of wa- ter has been increased from 20 to 31 feet, and the length of quay from 7 to over 177 miles, exclusive of an additional 31/3 miles of canal quay. The total length of quay open to Oren? harbor has been 'traffic is therefore nearly three times greater than 50 years ago. A cor- responding increase has been made in the harbor area and the sites ad- An additional 2% . joining the quays. miles of quay has been added during the war and 163 acres of adjoining land has been reclaimed.: The total' width of the harbor frem-. east to west is 5% miles, and the length from north to south is 8 miles. The free harbor and the Kalk- braenderi harbor have been extended . during the war, a new jetty built and the quay walls on the eastern side of the harbor completed. It is also intended to increase the area of the free harbor to a. total of 12814 acres by adding 714 acres to the northern end. A dam has been built 'across the southern extremity of the between Copenhagen and Amager island which excludes the effect of the currents in the sound and greatly adds to the security of the harbor. The dam is about 1% miles long and incloses.an area of over 700 acres, which is being gradually reclaimed and formed into harbor basins with quay walls, and building sites for warehouses and factories. The greater part of the local steam- ship traffic starts from the Kyaes- thus quay, which is to be extended, provided with warehouses, electric cranes and up-to-date machinery for loading and unloading goods. About 60 acres on the opposite side of the harbor are being reclaimed as an island to be used as sites for factories and warehouses round the- Teglvaerks harbor. These new areas are to be connected by a concrete bridge resting on granite piers. A new 23-foot deep direct waterway is being built to the Teglvaerks har- bor. Steps are being taken to dredge a deep channel from Kidge bay through the shallow Kallebo strand to the inlet dock of the dam which closes the southern entrance to the har- harbor » bor. The greatest depth is only i feet, and a channel 5 miles long is to be dredged. The work will be done in two stages, first to a depth of 18 feet, and, finally, to a depth of 25 feet. A new lock, capable of taking large ocean-going vessels, wili be built about half:a mile south of the dam, in order to interfere as little as possible with the traffic across the dam. oe The question of deepening the Drogden channel between the two islands of Amager and Salthom: 1s being seriously considered, as it would provide a short and convenient inlet to the southern harbor and make it possible to provide almost unlimited harbor extensions on the side of the harbor dam. (Ingeniéren.) * * * The railway system serving the port 'of Rotterdam has been extended. The first station in Rotterdam was built on the right bank of-the river Meuse at the junction of the Rotterdam- Goudra-Utrecht. and the Amsterdam- Utrecht-Arnhem: lines. The quay ac- commodation- eventually became in- sufficient, and the docks had to be ex- tended to the left sidé of the Meuse. This again in due course proved to be inadequate, and extensive altera- tions were put in hand which were completed in 1917. * Ihe port,is now in a position to deal expeditiously with. all commerce which is likely to come to it in the future, instead of merchandise being badly delayed there, as frequently oc- curred through the congested state of the docks. Be. Attention is again being directed to the claims of Falmouth, England, to become an important center of liner traffic, through the regular use of this port during the war. A bill for the construction of deep water wharves and jetties in this harbor will likely be introduced at the present session of parliament. The proposed works will call for deep water wharves comprising a total length of 4350 feet, with a branch line of standard railway, 2214 miles long, to connect with the main line and to serve the district in which mining for clay is in progress. Fal- mouth harbor possesses great natural facilities and is a distributing and col- lecting center for the china clay fields. The output of the china clay industry 244 southern. ~ ments. "Nice. had in 1914 increased 1,000,000 tons a year and' at the present time is de- manding greater shipping facilities. With the harbor construction scheme goes a number of smaller construction enterprises which will strengthen this- city asa port. * * * In Sumatra, harbor sheds formerly constructed of corrugated iron have during the war been built of reinforced concrete. These buildings have the advantage of being cooler and less likely to be infested with rats. They are easily cleaned with water from a hydrant, offer, resistance to burglars, .are more durable, and of neat appear- ance when properly designed. These buildings have the disadvant- age of being heavier and theréfore re- quire more expensive foundations where the ground is bad, they are not portable, and the concrete may crack and become leaky. J. Renaud states that the draft of vessels is Constantly increasing and it is necessary to foresee future require- In the Mediterranean the port of Marseilles can be put in a condition to receive.the largest vessels, but this port is quite an exception. After Mar- seilles the most favorably situated port on the south coast of France is that of Villefranche, which. may be considered as an annex to that of With relatively small expendi- ture, Villefranche could be made suit- able for the largest vessels. In Algeria improvements at Oran and Algiers would meet all requirements, and in Tunis, the port of Bizerta could be made suitable by dredging the ap- Proach channel. These three ports should have the same depth of water as the Suez canal at Port Said. A suitable harbor might also be made in the gulf of Gabés or at the entrance of Bou-Grara or in the bay of Surkenis. Djibouti is well placed at the entrance of 'the Indian ocean, and in Madagascar the ports of Tamatave, Majunga and Antsirane are naturally deep enough. In Indo-China there are Cape Saint- Jacques at the entrance of the Saigon river, Tourane, and the bays of Cam- Ranh and Bing-Loi. In the Pacific, Nouméa possesses a fine natural har- bor; the island of Tahiti is direct on the route from Panama to Australia, but the harbor of Papeete cannot

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