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the cranes will allow. This gives complete coverage of the entire floor at a reasonable cost of installation and is economically operated, The equipment at Manilla is one of the most up-to-date and efficient for handling of general miscellane- ous and uniform cargoes, for stack- ing cases as high as necessary in the transit shed and reaching every por- tion of the shed, and for stacking sling platforms one on top of an- other full loaded with small package goods or bag materials. There is also equipment for loading and dis- charging shippers’ trucks. All of this work is performed through a space that is not otherwise utilized, due to being overhead. Some of the New York piers with their congestion of truck teams, and small industrial trucks, could be greatly improved by using this or some similar sys- tem, This coordinated system of ship- side gantry cranes, wide apron, mar- ginal railroad track, overhead track through which the shipside cranes ean land loads directly in the transit shed and within reach of the cranes within the shed, allows for several different and efficient movements of eargo from ship to land carrier or to transit shed storage, as enumer- ated in the following. Railroad cars, with center just 12 feet from ship’s side, are well within reach of the ship’s gear and directly under the gantry crane. There is an overhead clearance above the car floor of about 18 feet, sufficient for the largest crates of machinery. The crane capacity is 15 tons. There is, however, a floating crane of 35-ton capacity for heavier weights. There is sufficient room outside cf the cars to place a platform, level with a box-car door, and land sling loads on the car door sill with either ship’s gear or gantry cranes. Slingloads may be landed direct to shippers’ trucks parked on apron to inner side and clear of the tracks. Tractors and Trailers By using tractors and trailers the sling loads are discharged, with either ship’s gear, or shore cranes, on trailers, hauled inside the transit shed, entering one door and passing under the cranes, Here the loads are lifted by the cranes and stacked. By using box hooks on each case, it is a simple matter to separate to va- rious piles into consignees’ marks, with one operation. This requires very few men; one to hook on, oné to guide and unhook on top of the pile, and the crane operator. With small packages, bagged materials, tin plate, etc., the entire sling load is landed direct to the pile and the slings left on the load. An exceptionally well organized system is that using either lift trucks and dead skids, or chisel trucks and pallets, The sling boards are lifted from the hold of the ship and landed either on dead skids, or the platform slings, lifted by the forks of the chisel trucks are used as dead skids themselves, In either event they are landed on the apron by the fall which when it returns to the hold takes an empty platform along with it. The truck comes along and lifts the skid or pallet and deposits it under the cranes within the shed, which in turn lift and place it on the stack. Where it is necessary to separate packages the pallet or dead skid is placed in a central position, and ar- ranged around this are several other pallets on which men separate the small packages by marks. When a pallet is filled with an individual mark, it is then taken by the crane to its correct pile. By using shore cranes entirely, it is possible to take advantage of the hatchways in the transit shed to land the loads direct to the transit floor without use of rolling equip- ment, : When loading, the reverse opera- tions prevail. As before, goods are handled direct from railroad cars and from shippers’ trucks as they are spotted on the apron. Or the goods having previously been collect- ed and stacked on the transit shed floor are lifted by the cranes and placed on pallets, dead skids, trail- ers, or trucks, carried to the apron where the cranes or ship’s gear lift them and land them in the holds. Good Passenger Facilities At the shore end of the pier, there is an imposing structure con- taining offices and passenger accom- modations. At both sides are arch- ways for railroad tracks to the apron. Next to these are the team arches on each side of the pier, The central portion in front of the tran- sit shed is taken up by passenger en- trances and offices. This entrance resembles the mod- ern railway passenger’ terminal rather than the conventional steam- ship pier. The passengers enter a large hall with stairways and eleva- tors to the second floor. Here are located waiting rooms, ticket offices and other accommodations, From here the passengers are led on the pier proper through corridors which run down each side above the transit shed, There is also an open balcony the entire length of the pier as well as the enclosed corridor. Then, by taking them over the gantry gang- ways to the ship’s deck, the passen- gers are at all times kept away from the cargo operations. As the arrival or departure of pas- senger steamers at these island ports is considered quite an event, this bal- cony on a level with the deck of the ships, is the scene of many a gala celebration. This pier was built with the ex- MaRINE REvirw-—June, 1934 we press idea of filling the need for facilities adequate to accommodate the largest passenger steamers, It is not unusual to handle as many as 1200 passengers from such ships as those of the Matson, Dollar, Cana- dian Pacific, Cunard and White Star lines on their world cruises. Com- bining, as it does, excellent freight handling facilities with separate passenger accommodations, it gives Manila one of the finest ocean ter- minals in the world for handling ships of various types. It has been asked why the largest port in the world, New York, does not have more such modern facili- ties. There are many and varied causes such as crowded condition of the waterfront, high real _ estate values, the fact that each steamship company has its own terminals to handle its particular ships, the ne- cessity of having as much storage space on the pier as possible—by putting the transit shed walls to or nearly to the water’s edge, leaving only sufficient apron on which, to handle lines, and working cargo through doors placed at intervals along the entire length of the shed; the extensive lighterage operations eliminating the car-to-ship move- ment of freight, since the rail heads stop on the Jersey shore; the public loaders system which is observed on all piers with which the overhead shop cranes would interfere; and especially the fact that the steam- ship companies endeavor to obtain sufficient facilities with the least possible outlay on construction. Most New York Piers Old Another point to be considered is the age of most of the New York piers. With the exception of the few passenger terminals of recent con- struction, the piers are anywhere from 20 to 40 years old. Another thing, which is in line with the cost of water frontage is the fact that with the strong tidal conditions existing in New York, the slip be- tween the piers has te be wide enough to allow for maneuvering the ship. Once berthed the vessel can and often is breasted off again with floats and then platforms are hung from the sides of the piers. These platforms serve as a landing place for the cargo and answer the pur- pose of the wharf apron found in other port construction. This man- euvering space and also the need for space for lighters alongside the ships controls the width of the slips and consequent narrowing of the pier proper, within the same waterfront footage. The Staten Island piers which were constructed comparatively re- cently have wide aprons and also are fitted so that cranes, etc., could be installed very easily. All of their superstructure is strengthened with this in view. 31