The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1920-11-09
Huge Car Ferry AIbatross Has Been
Cut in Two and Fifty-seven Feet
is Being Added in keokuk
Dock.
EXACT
New keelson Fits Space Exactly,
While There is Discrepancy Of
Less Than q Of Inch in
Deck.

Imagine putting a steel thread, sos
feet long, weighing 1880 tons and
ninety-two feet around, through the
eye of a needle, and you have some
idea of the nicely of calculation nee
essary in the addition of flfty-seven
feet to the car ferry Albatross, which
is in the Keol1uk dry dock for that
operation now.
The boat has been divided and the
steel is being inserted IN place. and
the whole operation has been accom-
plished to such hairs breadth of
accuracy that the only place there is
any variation is on the side plates,
and the three-eighths of an inch diff
ference there will be taken up by the
time the job is completed. 7.
The gigantic car ferry, built in the
Dubuque yards and sent south in 1907,
finds herself now unable to accomo-
date the new length mail cars and
coaches, and the company decided on
the operation to add fifty-seven feet
The Keokuk dry dock was the only
place where the big boat could be &C
comodated, and she was brought here
in August. The steel has Just arriv-
ed and a force of men, working night
and day will endeavor to complete the
operation before the river freezes
The operation in itself is intricate.
The big boat was brought into the
dock and placed on the cradles. the
rivets holding one seam in the center
were cut and then pounded out. rms
was done all the way round, and the
operation was as simple, so far. as
drawing a basting thread. The hard
mart came next It was necessary to
separate the boat Just fifty-seven feet
and no more. The steel which was
to 20 into the new part had been cast
and fabricated in the south. 1t was
coming with all holes drilled to fit
the fifty-seven foot space, and there
must be Just that much room and no
more or less.
Operation is Intricate.
The way this was accomplished was
little less than marvellous, and MAJOR
Ia. A. Poland Of ST. Louis, who Is di-
irecting the work for the Ripley Boat
company, said: 81 take off my nat
Ito Major Meigs and his men. That
man Ackley is a wonder. He stood
on the boat there when she was beng
tnulled apart, and I know he had his
fingers on the very pulse of the boat
and this dock. He struck 1t WITHIN
three-eighths of an inch, and take OIL
nv hat to him and his crew..
After the plates were cut, the stern
commandments of the boat were flood
ed and this end was lowered little
bv little to rest on the cradles. IN
order to keep the tremendous weight
from crushing the cradles while the
stern was sinking, water was added
gradually to the compartments, and al
the same time water was let into the
dock to give a little bouyancy. After
the stern was settled, the bow was
moved forward fifty-seven feet.
To accomplish this ropes were at
tached to the capstans along the wal
of the dock, and the Prov moved for
ward. Steel tape line marked the
places where the PROV should rest
~ and when the boat reached these Mr.
Ackley stopped the capstans and the
l water was let out. The big stee
keelson was slipped into place, withou
the variation of fraction of an inch
Only Three-Eighths of Inch.
The keelson, pronounced kelson, Il
: the back bone of the ship and this wa:
practically an operation to ,lengthel
, the back bone of the boat. When l
3 was found that the keelson fitted int
t place, the plates were measured ant
2 it took calipers, practically to discove
5 the slight discrepancy. The differ
3 ,ence is in the top plates entirely ant
when these are fastened they will b.
f fastened by small pins at first, an'
r the slight slack taken up until tn
/ full sized bolt will fit
s The steel plates arriving from tn
r south already fabricated are marked
:. and their position against the of
e plates is marked so that the crane cal
a ries them from the car on the DIR,
r dock wall to the steel men in the pi