The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1901-09-24
Filling Up a 35 Acre Tract on
Water Front.
WILL REQUIRE YEARS
Temporary Ferry Slip is to Bt
Constructed.
Sea Wall to Contain a Million
Cubic Yards of Rock.


When the control OF the san Fran
cisco & San Joaquin Valley railway
passed into the hands Of the Atchison,
Topeka & Santa Fe Railway company,
and the road was completed into san
Francisco. the terminal facilities in
that city We're located on one block of
land situated on the water front AS
this was inadequate for the business
that was at once opened up TO say
nothing of that in prospect, it was
necessary to secure more land having
a water frontage. As all Of the lands
having a water frontage are controlled
by the state, through a board of har-
Dor commissioners appointed by the
governor, the leasing OF such a. tract
as would be necessary to successfully
conduct the business OF a large railway
terminal was a matter OF legislative &C
ton Steps We're at once taken to Sc
cure, by purchase. land lying adjacent
to the property that was desired to be
leased from the state, so that, when
this last named was leased there would
be no delay in commencing the neces-
Safy improvements w nen the leglS-
lature convened in the fall Of 1900, a
bill was passed authorizing the lease OF
China Basin to the San Francisco <
San joaquin Valley Railway company
for a term Of 50 years, and on NOvem-
Der p OF that year the lease was exc
cuted.
China Basin is purely tide lands, and
before they can be utilized q sea wall
must be built on the three water fronts,
so that the filing material can be re-
tanned and not carried into the channel
by the tides. This sea wall has been
commenced and is now in process of
construction, which is as follows First
trench IS excavated by means of a
dredge, that takes out the mud, which
is from 20 to 80 feet deep, and deposits
III in shore as far as the boom will
reach The dredge NastOdOn, employed
in this work. has dlpper capacity OF
four yards with a boom 13l feet long, /
and il has actually moved % So cubic (
yards in six days. OF p hours. averag-
ing 1872 cubic yards per day. or 226
cubic yards per hour The trench is /
filled with rock 6 inches to IS inches /
cubed, until IL shows at low water level !
After the pInng IS driven Tor the
wharves that are to face the bay water |
front a distance Of 3.o51 feet, this wall
is 10 be covered with rip rap of large |
rock to protect it from wave action. /
and to bring It to the high water level I
AT the south end Of China Basin a /
ferry slip is to be constructed extending +
to the pier head line, the line Where the I
jurisdiction OF the state ends and that /
of the United States begins As the /
Hmnoria and the tOredo make rapid +
inrOads on the piling in this harbor, all /
Of the piling for this slip must be creo- |
sOted, otherwise it would not last much |
over a year but when so treated the /
life is from five to ten years, according |
to the locality
China Basin has an area Of IS acres /
and the adjacent property purchased /
IL acres. making q IOLal OF % acres Inc /
sea wall VIII require. about LVOu,VOo !
cubic yards of rock and the interior /
filing 100000 cubic yards more. To 4
put this mass Of material in place will /
take from Two or three years. and as /
the ferry slip must be completed and /
ready for use by the end OF the year 4
1901, pile trestles are being driven to /
carry the tracks until such time as i
they can be permanently located on the I
reclaimed ground
Up to the present time, San Francisco /
has no stock yards of sufficient capac-
ity- The Santa Fe. seeing this want, /
purchased land in that part of San I
Francisco known as Butcher-tOwn. of
more than enough area to meet these
requirements. and obtained from the /
city franchise to lay a double track
from China Basin to the above men
toned locality. The tracks to these
yards. located on Illinois street. pass in
front of the Arctic Oil works. the Union
and the RisdOn Iron works. the barrel
factory and the Spreckles Sugar refine
ry. To all of these industries. spur
tracks viii be laid, thus giving them in
creased facilities for handling their
products, as well as making a large
business for the railway company
In order to obtain the necessary fill
ing for China Basin, and other tidal
lands owned by the company. about a
acres of billy land, lying in the Potrero
district, about one nsile from the basin.
was purchased, and this is to be
brought to an established grade This
will necessitate cuttings from 0 to 40
feet and will give about 1900 600 cubic
yards of material This work viii be
done by steam shovels and the material
moved by train Consequently, a sec
ond franchise was obtained for the lay
ing of tracks from this property to con
meet with those on the line in Illinois /
street. thus making direct competitions
from the Potrero to the China Basin
property. When completed, the Santa
Fe win have extensive and commodious
freight terminals.
The amount of work Of the various
kinds estimated as necessary to be done
is indicated in the following list.
Construction of ferry slip. about go
600 lineal feet piling (creosoted}. trest-
ling. Ia. 220 linea1 feet. having 1880 line
al feet piling For this work the Dun
don Bridge & Construction company
and the Thomson Bridge company are
the contractors.
Track, AZ, 500 lineal feet.
Rock in sea wall, 100000 cubic
Filling China Basin. 100000 cubic
Filling stock yards. 10000 cubic
yards
Grading Potrero lands. 100000 cubic
yards
The work is being done under the d.
rection of the engineering department.
of the Atchison. Topeka a. Santa F'e
Railway company, r 3. Burns, chief
engineer lines west OF Albuquerque;
James Dun. chief engineer of the svs-
gineer. San Francisco. to whom we are
indebted for the data herein
COLORADO TRAVEL