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354 THE MARINE REVIEW and upon the supremacy of our mer- chant shipping there depends the very existence of that federation of free British nations which so many of us have idealized within recent years, and which seems now within reasonable dis- tance of full realization. So it will be the imperative duty of the empire as such to rally to the support of ship- ping, to see that whatever international disadvantages it labors under are re- moved, that it is encouraged to organize itself for world services, and that it is acknowledged for what it is—the great- est of our world-wide industries, and an industry without which the British Em- pire, as an empire, would at once cease to exist, and the integral parts would cease to have any freedom worthy of the name. New Pier Fenders By A. A. Willoughby The use of suspended fenders on concrete piers Nos. 30 and $2. at < San Francisco. .has . proven successful in reducing maintenance costs. The presence of the deadly teredo and limnoria in the waters of San Francisco bay, limits the life of a green pile to about a year and the treated section of creosoted fender piles also wears through owing to rough usage, making maintenance a considerable item. Few disadvantages have developed during the time the suspended fenders have been in use and these are not serious. Nearly two miles of suspended fenders are now in use at San Francisco. Three factors regularly enter into the design of a fender line — initial cost, maintenance cost and ease of making repairs. The design of a fender line for a concrete pier neces- sitates the use of a cushioning device of some sort to protect both the pier and vessels. In a wooden pier, flex- ibility is naturally present. How Fenders are Suspended The piers on which the suspended fenders were installed are of the re- inforced concrete cylinder type of con- struction. The supports for the sus- pended fender structure, consists of reinforced concrete cantilevers pro- jecting out from the cylinders on the lines of the main transverse girders. As shown clearly in the accompanying illustration three lines of ribbing were built up of creosoted lumber, carrying the vertical sheathing which is of green timbers. The ribbing is secured to the pier proper by 1-inch chain. Between the ribbing and the cantilever on the upper and lower rows, a 12- inch, 3-coil standard spiral car spring is interposed at each point of con- _or striking. nection, using a cast steel cup bolted to the concrete to provide for the thrust and to keep the spring in place. The spring has a compressibility of 3 inches and supports a pressure of 25 tons. Through the use of chafing plates, both the concrete and the rib- bing are protected. The sheathing consists of 10 x 10- inch. timbers of Douglass fir, 16 feet long. They are spaced on 2.5-foot centers, using chocks on each row of ribbing. The best size of sheathing has been. found by tests to be 10x 12-inch, separated by .10 x 12-inch chocks and this will be used in future fender construction. The rows of rib- bing consist either of three 4 x 16-inch, three 4 x 12-inch or three 6 x 12-inch, according to convenience in fitting the October, 1916 ing in- ultimate cost and less inter- ference with shipping in making re- pairs. In the first instance, the de- termining factor which caused the adoption of this type, was the fact that the thin stratum of mud over- lying the hard bottom of these piers, was unsuitable to driving wooden piles for any purpose. The plans for this type of fender were prepared under the direction of A. V. Saph, formerly chief engineer for the state harbor commission. The installation was made under the super- vision of Jerome Newman, present chief engineer. For the information contained in this article, acknowledg- ment is given to Charles N. Young, chief draftsman, state harbor commis- sion. HOW SUSPENDED FENDERS ARE SUPPORTED design. The outer corners are the only points where trouble has developed. Incoming and outgoing boats when not skillfully managed, have torn several of the fenders loose through warping At the corners it was necessary to bolt the sheathing direct to the horizontal beams. The _ best practice at pier corners where springs cannot be used is to employ a large floating rope fender. The difficulties at the corners however, have been overcome in a large measure by leav- ing a recess in the concrete structure, in which a large cluster of wooden piles is placed. The advantage of a suspended fen- der as shown by experience at San Francisco includes a considerable sav- Big Shipment of Cars A consignment of steel cars, the first part of a contract running well into millions of dollars, left Philadelphia for France on the steamer CAMLAKE a few weeks ago. The cars are being sent through Philadelphia by the National Steel Car Co., Hamilton, Ont., and Fur- ness, Withy & Co., Ltd., Philadelphia. It was the largest shipment ever made from the port and with a single ex- ception, from the United States. The shipments will be made from Municipal Pier No. 16, recently leased for the pur- pose by the steamship company. Three steamships have been chartered to run between six and nine months to handle the full contract.