The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1890-06-11
STEAMSOATlNC ON DRY LAND.
Eight Miles of Their Regular Trips TO Be
Made on Iron Rails.

The long expected report of the
Board Of Government Engineer Officers
that was to consider the subject of the
Instructions to navigation in the Col
umbia River, between the Dalies and
Cello, and devise some method for
overcoming them within reasonable
limits Of expense. has at last been
given to the public.
In this project boats are taken from
the river at the foot of the Dalles
rapids, and are returned to the river
at the head OF Cello falls by means OF
hydraulic lifts. one at each terminus,
and are transported over the interme-
diate distance little more than eight
miles in length by boat railway. The
lower lift is designed to raise the boats
6S fee. at low water and the upper lii, =
40 feet. The distances to which the
boats are to be lifted diminish as the
water rises. The lift is an adaptation
of the hydraulic dock in use for some
wears at the Union Iron Works in San
Francisco. The process is therefore,
not experimental. The lower lift con-
sists of sixteen caSt-iron cylinders, each
thirty-one and one-half inches in in
terror diameter and nineteen feet seven.
inches long, weighing 10 tons. In
these are rams having i full stroke Of
seventeen feet three inches. They are
placed in two rows, forty-siX feet apart,
the rams in each row being twenty
two and one-haf feet between centres.
There is platform or cradle between
these rows, supported by chains from
the heads of the rams. The chains are
so arranged over shelves as to give
the cradle speed and movement four
times that of the rams. A device for
regulating the admission of the water
in each press so controls the movement
of the rams as to maintain them at a
uniform speed and the cradle in hor-
izontal position, Notwithstanding any
difference in the load on several rams.
The cradle is placed under the boat
while in the water. After it is raised
to the top of the lift this is removed,
and the car on which the boat is to be
transported on the railroad is substl-
tuted.
1t is required OF the car that it shall!
/, transport with safety the loaded boat
Or barge, and leave sufficient fexibllity
to pass over the horizontal and vertical
curves of the road. The maximum
load to be carried IS estimated at 6OO
tons. The platform is l6s feet long by
3S feet wide. The lateral fleXlbillty to
enable the car to pass around curves is
obtained by the arrangement OF the
| ,i,.tJ-
wheeled trucks placed in two lines OF
seventeen each.
The weight of the car is 800 tons.
The maximum Weights GOO tons. max
ing the total weight of the loaded car
900 tons. The average load per truck
is 81 1-2 tons, and per wheel tons.
The car, with its load is propelled on
the track by two 50-ton ordinary loco
motives.
The boats are 165 feet long and 50
feet beam and ) feet draught, weigh.
inc with cargo 600 tons. The weight
of the cradle is lS4 tons. The total
weight to be raised in the lift in l, 453
tons, and the speed II feet per MN
ute.
The estimated cost of the whole sys-
TEN, with equipment of two cars and
four engines, capable Of passing eight
loads of 600 tons in each direction IN
twelve hours, including necessary
buildings. and 10 per cent for eontin-
gencies, Is 5000, $50. Estimate for
improving Three Mile Rapids, slao'-
600, making an aggregate OF $2,ooo,-
656. 1t is estimated that further ex-
penditurc of $4,000 in buildings;
cars engines aId sides tracks, WIZ
afford the maximum OF forty Doa1s
each way in twenty-four hours.
The annual cost of maintenance to
pass sixteen boats in twelve hours Is es-
timated to be $50, 900. and to pass thirty
two in twenty-four hours would cost
$4,000. The estimated time tor trans
porting one boat from the Dalles to
the head Of Cello falls is one hour ana
half.-Porttuna Oregonian.