Norwich bulletin., 1916-03-02
$sOoyOOO STRUCTURE
FOR NEW PIER
Warehouses, Sheds and Office Build
 inss 10 be Erected.


 At the meeting of the New London Harbor commission in the capitol at Hartford Tuesday afternoon, the sub committee was authorized to proceed at once to secure bids by advertising for the construction of warehouses sheds, office buildings and all other details of the superstructure for the state steamship terminal at East New London. It is estimated this will en- tail an expenditure of approximately $500, 900, which sum will Include the cost of elevators and other necessary equipment.
 Plans for the superstructure are al- ready virtually completed. The ma terial to be used will consist of steel, concrete and timber. One huge ware house 1000 feet long and 100 feet wide will cover the entire central portion of the great pier, where the filled area
 Is located. This structure will be two stories in height and will rest upon a substantial foundation of big con-
 crete blocks and hundreds of heavy
 piles. In the ware house, the upper floor of which will be used for perma-
 nent storage purposes, that is for goods likely to remain some length of
 time, will be offices of various kinds.
 The greater portion of the rernain-
 der Of the pier, which has a width of
 50 feet on each side of the warehouse, will be covered with a single story shed. part of the pier surface will,
 however, be left open for the recep-
 tion of certain bulk cargoes, such as
 lumber, which do not require protec-
 tion from the clements and which can
 be more conveniently handled in the
 open. The construction of all the su-
 perstructure will be of a type known
 as fire-resisting.
 It is anticipated that about six
 weeks will be required to finish the
 final detailsh of the plans and to ar
 range for publication of invitations to
 bid and responses from contractors.
 With the award of the contract. work
 will begin immediately and the super
 structure will be finished in the sum-
 mer.
 This does not imply, however that
 the terminal will not be ready for use
 before that time. There is to be a stipulation with the successful con-
 particular unit of the superstructure is completed, it may be taken over by the commission and used at once in the operation of the terminal. While the price of building materials is high at the present time, there is no as- surance that they may not be higher and for this reason the commission determined to proceed at once with the superstructure construction and l thereby get into the steamship market l as soon as possible.
 Excellent Investment for State. 1hdL lIlSTe Will De no Ql1ncultY IT ! leasing pier space at a rental suffi. ! cient to bring to the state an excellent | return on its investment is no longer ! open to doubt, since inquiries are be. l ing constantly received from steam ship companies and others asking fol | information concerning the termina | and the probable date of its comple. | tion.
 | In this connection it is of interes
 to note that the Commonwealth piel ! at South Boston, developed by the DOT | directors several years ago as one o | the largest and best equipped watel | front terminals in the world, Is prov. | ing veritable boom to manufacturer. | in these times when transportation 1 facilities generally are overtaxed. IT | the past year there was an increas, ! in the volume of freight handled at thu
 pier of nearly 70 per cent.
 | The tremendous amount of freigh i since cared for far exceeds all preyi | ous records. Without its facilities much of this traffic would never hay,
 come to Boston, in the opinion O ! prominent business men of that city 1 Within the last two weeks the Ham l burg-American liners Amerika anC l Cincinnati have been taken over tC l East Boston to give more room or
 the Commonwealth pier. where the! ! of the war. Their removal will make
 it possible to unload at least five ships | at the pier at one time.
 It is the belief of those who have been foremost in making the state l steamship terminal at East New Lon. | don reality that it will score a sue. 1 cess in proportion to that of the Com | monwealth pier. They feel that it he | quires little stretch of the imagina | tion to duplicate in the near future l the scenes of the Boston terminal where cargoes of many kinds of com l modities. including wool hides, rub i Der, cotton, Manila hemp and other | articles too numerous for classified | tion are piled high in all available | space.
 Such work as was possible under the i weather conditions has been going or | at the pier during the last few months l the principal feature being land ex- l cavation by the steam shovels of the | J. E. Fitzgerald Co. This portion o1 | the terminal approach construction is l now we'll toward completion and it is | stated that at the present time, with A hours notice, suitable track con- nections could be made with the Cen 1 tral Vermont line whereby freight
 cars could be hauled to and from the l pier with steamship cargoes.