Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1911-03-15

at the terminal Of the canal from
trunk lines Of steamships, the capture
of the great markets Of the south
might with confidence be left to the
.country's shipping interests.
For the Smaller Boats.
In planning the government docks
the idea has been that steamship
lines would hardly, find 1t profitable to
run through boats from Atlantic or
gulf ports to the different ports in
Central and South America, and that
the real advantage of the canal to this
country must lie in the establishment
Of facilities at Panama to transship
small units Of freight from the steam.
ers running between the Pacific and
Atlantic coasts and the canal to small
er lines running down the South
American coast and to ports in Cen
trail America. In Mr.. Bakers opinion
the transshipment Of freight intended
for ports within radius of 700 miles
Of the Panama docks could be best
accomplished by a feet Of oil-burn-
ing twin screw steel barges Of about
2, 900 tons burden, leaving 1t to larger
steamers to run regularly from the
docks down to the more distant ports
on the west coast OF South America.
Having In view some such plan as
this the governments plans provide
for such a transfer point at Balboa
the Pacific end OF the canal. Here are
to be erected the most extensive docks
Of the whole Improvement, docks that
will make Of this little Central Amer
lean city a shipping point Of world
wide Importance. .s
Right at the actual end Of the canal.
where 1t opens into Panama bay.
there will be constructed basin.
capable Of holding the largest ships
and covering a total area Of 271 acres.
From two sides Of this basin there
will project sixteen concrete piers,
1 900 feet in length, capable Of ac-
commodating not only such ships az
the Mauretania but also ships Of the
size Of the olympic and Titanic Of the
White Star line, now about finished
and which have a total length Of $50
feet. Ships of this length may not
pass through the, canal for many years,
but In the meantime each Of the piers
can be used by two ordinary steamers,
SO great will be their length.
Two Miles Of Docks.
The extreme length Of the land re-
served for. these docks is two miles,
but only about two.thirds Of this is to
be improved Immediately. That ships
will have no trouble in turning be-
tween the two lines Of piers is indi-
Gated by the fact that from pierhead
to pierhead. across the Intervening
basin, the distance will be 5000 feet.
or more than the fairway ON the ,Hud-
son. Taking In the length of the
piers 1t will be nearly mile across.
Here are some other figures: Area
Of slips, 4,231.25O square feet; wharf
frontage. $4,000 square feet; length
OF turning basin, 1900 feet.
One Of the most interesting features
in connection with the piers is their
slanting direction. They will slant
toward the canal. This was decided
upon by experts in the matter, for the
reason that 1t will enable ships to
run into them more easily from either
direction, allowing them to dispense
with the use Of tugs and to go in
under their own steam. It will also
obviate difficulties that would other
wise be encountered by reason of the
20-foot tide there.
Where the Pacific piers are to be
there is now a swamp. To construct
the basin 1t will be necessary to
dredge this to depth Of So feet at
mean tide. The excavated material
will be used to fill in other parts Of
the swamp to make ground for the
transfer yards of the Panama railroad,
which is to extend around the. basin
with spur of track running on to
each pier.
AS projected now these docks on
the Pacific side will be probably the
largest and most completely appointed
system of docks in the world. The
new Tilbury docks at London have
a water area of only 10 acres to com.
pare with the area Of 271 acres Of the
Panama turning basin alone. What
is more, these docks are to be
equipped with the most modern cleo
trio cargo handling machinery. In:
Guiding huge overhead electrical
cranes and system of escalators for
handling tween deck cargoes, the en-
tire system to be operated probably