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delivered from the plant, of which 343,423 tons were sold to ships. The best single performance of the reloaders of the Cristobal plant was on December 16, 1916, when the steamship Cumberland took 510 tons of bunker coal in 31 minutes. The unloading towers on December 30 and 31, 1916, discharged into the storage pile 12,000 tons of coal from the collier Achilles in 21 hours actual working time. On July 2 and 3, 1917, they discharged from the collier Ulysses 12,000 tons in 21 hours actual working time. The average cost of operation of the plant per ton of coal delivered to a ship at the reloader wharf is $0.90. This figure includes operations of both the unloader and the reloader towers, and the machinery for delivery into storage and removal therefrom.

At the beginning of the fiscal year the substructure of Pier No. 7 at Cristobal had been completed, and the floor was complete except for the laying of paving brick, which was 20 per cent complete. There remained to be erected 5 per cent of the structural-steel shed and 80 per cent of the concrete work in the walls and columns. The pier was completed on November 1, 1916, and was immediately put into service. Pier No. 7 was constructed from funds of the Panama Railroad.

The sundry civil act of July 1, 1916, authorized the construction of an additional pier, numbered 6, at Cristobal, at a limit of cost of $1,500,000, and made an initial appropriation of $800,000 for the beginning of the work. This pier is to be of the same general dimensions as Pier No. 7 and of the same type of construction. Due to the increased depth to rock at the site of Pier No. 6, the total length of cylinders in the foundation will be 12 per cent greater than in Pier No. 7. After some preliminary dredging work in the removal of 243,198 cubic yards of silt from the site of the pier, construction of the trestle and false work for the driving of steel cylinders was begun in October and completed in February. One thousand one hundred and thirty-five linear feet of trestle and false work were driven, at a unit cost of $36.23 per linear foot. The necessary power and motor lines and construction tracks laid on the trestle increased this cost to $41.84 per linear foot. The steel for the cylinders was furnished under contract with the Riter-Conley Company, of Pittsburg, Pa., at a unit price of $0.0357 per pound, the material to be cut to dimensions and delivered flat. Deliveries began in December, 1916, and were completed in April, 1917. The rolling and assembling of material into cylindrical shape was performed by the mechanical division at Cristobal shops at a unit cost of $4.206 per linear foot of cylinder. Driving of the cylinders was begun on November 29, 1916, and at the end of the fiscal year was 65 per cent complete, with a total of 15,855 linear feet of cylinders in place. The removal of ma

terials from the interior of the driven cylinders was begun December 15th, and was 63 per cent complete on June 30, 1917, 10,503 cubic yards of material having been removed. The filling of the cylinders with concrete was begun on January 25, 1917, and at the close of the fiscal year 10,987 cubic yards of concrete had been placed. In order to avoid the difficulties experienced in the construction of Pier No. 7 and of the Cristobal coaling plant, due to the collapse of the steel cylinders on account of the heavy external pressures at extreme depths, the thickness of the steel sheets used in the sections at and below depths of 70 feet was prescribed at one-half inch, instead of three-eighths inch. No trouble with collapsing cylinders has been experienced in Pier No. 6. Economy was effected by Mr. T. B. Monniche, the engineer in charge of the design and construction of the pier, by using three derrick barges, available from the breakwater work, in setting, driving, excavating and concreting the cylinders. This floating equipment made it possible for one longitudinal trestle to suffice instead of four, as were necessary on Pier No. 7. Plans and specifications for the structural steel work on the floor system were prepared during the first half of the fiscal year. Bids were advertised for during January and February and were opened on February 12, 1917. The lowest price offered was $0.052 per pound, an increase of more than 150 per cent over the corresponding costs of the steel in Pier No. 7, amounting to an increase of $365,000 in the cost of floor construction. These facts led to a change in design of the floor system, using reinforced concrete instead of structural steel, with an estimated saving of $253,000, but with a remaining increase of $112,000 over the cost of the floor system of Pier No. 7.

Improvements were made in the layout of the roads in the approaches to the docks at Cristobal, increasing the facilities for handling the traffic to and from the docks. An iron fence was erected, preventing access to the system of docks from the shore except through gates, in order to protect the cargoes stored on the docks against loss by theft and to prevent smuggling of goods into Panaman territory.

To afford protection to Pier No. 6, both during and after construction, against the high seas which, in stormy weather, pass through the interval between the two breakwaters, it was necessary to extend the Cristobal mole a length of about 810 feet. Work on the trestle for this extension was begun on June 10, 1916, and was continued intermittently, keeping pace with the fill, until completed in February, 1917. The fill, containing 119,414 cubic yards of soft rock excavated from the borrow pit at Mount Hope, was begun in August, 1916, and completed in February, 1917. For the protection of the sea slope of the mole extension 26,038 cubic yards of hard rock from Sosa

Hill were placed as armor. The mole serves the double purpose of a breakwater and of a fill on which to lay the railroad approach and yard tracks for the service of the pier.

A boat landing and launch house for the use of small boats in service at the Atlantic entrance was authorized to be constructed at the head of the slip between Piers Nos. 7 and 8. The substructure was completed on May 27, 1917, when work was suspended, due to delay in receipt of steel for the floor of the landing.

At the east breakwater there were placed by derrick barges from July to October, inclusive, 10,055 (81,156 cubic yards) concrete blocks as armor, and the harbor slope was completed by depositing from scows 46,350 cubic yards of material excavated by a ladder dredge working at the Cristobal coaling station. The breakwater was completed on November 30, including the removal of the tracks from the trestle and the salvaging of the trestle timbers. To provide for repairs to the breakwaters that may be made necessary from the action of storms, 1,143 concrete blocks, containing a total of 10,237 cubic yards, were manufactured and placed in storage at the Coco Solo yard. In August, September, and October, 1916, 612 concrete blocks, containing 9,667 cubic yards, were placed on the west breakwater to complete repairs due to damage done by the "northers" of 1915.

The total cost of the east breakwater up to the end of the preceding fiscal year was $3,365,743.56. The charges for work done during 1917 make the total cost of the completed breakwater $3,797,560.65. For further details of the terminal construction work, see report of the engineer of maintenance, Appendix A.

BUILDING DIVISION.

The operations of this division cover the construction of all buildings for the canal and railroad, barracks and quarters for the Army, and repairs of canal and railroad buildings in cases where the estimated cost of repairs undertaken in any instance exceeds $50. During the year work was in progress on the construction of 307 buildings for the canal, 3 for the railroad, and 64 for the Army. The principal buildings for the canal were the administration building, dispensary, laboratory, and an additional ward in the new Ancon Hospital group; 3 new concrete restaurants at Cristobal, Balboa, and Ancon; 5 new concrete school buildings at Cristobal, Gatun, Pedro Miguel, Ancon, and Balboa; separate storehouses of concrete for electrical supplies, paint, lumber, and general supplies; the concrete grand stand at the baseball and athletic grounds at Balboa; 4 concrete 4-family quarters at Balboa; 174 family quarters of timber con

struction at Ancon-Balboa; 44 family quarters of timber construction at Pedro Miguel; and 32 12-family sets of quarters of timber construction for silver employees. For the Panama Railroad there were constructed a concrete freight and baggage building at the Cristobal docks, and an electric-charging station at Balboa. The buildings for the Army included additional barracks and quarters at Fort Grant, Fort Sherman, Fort Randolph; artillery headquarters and barracks and band quarters at Fort De Lesseps; and barracks, quarters, shops, and special buildings for the Ordnance Department at the Ordnance Depot at Corozal, all provided for in appropriations by Congress and allotted to the Governor of The Panama Canal for expenditure. Details accompanying the report of the building division, Appendix A, show the types, the dates of beginning the work, the dates of completion, and the cost to June 8, 1917, of all the buildings in course of construction during the year.

The five school buildings are all of similar construction. They have exterior walls and, in most instances, interior walls of reinforced concrete, the remaining walls being of hollow concrete blocks, cement plastered; and reinforced concrete floor slabs and stairs throughout. The finished floors of classrooms, teachers' rooms, libraries, offices, and assembly rooms are of select narrow yellow pine, on wood sleepers buried in concrete; finished floors in entrance halls, interior corridors, and libraries are 6-inch square vitreous red tile; stairs have patented safety treads and reinforced-concrete newels and hand rails and wrought-iron square balusters; roofs are red tile, supported on wood frame; the general classrooms in all five schools are 21 feet by 32 feet 6 inches, accommodating 40 pupils, and each room is lighted by windows so placed as to admit light over the pupil's left shoulder while at his desk. All the schools are fully equipped with modern toilet fixtures, and each classroom with bookcase and slate blackboards.

The Ancon Hospital dispensary, laboratory, and ward group, completed during the year, were described in detail in the report for last year. The administration building, the construction of which was begun on March 20, 1917, was 25 per cent completed at the end of the year. This building, the central unit of the entire hospital plant, occupies a commanding position in the group overlooking Panama City and the bay. It is three stories and a basement in height, in plan the shape of the letter U, 154 feet 2 inches by 110 feet 3 inches over all dimensions, and comprises the various clinics, administrative offices and operating suites. Space in the basement has been provided for the drug dispensary, drug manufacturing department, store rooms, and a linen sorting room, with a laundry chute connecting it with the other floors of the building. On the first floor accommodations are provided for the eye and ear and medical clinics, X-ray

department, and waiting rooms for the public. On the second floor will be located the offices for the superintendent and clerks, doctors' bedrooms for the officers of the day, library, and file room. The entire third floor is devoted to the operating suite and surgical clinic. The building will be constructed of reinforced-concrete bearing walls and reinforced-concrete floor slabs, with Spanish red-tile roof supported by a wooden frame of yellow-pine timbers.

The kitchen and mess for the hospital plant is directly in rear of the administration building, and is centrally located with reference to the different wardrooms. It will be constructed of reinforced concrete beams and columns, with reinforced concrete floor slabs, and cement block exterior curtain walls and interior partitions. The roof will be of Spanish red tile on timber supports, uniform with the other buildings of the hospital group. The main kitchen, storeroom and refrigerator room, diet kitchen, steward's office, and dining room for the kitchen help and silver convalescent patients have been provided on the first floor. To facilitate the handling of food to bed patients in the various wards and private rooms an elevator with a capacity of six food carts will be installed to run between the kitchen and basement floor to the level of the covered passageways which lead to the various buildings of the hospital group. Two large dining rooms are provided, one for the doctors and nurses and the other for the gold male convalescent patients, on the second floor. Further details of these buildings are contained in the report of the building division, Appendix A.

The restaurants constructed at Cristobal, Balboa, and Ancon are the first of a permanent type that have been built on the Canal Zone, and are an improvement in design, appearance, and convenience over the so-called "line hotels" of the construction period. For reasons of cleanliness, the kitchens, dining rooms, and refrigerating rooms have white vitreous enamel tile bases. The inside faces of the walls are painted white enamel, the food counters are marble, the steam tables Monel metal. The buildings all have reinforced concrete bearing walls, columns and floor systems and partitions, and nonbearing walls of concrete block. Steel trusses and purlins support the wood rafters and red tile roofs. They are one-story structures with square columns spaced 8 feet 10 inches in the clear, with copper screening between, taking the place of outside walls, thus providing an open pavillion effect for the dining room and such parts of the kitchen and other service rooms that are not necessarily inclosed with solid Walls. Protection from the sun and rain is provided for the open spaces by an extra projection of the roof eaves.

In addition to the work above referred to, the building division has constructed a number of small buildings on work requests from other divisions in the canal and Panama Railroad, and temporary struc

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