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Public Grain Elevator and Section of Wharves on North Side of Turning Basin at Houston fully utilized will provide berthing space for about fifteen hundred ves- sels with necessary sheds, warehouses and railway connections. The naviga- tion district will develop this as rapidly as needed, or will execute long term leases to private parties for industrial or terminal purposes. Shipside terminals were constructed at the turning basin and Manchester by the city of Houston with the pro- ceeds of a $3,000,000 bond issue, pro- viding 3649 lineal feet of wharves and railway connection to trunk lines. The navigation district, including all of Harris county, through an enabling act passed by the Texas state legisla- ture on Aug. 21, 1921, took over by lease all of the city of Houston ter- minal facilities, and at once pro- ceeded to enlarge them. During the period 1922-24 four new concrete wharves were constructed on the north side of the turning basin with a total length of 2140 feet; in 1926 a public grain elevator, with a capacity of 1,000,000 bushels was added to the facilities. During 1928 wharves 14 and 15 were completed providing two additional ship berths on the north side. Im addition to these new wharves numerous exten- sions and improvements have been made to the existing structures and several miles of railroad trackage have been added to the port yard. North of the turning basin is lo- cated the large classification yard capable of holding 4000 cars which is the clearing house of the public belt railroad and the various lines serving Houston. The initial unit of this yard has already been constructed. From this classification yard several lead tracks reach the water front to serve both sides of the channel as well as the new terminals. On July 1, 1924, there was put in operation the Port Terminal Railroad association which operates all the facilities of the public belt railroad, connecting with the main trunk lines entering the city and providing for a neutral switching organization to handle all traffic to and from the port terminals and industries with equal dispatch and without discrimina- tion to any of the 19 railroads reach- ing the city. This arrangement is proving an entirely satisfactory solu- tion of the railroad and port terminal problem and with the extension of the public belt railroad, service along each side of the channel to every in- dustry is guaranteed. There has just been completed a further extension of over five miles of public belt railroad to reach the lo- cation of the Shell Petroleum Corp. This will give a total of 58.41 miles of track being operated by the Port Terminal Railroad association. The facilities of the port are well protected by a splendid system of fire mains and connections with the city of Houston water supply, as well as auxiliary electric fire pumps, and the entire port is patrolled by one of the latest diesel electric fire boats, the Port oF Houston. This vessel, con- structed in 1926, is 125 feet long, 27- foot beam, 8% foot draft, equipped with two 500-horsepower Winton diesel engines with an auxiliary unit of 165-horsepower driving Westing- house motor generators, which in turn operate motors for two Worthington centrifugal pumps with a capacity of 7000 gallons of water per minute at 150 pounds pressure, which can be de- livered through 39 fire nozzles, includ- ing the deck and turret monitor noz- (Continued on Page 64) LOADING COTTON, HOUSTON—CONCRETE WAREHOUSE ALONG TURNING BASIN MARINE REVIEW—July, 1929 53