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Transportation on Inland Waterways River Terminal Facilities Described and Illustrated—T ypes Recommended for Various Waterways—Importance of Efficient Cargo Handling Equipment HE sore need of reducing the cost of transferring freight from barge to car and vice versa is manifest when it is considered, tak- ing the Mississippi section as an ex- ample, that, using the present ter- minal facilities, obsolete in design and costly in operation, 39 cents out of every dollar earned for freight carriage is paid out for terminal charges, and that it actually costs 4 cents per ton more to load freight on the barge at St. Louis and unload it at New Orleans than it does to haul it the 1142 miles of river stretching between these two cities. Moreover, the losses and damage to freight, caused almost entirely by the present crude methods of loading and unloading, have reached the for- bidding figure of 18 cents for every ton of freight hauled, amounting to four cents out of every dollar earned.”’ Improvement in Terminals Quoted from Gen. Ashburn’s state- ment in the report of the secretary of war for 1921, the above para- graph expresses forcibly the condi- tions in regard to terminal facili- ties existing at that time on the Mis- sissippi river. Since the above state- ments were made, there has been considerable improvement in _ ter- minals on the inland waterways un- til now the freight carried by the barge lines on the more important rivers is generally handled with some facility and despatch. However, the fact that these conditions existed and still do exist on various rivers, has been directly responsible for retard- ing development of inland waterway transportation; directly by placing the heavy burden of excessive costs of cargo handling on the boat lines themselves and indirectly by limting the confidence of shippers in the se- curity of freight moved by water. Fortunately, during the past ten years, there has been a more or less concerted attempt on the part of in- terests on the important rivers to construct modern terminals, equipped with efficient means of economically handling freight into and out of riv- er barges. The installation of this modern handling equipment has in- creased the earnings of the lines and has attracted to water transporta- tion on the rivers a great deal of freight which formerly moved only by rail. 30 Part III BY E. C. POWERS HE importance of modern and efficient terminals to the future of transportation on the inland waterways of this country cannot be overemphasized. In- efficient cargo handling facilities, have served more than any other factor, to retard waterway trans- portation. The accompanying article covering terminal facilities on the inland waterways is the third and concluding part of a comprehensive article on inland waterway transportation. The first part, which appeared in the April issue, discussed improve- ment of important waterways; the second part, in the May issue, was devoted to boats, lines and services on the various rivers. It also pointed out just how great are the savings which can be and are being realized an- nually by shippers who move their freight by river. Just as river boat operation has necessitated development of very spe- cialized types of towboats and bar- ges, so does cargo handling on the inland waterways require’ special types of terminals and cargo han- dling facilities. These terminal fa- cilities cannot be of the sort at use at lake or seaports on account of a condition which is peculiar to the rivers themselves. The one big de- termining factor, responsible for the wide variety in types of river termi- nal facilities, is the fact that river levels may vary as much as 20 to 30 feet between the low and high wa- ter stage. Seaport terminals have fluctuations in depth to contend with, but in this case the effect of the fluctuation is entirely vertical. On the large inland river fluctua- tions in depth of water require ac- commodations of facilities in a hori- zontal direction, away from shore in case of a lowering of the water ley- el and a movement, farther inshore in case of an increase in depth. This MARINE REVIEw—June, 1931 tendency toward fluctuation in a horizontal direction has lead to the construction and operation of a va- riety of terminals, which can readily be accommodated to any changes in river stages. Wharf Barge and Escalator One terminal of this type would consist of a wharf barge, a terminal on shore, and an escalator serving as the connecting link between the two. The fixed terminal building on shore would handle the freight from and to the railroads, and the wharf barge would serve the river car- riers, with the freight passing be- tween the two by means of the es- calator. With this sort of arrange- ment, the wharf barges have been so built that when a river barge and wharf boat are moored _ together, openings in the wharf boat corre- spond with doors in the river barge. By this means, cargo is handled be- tween the river and wharf barge by direct access. With the escalator, four-wheeled trailer trucks are load- ed with freight on the wharf barge or terminal proper and are moved between the two. By this process, the trailer trucks pass back and forth between the wharf barge and terminal without need of an attend- ant. After the trailer trucks have been hauled to the top of the es- calator, they are. segregated into trains and hauled in that manner to their destination, whether it be for loading direct into railroad cars, or for transfer to the city freight house, or to the warehouse for stor- age. While the process of unload- ing the wharf barge into the ter- minal is going on, trucks which have been emptied in the terminal are moved by a second escalator from the terminal to the wharf barge where they are again loaded with freight. This type of terminal is efficient for river use and is in Op- eration quite generally where pack- age freight is handled. In the case of the terminal which handles freight from and to distant point for direct transfer from rail to barge or vice versa, there is @ railroad incline extending from the railroad yard to the river edge, and a further extension into the water, this latter to allow for fluctuation in river stages. The incline is fitted with a cradle and a number of car floats. The cradle acts as a connecting link.