The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1903-10-15
BEST ON COAST
DOCKS GREAT NORTHERN VII,
BUILD AT SEATTLE.
Concreat Seawall to Be Rui,.
After Completion Will Be Fill,
With Earth--Improvement wu,
Cost q Million Dollars-.Work
Begin Soon.

Seattle. Oct. 1O-The Great No,tbo.
railroad will shortly begin the exnand
iture OF 81 900, 900 in Improvements ~
Smith cove. A new wharf and VS.
house are to be built and the fre;ah.
wharf now in use at the cove is 70 h.
practically rebuilt. This work will
probably be commenced about the frst
of the year, and the improvements will
require about year and half To cnro,
plete.
A solid concrete wall is to be built
about the dock now in use, and coo
ond and larger dock with the same kind
OF retaining wall will be added. Roth
docks are to be placed on solid ground
when this work is completed, and each
will have the capacity sufficient to hold
the cargo OF one of the big liners soon
to be placed on the Seattle Oriental
run by the Great Northern Steamship
Company.
1t is probable the first work under.
taken at Smiths cove will be the bui,d.
ing of the concrete seawall about the
dock now in place there. This concrete
seawall will be built from hardpan nm
ward to height of sixty feet. At low
water % feet OF the seawall will be
shown above the surface of the bay. At
the bottom the wall will have thick.
ness of fifteen feet, while at the top it
will be four or five feet in width. This
concrete seawall is to extend entirely
around the wharf.
To Use Both Docks.
The new wharf will lie directly'so
OF the present dock. 1t will give about
eighty feet of room in the slip, SO that
the monster steamships of the Great
Northern can be loaded from both
wharves at the same time. The plans
OF the company are to unload the in
coming liners at one dock and as soon
as one of the matches is clear the work
of loading will he commenced form the
second dock. The docks will be long
enough to permit the stevedores to
work at all tie matches at the same
time. Lines of rail will be laid on
both sides of the warehouses, SO that
it will be possible for the company to
load directly from the cars to the boats.
Heavy machinery can be lifted by
cranes from the cars to the steamships
or with lighter shipments longshore-
men can truck from the cars to the
hosting machinery.
The plans of the Great Northern for
the new work are made for the pur-
pose of reducing the days that incom-
ing steamers must lie at the dock to
the smallest number possible. 1t is
intended to provide every facility for
quick dispatch, and though the big
liners now nearing completion will car
ry 700 carloads of freight, they will be
loaded and unloaded with as little loss
of time as now attends the handling OF
the smaller boats Of the Oriental line.
Will Be Solid Ground.
After the concrete seawalls are in
place under the two docks the railroad
company intends to fill in the land I'M
derneath. This will give the Great
Northern the only wharves resting
upon solid foundation on the Coast.
No piling will be necessary, as the sea-
wall will support the outer edges OF the
wbarves.
The new dock will be practically oil
the same size as the one now at the
cove. 1t will be l 900 feet long and
$50 ieet wide. The warehouse will be
500 feet long and 120 teet wide and two
stories in height.