The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-08-23
AMERICAN GENIUS ABROAD.
The Atbarn Bridge Contract and
Alexandria Coal Holster.

AAfAAuurta Goal Holster.
John G. Long. the United States Consul
/ General AZ Cairo. writes 10 the State De
partmcut as follows.
! Il have To report another trade i1va-
! sion OF Egypt by Americans. TO less i'm
| portant than the securing OF the Atbara
Bridge contract which attracted so mucl
attention on both sides Of The Atlantic q
Z few years ago.
me greatest work ever undertaken IN
Egypt in regard 10 discharging coal from
steamers has just beer completed in Al
I cNandrla. The huge mass of machinery
/ that towers above the surrounding ships
owes its origin 90 Alexander f. Brown. an
American engineer. who has invented a
system Of suspended bridge uamways
whereby golfers could be unl0aced auto
matically in about onc-quarter OF the
/ time taken by manual labor and the use
OF steam wtnches- The Egyptian Rail-
way Administration decided 20 adopt this
system; the present apparatus IS the first
that has been installed in Africa
me holsters here are alleged to be ca
paole OF unloading 2.l25 tons Of coal in a
working day Of ten hours A boat that
now takes a week 10 DISCHARGE. viii. il
Is stated, by the help Of these coal moist
ers. be discharged within fortv-eight
I hours Of berthing. These ma
chimes Will be able TO work on tvo or
! three ships at a time. and the saving Of
labor Is apparent There win result an
enormous decrease ia small as there
VIII De no coal dust flying about Every
bit Of coal viii be put into buckets and
carefully uHIoaded again, none being
wasted
These suspended bridge tramways. or,
as they are popularity called. coal holsters.
are each $50 feet g5z inches in length. They
have the appearance Of an aerial bridge
with a Cantalever-arm extension at either
end The method Of working is as fol-
lows; On suspended track on the bridge.
li-inch gauge. runs a trolley carrying
buckets. each having q capacity Of one
ton On arriving over the hold Of the
ship. the bucket is automatically lowered
The buckets can be unlocked. so that
three or four can be filled at the same
time When the bucket is filed, IL IS rails
ed again 10 the trolley and run back and
discharged at any point on the quay or
into railway trucks A bucket can be
raised from the hold OF a ship put on the
trolley carried TO the farther end Of the
bridge, discharged, and returned 70 the
hold again IN the space Of one minute
The bridge is twenty-seyen feet clear al
the lowest part. and the highest part is
seVenty-twO feet Each bridge is sup
ported on d pier at the sea end and shear
legs on the other side.
The pier allows room for two railway
trucks beneath or inside The bridges are
divided into three sets OF two IN set. one
OF which contains a boiler and two en-
Glnes- These engines operate the trolley
and raise and lower the buckets by wire
ropes The engines are OF about twenty
five horsepower. Steam Is used instead Of
electricity as 10 Is more economical. the
work not being continuous Each bridge
stands on three tracks. TWO under the pier
and one under the shear legs. and each
set Cf bridges may be moved the entire
length OF the quay Independently 50 as
- be available in any one Of the berths
The operation 0f each bridge Is controlled
by one man. and Is effected By steam pow
er from the same engine that works the
buckets. Each bridge Is hinged over the
pier and piVOted on shear legs 50 that fl
may De swung 20 q distance Of twenty
three feet on either side of the centre
The object Of this is % allow "A greater
area or the quay 10 be covered. and il is
also useful n preventing the twisting Of
me bridge IN case 81 slipping Of the
wheels There is another automatic az
rangement b. which the coal below the
bridges may be sc0Oped up and loaded into
trucks or barges This is done BY a SCOOP
bucket and IS absolutely independent Of
manual laD0r- The weight Of the entire
plant IS about SO tons. All the material
IS soft steel. combining the greatest
strength with uEhtDess"