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} 6 MARINE REVIEW January, 1925 a How Freight Carrying Costs on Main Waterways Compare Expendi- : ture on improve- ; ment up to Annual Annual Annual Annual cost— June 30, 1922, cost: main- freight freight Per exclusive of tenance plus traffic movement tonof Per ton- ‘ maintenance, 5% of costs inthou- inthousand freight, mile, Waterways $ $ sand tons ton miles $ mills Black, Ouachita and Red Rivers ............ 7,876,783 605,423 118 2,749 5.130 220.00 ee ee ae 23,363,159 1,439,126 356 10,670 4.050 134.88 4 tributaries of Mississippi and Missouri Rivers 5,449,795 408,368 524 24,879 0.780 16.40 O Werorwaye, Atlante 64 Sie ek ee, 33,675,252 2,425,737 8,425 275,789 0.288 8.83 O Weterwers, GU ee i cee 21,830,306 1,722,196 3,596 292,867 0.479 5.89 @ trataries of Olio River... ce ee cc cas 21,236,983 1,640,064 2,857 291,655: . 0.574 .. 5.62 a Waterways, faciue Coast ooo 6. ca csc 13,880,246 936,260 4,147 211,945 0.226 4.43 RO RIVER ei eae ee ees bak 72,433,668 4,987,000 9,382 1,182,190. 0.552) 4.22 Mississippi River above New Orleans ....... 46,264,399a 3,020,253 6,669b 847,000 0.453b 3.46 Pe BR ely Bivens us Pes aves 3,393,621 309,628 4,948 118,759 0.003. 2.61 Bi vivers, “Atiantic COaSt 6 ee cs li wa 4,137,603 433,947 5,946 234;576: 0.073. 4.85 Momuptia Wee 8,064,981 1,860,282 24264 1,504,390 0.077. 1.24 Sum, 37 waterways, exclusive of Great Lakes.. 261,606,796 19,788,284 71,231 4,997,469 0.278 3.96 Sofeat Scdkes System oo a ee ek 118,614,853 7,338,610 104,470 83,576,000 0.070 09 (a) Exclusive of expenditures for levees, etc., made under Mississippi River Commission. (b) Since in the traffic reports the freight tonnage of the Mississippi River is given by sections, the total freight, obtained by adding the traffic of the several sections, is too large, as it includes some duplica- tions, making “cost per ton of freight” too favorable. mill, due to the improvement in channels and consequent economies in ship trans- portation. From 1904 to 1914, the rate dropped to 0.6 mill, partly due to fur- ther improvements but also to the 1914 depression. In the post-war _ inflation the ton-mile rate rose to a maximum of 1.33 mills in 1920 and declined to 1.10 mills in 1923, with a further drop in pros- pect for 1924. The corresponding average charges per ton-mile on the railways were about 9 mills in 1890-1892, reducing to a mini- mum of 7.15 mills in 1917, and a post- war rate of 12.7 mills in 1921. The aver- age rail rate is thus about ten times that on the Great Lakes. It should be point- ed out, however, that the average rail rate is derived from all classes of freight, and for short as well as long hauls. In 1923, the rate for carrying iron ore from the mines to lake shipping points on ‘railway lines 60 to 120 miles in length was 77 cents per ton, or 7 to 13 mills per ton-mile: Likewise on the railroads carrying ore from lower lake ports to the furnaces from 60 to 400 miles, the rate varied from 5 to 15 mills per ton-mile. Thus for railways carry- ing almost exclusively freight similar ta the bulk products on the Great Lakes, the ton-mile rate is in some cases as low as five times the water rate. It is important to note the saving in the cost of transportation by the Great Lakes over rail carriage. On that por- tion of the total lake traffic passing to and from Lake Superior through the canals at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., in 1923, the lake transportation charges amounted to 81 million dollars. If we add to this the annual cost of mainten- ance plus 5 per cent interest on the en- tire investment in Great Lakes channels and harbors, we have a total of 88 million dollars as the cost of transport of 91 million tons over 800 miles. As- suming the best rate by rail to be five times the net lake rate, gives a rail cost of 405 million dollars, showing a sav- ing in one year of 324 million dollars, or nearly three times the entire expendi- tures ever made by the United States or the Great Lakes system. What equal investment has the United States made or in what other enterprise can it enlist promising such rich com- mercial returns? Deeper Channels Needed The channels and principal harbors of the Great Lakes are improved to a the- otetical depth of 21 feet, but because of the prevailing low water, due to lack of pre- cipitation, and in some degree to the withdrawal of water by the Chicago drainage canal, the actual navigable depth at present is but 19 feet. The modern lake freighter is designed for a draft of at least 23 feet, and thus the larger vessels are deprived of a carrying capacity corresponding to a diminished draft of 4 feet. Computa- tion shows that an increase in available draft of only six inches in the 1923 traffic would have meant that the Great Lakes fleet could have carried about three and a third million tons more freight with only a slight additional cost for fuel and labor, resulting in a net saving of over two and a half million dollars. Ninety-five per cent of the freight tonnage is carried by vessels capable of drawing 21 feet, so that an increase to this depth would result in a_ propor- tional saving, or about ten million dol- iars. A further increase to 23 feet draft, obtainable in a 25-foot channel, would not at once produce a proportionate gain,. since this is beyond the practical draft. of the smaller types of carriefs, but it is estimated that ‘with the present fleet. a total gain of fifteen million dollars per year would result were a 25-foot chan- nel made available: This saving would increase as the obsolescent smaller ves- sels are replaced by the modern type. There has been much agitation for a. deep water outlet from the Great Lakes. to the ocean to facilitate our contact: with foreign markets, which would dic- tate an increase in depth of lake chan- nels to at least 25 feet, and in greater likelihood to 30 feet. Opposition to these- plans may delay their fruition for sev- eral, if not many, years, but the analysis. of the economy of lake transportatior and of the further gains to be developed’ by greater drafts shows that the advis- ability of a 25-foot depth on the Great: Lakes stands firmly on the foundation: of interior commerce, quite independent: of any possible future connection with the sea. Two important units of the extensive shore repair plant to be erected by the: Burrard Drydock Co., Ltd., as a neces- sary part of the equipment for the new- 20,000-ton floating drydock at North Vancouver, B. C., are to be initiated at once. The construction will involve ar expenditure of approximately $100,000. The units comprise a large machine shop and blacksmith shop.