UNEXCELLED HARBOR EQUIPMENT AIDS DEVELOPMENT
Municipally Owned
By O. B. Harardt, Chief Engineer, the
Cemuilftslun uf Public Docks.
DURING the last six or seven years
the Pacific coast has witntssed
a concerted and enormous growth
In port development, large sums have
been expended by the major ports In
the provision of modern facilities for
the handling of Its rapidly expand
ing water-borne commerce. Practi
cally all of thi3 vast terminal work
has been done by the municipalities,
or the state In the ease of San Fran
cisco, construction by private Inter
ests during this time having been ex
ceedingly email.
ctlitiea for the purpose of entering
Into competition either with railroads
cr privately owned docks, nor are
they built with the Idea that they
will become a source of revenue to
the municipality. They are rather
provided to meet a public demand
and furnish modern and Increased fa
cilities which shall be available to
any vessel entering the port. They
are now universally conceded a ne
cessity and. It may be said. that, as
auch. they have'become a fixed policy
of all Important f ports.
While in soma ports In this coun
try the'e public facilities are self
sustaining. In the majority of cases.
It is believed, they are not eo now and
In some cases they probably never
will be. Notwithstanding this, the
peopl have fresly voted the funds
necessary to provide, such terminal
facilities, feeling that the collateral
benefits which the ccnmunlty at
large will derive through them, by
the lncreass in the port's commerce
and the upbuilding of its industries,
fully justify the large expenditures
that are being made for that purpose.
Voters Keek Efficiency.
The funds voted and expended for
municipal, commercial water ter
minals at this port in a most prac
tical way Indicates a liberal policy
and the dealrs on the part of the
voters of the city of Portland to have
their port brought up to the high
est standard of efficiency for the
.accommodation of shipping, the lat
est facilities to be provided beins
both in retpect to magnitude and
convenience, equal to any on the Pa
cific coast. It is gratifying that
the people at home are learning to
appreciate more and mora the ex
cellent advantages which this port
possesses and to know that the port
and its facilities are being used at
the present time to a much greater
extent than ever before.
This condition becomes still more
ncouraglng when we consider the
large number of regular steamship
lines which nave established, perma
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Hifesm 1 i mw? iwmCT r-rfai S Sail
Provisions of Port of
nent service wfth this port in the
last 12 months.
The earliest waterfront develop
ment of the port was provided for
the purpose of furnishing facilities
required for the shipment of the
principal commodities pr duced loca
ly and in the port's tributary grain
and lumber but with the constantly
Increasing commerce of the port,
additional facilities were rapidly
constructed until 1910. when the com.
mission of public docks was created
there had been developed by private
interests, a water frontage of more
than four and one-half miles which
was being used by vessels ranging
from the usual type of river steamers
and coasting vessels to the large
ocean-going carriers.
Large Sams Appropriated.
Since 1912, when the commission of
public docks, the official body charged
with the reconstruction of the city's
waterfront, entered the field as a
municipal agency to provide the port
with modern and efficient shipping
facilities, the people have voted the
sum of 110.500.000 for such work, and
from expenditures made to December
1, 1920, there have been provided the
following publicly owned and oper
ated municipal port terminal facili
ties, besides others which are now
under construction and will be com
pleted during the early part of 1921:
Municipal terminal No. 1, a quay
dock 955 feet in length, with transit
shed 100 feet by 915 feet; a pier 464
feet in length, with transit shed 176
feet by 330 feet and a warehouse 190
feet by 200 feet. This installation
furnishes a very compact term'naL
with rail trackage accommodating at
one time .J standard freight cars and
a harbor frontage affording berthing
space for three large vessels. The
total general cargo capacity of this
terminal is 20.500 tons.
Municipal terminal No. 2. a two
level quay dock, (26 feet In length,
covered with transit shed 104 feet in
width the full length of the dock.
The dock has trackage for placement
of 20 cars and a general cargo ca
pacity of 9000 tons.
Municipal terminal No. 3. a quay
dock 540 feet in length, with transit
shed 100 feet by 440 feet, trackage
facilities for 27 freight cars and a
general cargo capacity for 5500 tons.
These terminals were constructed
previous to 1916 and are considered
as general cargo docks and are not,
as a rule, used for the handling of
grain.
Export Facilities oncrirtraiod.
When, in 1916. it became apparent
that the old method of transporting
the grain crop of the port's tributary
territory to tidewater in sacks would
soon be done away with and the uni
THE
Portland for Handling
versal custom of handling this com
modity in bulk, both rail and export,
be adopted, the commission of public
docks took necessary steps to con-
. struct elevator and pier facilities for
the proper handling of the grain. At
the same time it decided to concen
trate, as far as practicable, at such
terminal, later designated as municl
pay terminal No. 4, its main facilities
for the accommodation of the port's
principal import and export business,
and for this purpose obtained a site
containing approximately 160 acres
with a harbor frontage of 2730 lineal
feet in length, with transit shed 175
Municipal Terminal No. 4. This
terminal, when fully completed, will
consist of five piers and three slips
and will afford berthing space at
one time for 17 500-foot vessels, with
about 20 miles of railroad tracks on
the terminal site, serv'ng the piers,
elevator, bunkers, vegetable oil plant,
etc., together with the 50-acre In
dustrial section of this terminal.
At this time there have been com
pleted and are in operation at this
terminal the following facilities: 1
Pier No. 1, 1500 feet i length, of
which 600 feet has two levels, cov
ered with a transit shed ISO feet in
width ana 1500 feet in length. The
total general cargo capacity of this
pier Is 35,000 tons and If used for
sacked grain and flour, 56.000 tons.
Pier No. 2. This pier has a length
of 1500 feet and -vidth of 225 feet,
the eubstructure of which has been
CHANNEL
modity in bulk, both rail and export, I 1 WP-tdK' J $mB JK. a&sW "wsumi iiifeL ""W
be adopted, the commission of public W Pit j$C "5k. W0'Wr' jBHHL SHB&jK
docks took necessary steps to con- " M i .9 1 amy'WJm):! I
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Port and Dock Commission
THOUGH defeated at the November
election, the proposal to place
the now divided authority and
responsibility of the Port of Portland
commission and the commission of
public docks in one consolidated com
mission is a living project in the
minds of thousands of Interested
Portlanders and particularly in the
minds of the members of the port
administrative bodies.
The vote rolled up for and against
the port consolidation measure showed
clearly that the electorate of the Port
of Portland district is heartily in
favor of the consolidation and of the
attendant project of improving the
harbor in the vicinity of Swan Island.
The proposals were defeated by vot
ers outside of Multnomah county.
As It is the local voters who will
pay the Increased taxes if the con
solidation Is effected and bear the
entire expense of the proposed im
provement, it is held by the friends
of tbe scheme that it la their vote
3IORXLVG OEEGONIAX, SATURDAY, .TAXUARY 1, 1921
I "l UiIInaMMONHMMMKIIIII I II Htm.il
Vast Comhterce Include Four Terminals, Two Drydocks and a Grain Elevator With 1,000.000 Bushels Capacity
S" (ifi JVftCcC T" laiisaaasaaaaaaaaasBasKPW
- .c , II
Fier- jVb.l Termini
ronj of flour-.
completea, and construction is un
der war on the outer one-half of the
pier of a transit shed of the same
width as that on pier No. 1, or 180
feet.
Pier No. 5. This pier has a length
of 665 feet on the harbor line and
900 feet along slip Nj. 3. The harbor
line portion of the pier is completed
and In operation and the 900-foot
extension along the slip under con
struction is to be completed early in
1921.
Grain elevator of 1,000,000 bushels'
capacity, capable of del'vering bulk
grain to vessels at the rate of 20,000
bushels per hour.
For the handling of vegetable oils
and molasses 11 steel storage tanks
of 1,072.000 gallons' capacity have'
been installed, together with two
60-ton scale tanks for weighing of
oils, complete pumping and dis
PROJECT
Consolidation Would Carry Swan Island Proposal
that matters, not that of the outside
counties, whose voters and taxpayers
are not vitally affected by the mat
ter one way or the other. Therefore,
they are determined to carry out the
will of the people of the port district
and effect the consolidation of com
missions through action of tbe state
legislative assembly.
The bill that will be presented to
the legislature is already being
framed by a committee of attorneys,
among whom are Gus C. Moser, ap
pointed by the Port of Portland; J. B.
Kerr, appointed by the committee of
fifteen, and W. P. LaRoche. appointed
by the commission of public docks.
The Swan island project, with which
the consolidation measure is insep
arably linked, provides for the open
ing of the west channel In the Wil
lamette river around this island,
closing of the present narrow and
tortuous east channel and deposition
of the spoils of dredging on the low
lands ef Guild's lake and Mock's bot
Vb. Jfolcfr a
tributing mains, car cleaning pit,
track scale, etc.
As a necessary adjunct in the
operation of a terminal of this mag
nitude a large administration build
ing, a cafeteria or restaurant seat
ing 250 people and a welfare build
ing have been provided, together with
many other conveniences which add
materially to successful terminal
operation.
For the purpose of having facili
ties available in the port which
would insure the rapid) handling of
certain bulk commodities, such as
phosphate rock, sulphur, coal, etc,
in the most economical manner, the
commission has constructed on pier
No. 5 a most modern bunker storage
plant having capacity for 12,500 tons.
The unloading of cars is accom
plished by a special machine costing
365,000, which empties a car in about
UP TO LEGISLATURE
ifii uiiarsii if iii i un: ii em h)i F! urui i riTun i iitiiittci?ftiiit:M
tom to make these now idle proper
ties available as sites for docks, ter
minals and Industries.
That the consolidation measure re
ceived a majority of votes In Mult
nomah county Is probably due to the
action of Frank M. Warren, chairman
of the port commission, who gave a
formal pledge that no bonds would
bs issued for new development work
without being first specifically au
thorized by the voters of the port
district. This pledge received the
signatures of all members of the
present port and dock commissions,
which men will constitute the new
board under the consolidation plan,
and was therefore binding. Mr. War
ren pledged the commissioners to sub
mit to the people a choice of three
possible methods of proceeding with
the development. These three meth
ods ars: First, purchase of the Mock's
bottom end Guild's lake lands by the
port commission: second, leaving the
lands in the hands of their present
owners and calling upon these own
tmiumimimnmiHnnmniiuuMjmtiiniw
seven minutes. . The conveyor ma
chinery of the plant delivers the bulk
freight to vessels at the rate of 300
tons per hour and automatically
trims it in the vessel's hold.
The plans of the commission con
template the entire completion of
term'nal No. 4 in the near future.
In municipal terminal No. 4 the
city of Portland has provided a self
contained, combined rail and water
terminal of great flexibility and ex
pansive possibilities, where all serv
ices incidental to terminal operation
can beperformed with economy and
dispatch, where ample space will be
available for all classes of cargo and
d iiiiij ijjiii if 1111 iri i:t tfiiriitiiitiiiiiiLiiitif u iJUiruttiiraiiiMsiiii iijiiu :j 1111 1 ihit ft:
to Straighten River Route
ers to pay a portion of the cost of
improvement, and, third, donating to
the owners of the property the spoils
of dredging.
As it will be submitted to the leg
islature, the bill will embody all of
these changes, as did the measure
passed upon by the voters at the No
vember election, and also all reser
vations or pledges to which the com
missioners were bound. Other m'.nor
improvements in the proposed piece
of legislation are being worked out
by a committee appointed by H. B.
Van Duzer, president of the Portland
Chamber of Commerce. F. W. Mulkey
is chairman of this committee. Other
members are: Joseph Simon,
Wentworth, George Lawrence, George
W. Joseph, J. W. Ganong, B. W. Slee
man. S. M. Mears, Mrs. C. B. Simmons,
John F. Daly, W. D. Wells and W. C.
Huegnitz. These committeemen are
co-operating with the committee of
15 appointed by Mayor Baker more
than a year ago to work out s com
prehensive plan of harbor development.
irtiiiiiiiuiniiiiiiiiimiiil
commodities, under shed or for open
storage, without congestion, and
where present as well as future re
quirements can be provided for.
Mechanical Equipment Complete.
As mechanical equipment of munic
ipal terminals, cargo hoists, electrio
winches, freight piling machines,
electric trucks, tractors, ramps, ele
vators, cranes and conveyers and
locomotive cranes are well distrib
uted among the terminals. At ter
minal No. 4 the commission main
tains its own switching engine, flat
cars for transfer between piers and
dump cars for handling ballast, to
which will be added, as required,
such other equipment as will Insure
the expeditious and economical han
dling of cargo.
There Is now in operation a five
pontoon floating drydock capable of
handling vessels 500 feet long and
of 10,000 deadweight lifting capacity,
and another floating diydock of 15,
000 tons' capacity is under construc
tion. It will be ready for operation
about April 1, 1921.
The municipal terminals, with ex
ception of terminal K.. 3, are pro
vided with automatic sprinkler sys
tems and are otherwise protected
with most modern fire protection de
vices. While the municipality has sup
plied the port with i -.odern and most
efficient water terminal facilities,
private Interests have, as already
noted, developed more than four and
one-half miles of the port's water
frontage, and a brief description will
here be given of those which are be
ing utilised in connection with the
deep-sea shipping oi the port gen
eral cargo, grain, lumber and fuel
docks.
Five general cargo docks have a
total bsrthing space tit 2395 lineal
feet, with a total cargo space under
shed of 400.750 square feet
The 11 grain and flour docks, with
a total berthing space of 5415 lineal
' a ISA r7y v t m
feet, have a total cargo space under
shed of 1,086,750 square feet. There
is also a grain elevator of ISO, 000
bushels capacity.
The large sawmills of the port have
eight large docks with a total berth
ing space of 4742 lineal feet.
Private Docks Developed.
These private general cargo and
grain docks have a combined capacity
for 262,050 tons of cargo at one time.
Four fuel oil docks, with a total
berthing space of 1542 lineal feet.
Total crude oil storage 17,756,341 gal
lons and refined oil of 6,562,878 gal
lons. Modern coal bunKers with 300-ton
per hour ship delivery.
A lew-water depth of 10 feet Is
main ained at practically all of the
port's commercial docks, thus insur
ing the safe berthing or tne largest
vessels, regardless of tidal or rivsr
co.-iditions.
While the port at this time is well
supplied with waterfront facilities to
csre for the large commerce of the
port, it is evident that with the pros
pective Increase of shipping which
undoubtedly will soon develop on this
coast that additional facilities will
have to be provided and the policy of
the commission is to at all times keep
abreast of actual requirements and
to supply such standard and special
equipment as will meet ths demands
of shipping for the economical and
expeditious handling of cargo at this
port.
And when the further fact is taker
Into consideration that on tbe entlr
Pacific coast of the United States, be
tween Vancouver island and Mexico
some 1500 miles, the number of first
class harbors through which tbe com
merce of the orient as well as othsi
nations of the world must be han
dled is so very limited, the further
and extensive development of thSBo
ports will, undoubtedly, in the near
future, er.ga-c the serious attention
of the respective port authorities.