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March, 1925 r FIG. New York Dock Co.’s pier No. 18, built in 1916. MARINE REVIEW 87 3—A TYPICAL PIER SHED MODERN The pier is 125 feet wide, the shed 115 feet. Continuous. doors form the sides of the shed, which is equipped with automatic sprinklers for fire protection, A railroad track runs the full length of the pier in the center of the shed Nature took its course as usual. As the old sheds burned, collapsed or be- came so hopelessly obsolete that they were ruthlessly pulled down, other sheds were built to replace them. Higher sheds, wider sheds, larger doors, broader stringpieces, all corrected the old faults. Topped with cargo masts, equipped with automatic sprinklers, sturdy _ steel framed structures with roof trusses spanning one hundred feet or more, these were sheds the like of which our forefathers had not imagined. We, who designed them and watched them come into being out of white lines on blue paper, were proud of them. We liked our continuous doors, which eliminated the shifting of the ships to make the hatches meet the doors, and the broader stringpieces which reduced the possibility of damage to the shed and expedited the raising and lowering of drafts of cargo. We liked the wide open pier decks, amply lighted by skylights and monitors, affording more room for the movements of trucks and longshore- men across and along the pier. We ap- plied the rapidly developing art of re- inforced concrete to our pier decks and provided smooth pavements for the trucks to roll over. We gave the oper- ating men what they wanted as nearly as we could with the material we had and rejoiced with them in the improved con- ditions. There is a lull in waterfront improve- ment work at present to compensate for some years of unusual activity along these lines and advantage should be taken of this opportunity to consider the pier shed of the future. Fire protection experts look with hor- hor at the pier sheds in New York and many other ports. To them a long, nar- row, undivided structure built of non- fireproof materials and filled with more or less inflammable merchandise is noth- ing but a cordial invitation to their sworn enemy, fire. Their judgment is based on experience and backed by sta- tistics. The fact that similar statements can be made regarding other classes of structures is no reason for disregarding their opinion. But the paternal in- fluence of economy is still a factor and the high cost of constructing fireproof piers and sheds will have to be offset by corresponding reductions in operat- ing, maintenance and insurance costs be- fore pier owners can justify such capi- tal investments. In the meantime, it behooves us to be guided by their rec- ommendations as much as possible. Unprotected steel work can be fire- proofed, excessive areas can be reduced by cross walls of fire-resistive material and fireproof roofing materials are avail- able. These and other features can be incorporated in new structures and should be given more consideration in the design of future pier sheds. The more important question from the viewpoint of the shipowner and op- erator is one of layout or arrangement. On this the experts disagree. The new City piers at Staten Island, New York, constitute an outstanding example of this difference of opinion. Twelve pier sheds, were designed and constructed, insofar as arrangement was concerned, to meet the specifications of the pros- pective tenants and the result proved only that there is no definite trend to- ward any particular type of shed for handling general cargo. In this group of piers, we find 1-story sheds and 2- story sheds, narrow. stringpieces and wide stringpieces, railroad tracks in the center of the shed and outside the shed, complete crane equipment on two piers and not even cargo masts on others. The shed on a pier used for trans- oceanic or coastwise cargo is a transit shed and its primary purpose is to pro- vide protection for cargo during the time it is being assembled for loading or discharged and sorted for delivery. The most important condition imposed is that it shall do this with the least pos- sible interference with these operations. Pier superintendents and stevedores us- ing the sheds are always in position to suggest improvements and their sugges- tions are most valuable. The designer must also consider construction cost, maintenance, insurance, depreciation and similar items of interest to the owners of such property. Cargo capacity of ships per lineal foot of length, sometimes referred to as car- go density, has been constantly increas- ing. High piling of cargo in transit is avoided whenever possible. The motor truck is an important factor in handling