Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1886-10-07
A MARINE GOLFER DAM.
The Work OF Repairing the Steam-
ship werra at south Boston.

ship werra at south Boston.
The ocean steamship Werra, which
was sabled in her recent passage to
this country by the breaking of her
shaft, is in the New England dock at
South Boston for repairs, says The Bos-
ton advertiser. The shaft was broken
short off at the outside of the stern
post, and the propeller and that part of
the shaft which extended outside the
stern post fell out and were lost. The
repairs to be made, accordingly, con-
sist in putting i'm a new propeller and a
new shaft of the full length, which is
twenty-four feet.
The shaft has been ordered by cable to
be- shipped ut once from Germany and
the propeller from Liverpool. The
foim is ON board the steamship
Donau, which is due in New York on
the 25th inst, and the propeller is ex-
pccted to arrive on the Liverpool steam
er due on the 2Sth. 1t will take ut
least one day more to forward these from
New York. The intervening time will
not be more than comfortably suiiic. ent
w lNIiONC tllC VI tnt OlO sidlb
and make such adjustments as will be
necessary for putting the new appar-
aius into place eXpeditiCusly. Ten or
twelve days from the present time viii
probably elapse before the vessel is
ready for the Sea.
Ills work of restoration is of special
interest because it is to be done by
means of II Golfer dam. Notwithstand-
ING that Boston is praised, and justly,
for the many facilities which the port
offers for ocean steamer traffic. one
very important matter is lacking, and
that is Il dry-dock long enough to con-
tain n first-class ocean steamer. The
Werra is $50 feet long. The longest
dry-dock is that belonging to the
United States government at the Char
lesion navy-yard. This is but $40 feet
long. Ii was planned and its construc-
ton was begun in 1927. and at that
time the idea that the merchant service
would ever surpass the naval service in
the length of its ships was doubtless
quite out of the range of the mind S
vision. In the absence of a dry-dock
Golfer dam can be made TO serve very
well i'm the work now to be done, but
the use of ii is somewhat of novelty,
to the general public at least, and a
good many people visited the dock yes
tcrday, prompted by cur .osity about
the Golfer dam.
The dam is structure of strong
timbers and planks, and its shape or
form is that of the bottom, two sides
and one end of n square wooden box
| The bottom is settled low enough in
| the water 10 pass under the keel of the
| ship MS she lies atloat. 1t is set under
the keel about half the length of the
Golfer dam. Chains are dropped from
the after bulwarks of the ship, and are
hooked to the sides of the dam near
the upper edge, and drawn perfectly
taut by means of combined shackle
and screw attached to each chain. All
being well secured, the operation of
putting in the bulkhead of the dam is
begun. This, when in place, will make
the other end of the box already de-
crbed us having two sides and only
one end.
This end or bulkhead Is built in two
parts and the inner edge of each part
is shaped to fit exactly the convex and
J concave line of the vessels hull below
The water. In the present instance
| this shape has TO be ascertained BY TAX
ing mOlds of the interior of the hull at
the proper Il stance from the stern port
making allowance for thickness of the
vessels iron plating. Some aid in
making tight joint against the ships
smooth side comes from putting lay
er of sail cloth or like material into the
| hnll hnaH a ~ 20 ion
This part of the work of shaping the
edges of the bulkhead was we'll done,
and both parts were soon put into
place and held there by the diagonal
thrust of timbers or joist secured
against the inner sides of the dam. Be-
fore the work of pumping out was be-
gan. or before it had progressed far,
shores were set resting at one end upon
the bottom and what may be called the
gunwalc of the coffer-dam and against
the ships hull at the other end.
The tug-boat. William Sprague be-
gan the work of pumping out, and
latter in the day the tug Curlew was
also engaged. The water in the dam
is drawn out through huge pieces of
suction hose, these being connected
with the pumps of the tug boats
With the withdrawal of the water with
in the dam, an immense upward and
lateral pressure Is made by the water
without, and the joint of the bulk
head against the ships side by the pres
sure becomes practically water-tight.
When the Golfer dam is free of water.
q hose attached to one of the pumps of
the steamship will keep it clear without
difficulty.
The work of putting the Golfer dam
into position was begun at 8 A. NJ.
yesterday, and by 4:30 p. M. the dam
was sufficiently clear of water to ex-
pose the ships stern nearly to the
depth of the keel. The end of the
broken shaft was visible. 1t was made
with q hollow core of ten inches di-
ameter, and was of rough steel. The
strength was of course, very great.
but the question was debated somewb at
by the seafaring men present whether
it would not have been stronger il
wrought solid. The depth of the bulk
head from its gunwale is twenty feet.
its width is thirty feet, and its length
thirty-five feet. The sweep of the pro.
peller blades corresponds TO circle OF
twenty-five feet diameter.
| What L. No