Page 26: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (July 1970)

Largest Graving Dock In The U.S. Licensed To Use

Foster Patent For The Under Drainage Of Basin Floor

SHIP

BERTH

BULKHEAD i,:

SIDEWALL i OF DOCK

WIDTH 8c LENGTH UNLIMITED

PRESSURE RELIEVED RE1NF.

CONCRETE SLAB ~ T

TO SUIT SITE (WORK

P^AREA) CONDITION

SIDEWALL

UNDERDRAINAGE SYSTEM

CLOSURE GATE AT

ONE OR BOTH ENDS

The above drawing illustrates the under-drainage system which protects the floor of the graving dock, when de- watered, from the uplift pressure of ground water. Beneath the relatively thin slab, which forms the dock floor, is a previous layer of gravel with drain pipes to lead any seepage water to the sump of the pump well. According to the soil mechanics of the particular area, a tolerable rate of seepage is controlled by a cut off bulkhead or by the extent of relatively impervious ground which may adjoin the dock. This method of constructing a relieved floor for the dock is considerably cheaper than the gravity dock construction where the reinforced concrete floor must be of sufficient depth so that in combination with the dock's side walls, the dead weight will resist the uplift of the ground water.

Christopher J. Foster, Consulting' Engineers and Naval Architects, with offices in New

York. Washington, D.C. and Florida, have granted to Bethlehem Steel Corporation the right to use the patented features of the Foster patents for construction of the Sparrows Point

Building Basin, the largest single building basin to date in the country. The basin is 1.200 feet long and 200 feet wide to accommodate tankers it]) to 250,000 deadweight tons.

This is the seventh commercial shipbuilding basin, to be built using the Foster patented pressure-relieved system which makes the con- struction of large basins more economical than any other type facility for building and dry docking large ships. The first three basins us-

MSTS Announces $273 Million

In FY 71 Shipping Agreements

Shipping and container agreements which will result in payments to 21 United States-flag ship operators of an estimated $273-million be- tween July 1, 1970 and June 30, 1971 were an- nounced by Vice-Adm. Arthur R. Gralla, com- mander of the Military Sea Transportation

Service.

The agreements cover worldwide sealift of approximately 9-million measurement tons of military cargo on foreign trade routes during the command's 1971 fiscal year.

Awards were made on the basis of offers re- ceived by the Navy's sealift command in re- sponse to MSTS' Recpiest for Proposals No. 500. The request for shipper proposals was is- sued early this year (February 13).

Carrier rates accepted by MSTS will be ef- fective for 12 months, beginning July 1, 1970 and continuing through June 30, 1971.

Transportation services provided by the 21 steamship operators under the provisions of the award include movement of cargo in con- ventional break-bulk lots and in carrier-owned containers. Agreement provisions also provide for sealift of Government-owned containers on commercial ships should it be necessary.

To be considered for receipt of an award, each carrier was required to commit one or more ships for military use in event of a need for emergency shipping. Ships called up under this agreement would be time chartered by the

Military Sea Transportation Service in accord with terms set forth in sealift augmentation agreements which were part of the awards.

United States-flag carriers receiving awards include: American Export Isbrandtsen Lines,

Inc.; American Mail Line, Ltd.; American ing the Foster patents were built for Bethle- hem Steel Corporation's Quincy, Mass. ship- yard now owned by General Dynamics Cor- poration. There are two more graving docks designed by Foster at the Electric Boat Divi- sion of General Dynamics in Groton, Conn.

The most recent clock is the graving dock com- pleted last year for Litton Industries at their

Ingalls East Bank yard in Pascagoula, Miss.

The Manhattan, which completed a north- west passage of the Arctic Ocean last year, was originally bui't by Bethlehem Steel at its former Quincy, Mass. shipyard in the ship- building basin designed by Foster, using the pressure-relieved system and hinged closure gate.

President Lines, Ltd.; American Union Trans- port, Inc.; Central Gulf Steamship Corp.;

Columbia Steamship Co., Inc.; Global Bulk

Transport, Inc.; Gulf & South American

Steamship Co., Inc.; Isthmian Lines, Inc.;

Lykes Bros. Steamship Co., Inc.; Matson

Navigation Co.; Moore-McCormack Lines,

Inc.; Pacific Far East Line, Inc.; Prudential-

Grace Lines, Inc.; Sea-Land Service, Inc.;

Seatrain Lines, Inc.; States Marine Lines, Inc.;

States Steamship Co.; United Fruit Co.;

United States Lines, Inc.; Waterman Steam- ship Corp.

Rail Container Transfer Yard

To Be Built At Port Newark

A rail container transfer yard that will speed the movement of containers between rail cars and ships and will provide cost benefits to shippers in the Port of New York-New Jersey, will be built by the Port of New York Au- thority at Port Newark. It will be operated by the Penn Central Transportation Company, according to a recent joint announcement by the bi-state agency and the Penn Central.

The ten-acre transfer yard and storage area will enable Penn Central to handle containers and trailers directly by rail to and from rapidly growing Port Newark and the adjacent Eliza- beth-Port Authority Marine Terminal. This will eliminate the substantial expense of haul- ing containers over the congested highways between the port area and Penn Central's ex- isting piggyback yards at Kearny and North

Bergen, N.J.

Initially, the rail facility will be able to han- dle train-loads of approximately 60 cars. As volume grows, it can be expanded to about double that capacity.

The rail facility, to be built by the Port Au- thority at an estimated cost of $1,621,000, is scheduled for completion in December, and will be leased to Penn Central for twenty years.

Farrell Lines Captain &Crew

Receive Medals And Citations

Shown at the award ceremonies aboard the SS African

Star are, left to right: James A. Farrell Jr., chairman of the board; Thomas J. Smith, Farrell Lines president; Mrs.

Adorian W. Schodle and Capt. Adorian W. Schodle.

At ceremonies held recently aboard the SS

African Star in New York harbor, James A.

Farrell Jr., chairman of the board of Farrell

Lines Incorporated of New York, awarded

Farrell Lines Medals and Citations to the for- mer captain of the Star and five crew members.

Citations were also awarded to four other crew members.

While proceeding down the Mississippi

River outward bound from the Port of New

Orleans toward the sea in the early morning hours of March 16, 1968, the SS African Star was involved in a collision with oil laden steel barges under tow of the pusher tug Midwest

Cities. Following the collision, the SS African

Star caught fire. While everyone aboard de- serves praise for their instinctive actions, the outstanding performance of ten of the vessel's crew, including the master, merits special com- mendation.

A gold medal, the first ever to be awarded by the company, went to Capt. Adorian W.

Schodle, former master of the SS African Star; silver meda's went to Raymond Purnell, as- sistant pantryman, and James McCarthy, sec- ond mate, with bronze medals going to Her- bert V. Woodger, chief engineer, Nicholas

Metkovic, third mate, and Raymond F. Tocci, second assistant engineer.

Citations were given to Lauro Cisternino, able seaman, Robert Redfern, third assistant engineer, Roy A. Lang, fireman/water tender and Patrick McLaughlin, fireman/water tender.

Special citations were awarded to Capt. Alpha

W. Moore, manager, safety and accident pre- vention, and Capt. Alfred Boerum, now master of the SS African Meteor, who were immedi- ately dispatched to the scene of the accident.

The history of the Farrell Lines Medal dates back to 1950 when it was decided to present the late Capt. T.B. Robertson and then Chief

Officer Erik Tallbe, both on the SS African

Sun I, with something more than the ordinary citation for saving a drowning shipmate in the

Indian Ocean January 5, 1950. As a result, the

Farrell Lines Medal was cast, the dimension being one-half dollar in size, with a raised bust of James A. Farrell, Sr. on the front and suitable inscription on the reverse. The gold and silver medals are given for courage beyond ordinary duty, while the bronze one is awarded for distinguished service. As of this date, in- cluding those awarded recently, one gold medal has been awarded, five silver and 11 bronze. 28 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News