The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-07-15
GREATEST FLOATING DOCK.
Mammoth Affair to BE Used by Oul
NAVY

Mammoth Affair to BE Used by Our
Navy.
The largest floating dry dock in the
world Is now being built for the United
States Government by the Maryland steel
Company, at its works, at Sparrow's Point,
just below Baltimore. Md, says the New
York Herald. This DOCK when finished,
will be towed dc,wn Chesapeake Bay to
the Atlantic, and through the Gulf OF
Mexico to the Mississippi, where it will be
stationed for use at the naval station at
Algiers, La.
1t must be delivered to Uncle Sam by
November list, and in the event OF failure
on the part of the company to complete
it by that time, $500 for every days delay
will be deducted from the contract price
Of $4,000 The work OF construction IS
now being pushed to a finish Part OF the
| ship-yard has been fenced off, the lore
shore has been scooped to form a hefth
and the dredged material arranged so as
to form a coffer-dam A platform of timber
was laid in the large hole, and two trestle6
We're erected to carry the tracks for the
travelling cranes employed in placing the
plates Tracks laid around the berth
and piping for the compressed air 5y which
the rlvetinG machines are worked. The
complement to these arrangements is a
machine shop built expressly for Fhe
work in question
When the work is completed the Golfer
dam will be cut through, and the waters
of the Chesapeake, which viii then rush
in and float the structure, will make any
prepare tons for launching unnecessary.
The dock will materially augment the
Importance of the naval station to which
it has been assigned, especially in view
Of the fact that the value of New Or
leans as a base is steadily increasing Ihe
dock will be powerful enough to lit H.
COTTON vessel two feet above the surface
Of the water, and with the floor aWash, It
Will be able to lift d vessel OF 1869 tens
with the same ease 1t will be very
superior affair, not only in point of strength
but also in simplicity. 1t will be furnished
with three pontoOns, each IL feet and one
eighth inch in breadth, and as regards
length the middle pontoon VIII measure
2i2 feet, and the two end pontoons al feet
and 3-S inch each. The keel blocks VIII
number 209, the walls measure 395 feet and
fve-eighths inch, and the weight of the
dock is to be SOP tons. which, when ad-
ded to the 400 tons weight OF its equip
ment, makes 6.122 tons in all. Three and
one-half hours will be needed to make the
maximum lift. WITH this lift made the
stability Of the dock will be from Is to
20 times that of ship afioat.
Acid or basic open hearth steel IS eN-
cusvely used, the timber walllng OF leX
u pine being employed merely as tenders.
The enormous walls serve primarily TO give
stability and TO regulate the descent when
the pontoons are submerged. They enclose
four water-tight compartments, which
contain the quarters fer the crew ard the
pumping apparatus. Each wall has four
pumps. with a separate engine for each
pump and a separate boiler for each en-
. CINE. The piping, however is SO arranged
that any of the engines can be supplied with
steam from any of the boilers, an advan-
tage by which. with only engine boiler
ana pump, the dock can still be lifted.
The entire machinery will be managed
by means Of levers from a valve-house on
each wall.
The popularity Of the dock is that the
bottom of any Of the walls can be reached
by keeling. The middle pontoon is large
enough to raise the other two out of the
water. and can be released and lifted
out of the water itself. There are many
rnanhoes by which access to the inside Of
the wall and pontoons may be obtained.
Two Of the three largest docks now in
use are owned by this country One was
built for Spain and taken to Cuba shortly
before the late war, and thus came into
Uncle Sans hands. The second largest
! is the commercial dock at Stettin Ger
many, which was built in England, by
Swami & Hunter. The third and largest 1s
the American dock which was built by
! the T ,OnfiOn firm OF Clark & Stanfieiu.