SEPTEMBER, 19 73 - portarchive.com

SEPTEMBER, 19 73

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IT’S TRIPLETS!We’re talking about the three berths at the Port of ~Houston which are being constructed at Barbours ....... ., ,..,,..,Cut, an entirely new port area close to the open sea. .... "Designed for LASH/Container Ships, the supermodern facilities in this protected anchorage will per- ....mit us to serve shippers around the world more effi- ~,~ciently and economically.

P()l:lrl ’ ()1;’ II()I)’srI’()NContainerPort of the Gulf

P. O. Box 2562 ̄ Houston, Texas 77001 ̄ Telephone: (713) 225-0671

Field Service Office: Lincoln Bldg.60 East 42nd Street ¯ New York, N. Y. 10017 ̄ Telephone: (212) 867-2780

SEPTEMBER, 1973 3

WAREHOUSING and HAULINGSpecializing in Direct Discharge

Ship - To - Warehouse:

General Cargo--Crated or Palletized

Steel Products--Bars, Rods, Pipe, Coils,Booms or Shapes

9 ACRES OPEN STORAGE NEAR PORT90 Hirsch Street - Off Clinton Drive

(Across From Brown & Root)

Plus All-Steel Warehouses For Covered Storage - Fleet ofModern Trucks & Trailers - Forklifts - And

Overhead Cranes To 71/2 Tons

LICENSED - BONDED$1,000,000 Surety Bond

HEIGHTS BONDED WAREHOUSE869-0438 (24 Hour Service) 869-5818

ATLANTIC GULF SERVICEDependable direct Sailings between

the

U.S. GULF and NORTH EUROPEVersatile Containerized and Breakbulk Offering d o o r- t o - d o o r transportation

Service with ample Freezer, Reefer and with complete coverage.

Liquid Bulk Capacity

TO NORTH CONTINENT: Lehavre, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Bremen,Hamburg

TO UNITED KINGDOM: Felixstowe, London, Liverpool, Manchester,Glasgow

TO SCANDINAVIA AND BALTIC: Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger, Copen-hagen Aarhus, Gothenburg, Helsingborg, Malmo, Stockholm, Norrko-ping, Helsinki, Turku, Hamina, Leningrad Gdynia, Reykjavik

ATLANTIC GULF SERVICEU.S. General Agents: STRACHAN SHIPPING COMPANY

HOUSTON OFFICE: 1518 COTTON EXCHANGE BUILDING, (713) 228-1431

Offices or Agents at: New Orleans, Galveston, Brownsville, Mobile, Pascagoula, Pensacola, Tampa,Port Everglades, Jacksonville, Miami, Charleston, Savannah, Brunswick, Dallas, Memphis, Chicago, St.Louis, Atlanta, Greenville, S.C.New York Representative: Boise Griffin Steamship Co. inc. One World Trade Center, Suite 3811New York, N. Y. 10048 (212) 944-8000

The BANK LINE

Regular Service from

U. S. Gulf Ports to

Australiaand

New lealand¯ Brisbane

¯ Sidney

¯ Melbourne

¯ Adelaide

¯ Fermantle

¯ Auckland

¯ Wellington

¯ Lyttelton

¯ Dunedin

HI ¯ ¯

General Agents

BOYD, WEIR andSEWELL, Inc.

New York

¯ ¯ ¯

Gulf Agents

STRACHAN

SHIPPING CO.

Houston - Galveston - Mobile

Memphis-New Orleans-Dallas

Chicago - Atlanta - St. Louis

Charleston - Greenville

4 PORT OF HOUSTON MAGAZINE

LINES LIMITED

47 VESSELSSERVE

HELLENIC SHIPPERSUNDER THIS

FLAG!

Frequent SailingsExpress Service

to and from theMEDITERRANEAN

SOUTH &EAST AFRICA

RED SEAARABIAN GULF

andINDIA/PAKISTANCEYLON/BURMA

::’ Refrigerated Space

’:’Heavy Lift CapacityUp To 100 Tons

’:’Deep Tanks ForLiquid Cargo

;:’PassengerAccommodations

HELLENICLINES LIMITED39 Broadway, New York

(212) 344-3334303 Petroleum Bldg.,

Houston (713) 224-86071133 International Trade Mart,New Orleans (504) 522-0732

IP

FROM HOUSTONTO

Venezuela ¯ Dominican RepublicJamaica ¯ Surinam

ALCOA STEAMSHIP COMPANY, INC.Houston Agent:

Dalton Steamship Corporation7th Floor World Trade Building

Houston, Texas 77002. Phone: 228-8661Teletype: 713-571-1421

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SEPTEMBER, 1973 5

HOUSTON ¯ GALVESTONTEXAS CITY ° FREEPORT ° CORPUS CHRISTI

805 World Trade Building Houston, Texas

.. ¯ ̄ ....*

Need to ship 10, ] 67 containers all at one time?

The Lykes fleet canaccommodate you.

10,167 That’s the number of 20 foot equivalentcontainers the combined Lykes fleet can handle atone loading--plus an increased capacity of break-bulk cargo. You’re invited to profit by Lykes’ overallcargo capability It’s the greatest in our history--361,000,000 cubic feet!

:.:.:.:.:.:

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Ship Via Gulf Ports and LykesU.K Line ¯ Continent Line ¯ MediterraneanLine ¯ Africa Line ¯ Orient Line ¯ WestCoast of South America Line.

Limited Passenger Accommodations

Lykes LinesLYKES BROS. STEAMSHIP CO., INC.Growing with Lykes-Youngstown Corp.

OFFICES AT: NEW ORLEANS, HOUSTON, GALVESTON, NEW YORK,Beaumont, Chicago, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Kansas City, Lake Charles,Memphis, Mobile, St. Louis, Washington, D.C.Offices and Agents in Principal World Ports


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PORT OFIIOUSTON

Officialof the Publication

Port of HoustonAuthority

Volume 17

Port CommissionersAnd Staff

FENTRESS BRACEWELL, ChairmanW. D. HAVEN, II, CommissionerJAMES W. FONTENO, CommissionerMRS. MARCELLA D. PERRY, Commissioner

WARNER F. BROCK, CommissionerGEOR¢E W. ALTVATER, Executive DirectorC. ~. BULLOCK, General Manager--

OperationsRICIIARD P. LEACIt, General Manager--

AdministrationDAVID C. REDFOI1D, CounselMICHAEL SCORCIO, Assistant to

Executive DirectorVAUGHN M. BRYANT, Director o]

International RelationsHENRY M. BROADNAX, Director o]

Trade DevelopmentE~WARD P. MOORE, Eastern Sales ManagerFRANK WARD, Eastern District Sales ManagerC. A. ROVSSER, Jm, Western Sales ManagerI’tUME A. HENDERSOr¢, Southwestern

Sales ManagerWILLIAM H. LAWDER, JR., Midwestern

District Sales ManagerJ. K. HENDERSON, ControllerK. P. RODEN, Manager, Bulk Materials,

Handling PlantWALLACE J. STA6NER, Manager, Storage

WarehousesNORMAN E. HU~NI, Acting Chie] EngineerALTON B. LANDaY, Personnel Manager and

World Trade Building ManagerJ. R. CURTIS,

Terminal Manager--North SideW. D. DUNNAHOE,

Terminal Manager--South SideL. T. FRITSCI-I, Purchasing AgentA. J. M. VAN DE VEN

Maintenance SuperintendentLOUIS F. BROWN, JR., Chie], Fire Protection

and Trafic Control OficerC. G. SEAMAN, Superintendent Efficiency,

Sa]ety and SecurityV. D. WILLIAMS, Administrative AssistantLLOYD GREGORY, Director o/ln/ormationS. C,. FULLERTON, County AuditorEXECUTIVE OFFICE

1519 Capitol Avenue, Houston, Texas 77002P. O. Box 2562, Houston, Texas 77001

Telephone: (713) 225-0671TERMINAL OFFICE

Telephone (713) 672-8221

NEW YORK FIELD OFFICE60 East 42nd. Street, New York 10017

Telephone: (212) 867-2780

SEPTEMBER, 1973 No. 9

CONTENTSBig Nuclear Power Transformer Shipped ................................. 9

News In View Around The Port Of Houston .............................. 11

He’s Senior Chaplain Of the Seamen’s Center ............................ 12

Visitors See The Port of Houston ....................................... 14

Scene At The World Trade Club ....................................... 15

High Rise Bridge Struts Its Girders ...................................... 16

Snap Out Directory For The Port Of Houston ............................ 19

The Houston Port Bureau Reports ...................................... 23

Statistics For March .......................................... 24

Statistics For April .................................................. 25

Sailing Schedule For General Cargo Ships ............................... 36

THE COVERRecognized as an engineering achievement is the new high rise bridge over the

Houston Ship Channel. For an interesting story about the structure see Page 16.

The Port of Houston MagazineTED SUMERLIN, Editor

Published monthly by the Port of Houston Authority, the PORT OF HOUSTONMagazine is distributed free to maritime, industrial and transportation inter-ests in the United States and foreign countries. This publication is not copy.righted and permission is given for the reproduction or use of any originalmaterial, provided credit is given to the Port of Houston. Additional informa-tion, extra copies or advertising rates may be obtained by writing the PORT OFHOUSTON Magazine, 3901 Westheimer, Houston, Texas 77027. ~9

SEPTEMBER, 1973 7

General Agents: Eckert Overseas Agency, Inc., NEW YORK 10005, 88 Pine St. (212) 344-8686.SAN FRANCISCO 94104, 311 California Street, (415) 98]-7340.

LOS ANGELES 90013, 417 South Hill Street, (213) 485-0111.BALTIMORE 21202, 1005 Keyser Bldg., (301) 837-5330.

CHICAGO 60604, 208 South LaSalle Street, (312) 236-7143.CHARLESTON 29402, Carolina ShippLng Co., Box 874, (803) 723-6484.

HOUSTON 77002, Lone Star Shipping, Inc., 1318 Texas Avenue, (713) 224-7531.GALVESTON 77550 Lone Star Shipping, Inc., 517 U.S. National Bank Bldg., (713) 765-9401.

NEW ORLEANS 70130, International Maritime Agencies, Inc., 308 Whitney Bank Bldg., (504) 524-6753.


The unusual-looking "DOCKLIFT I" of theBig Lift Co., of Dordrecht, The Netherlands,whose vessels sail under the Vanderlaan Line,is shown at dock in Greens Bayou as sheprepared to take on some of the heaviestelectrical machinery ever exported out of thePort of Houston. The vessel has special cranesand rear loading facilities, to handle thehuge transformers, generators and otherequipment shipped to the Taiwan Power Co.in Free China.

NgCLEAR POWER TRANSFORMER SHIPPED

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T HE LARGEST TRANSFOR_XiER exported to date by Westing-house Electric Corporation was loaded aboard the DOCK-

LIFT NO. 1 at Houston’s Greens Bayou Terminal recentlyfor shipment to the Taiwan Power Company. The 343-tonunit will be the main power transformer for the ChinshanNo. 1 nuclear power station in the Chinese Republic.

Other Westinghouse equipment in the shipment includeda 150-ton generator, oil circuit breakers and 2,000 drums ofoil which will be put inside the transformer and the breakersat the power station site in Taiwan.

Both loading and shipment of the generator and trans-former were facilitated by the unique features of the DOCK-LIFT NO. 1, a vessel specializing in oversize and overweightloads. The 7,000-ton DOCKLIFT, on her first trip to the

Executives of the Big Lift Co. were on hand for the DOCKLIFT I’s visitand participated in the presentation of a maiden voyage plaque to theship’s master, Capt. Arie Verhagen, second from right, by Hume A. Hender-son, Southwestern Sales Manager of the Port of Houston. Others in thephoto, fram left ta right, are S. van der Pal, New Orleans; Capt. Bert.H. W. F. van der Laan, marine superintendent of Big Lift, from Dordrecht;Capt. S. Kramer, who was master inbound and relieved here by CaptainVerhagen, and at far right Bernard J. van der kaan, managing director ofBig Lift, from Dordrecht.

SEPTEMBER, 1973 9

United States for this shipment, has two gantry cranes witha combined lift capacity of 6:10 tons. Due to the specialdesign of the ship, loading and unloading are accomplisheddirectly through the stern. The DOCKLIFT is owned by BigLift, B.V., a Dutch company headquartered at Dordrecht,The Netherlands.

The equipment loaded at Houston came from the Westing-house Large l{otating Apparatus Division at East Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania, and the Large Power Transformer Divisionat Muncie, Indiana.

The generator made tile trip from East Pittsburgh on aScllnahel ear, a specially-designed railroad car used for largeloads. The transformer was also moved by Sehnabel car fromthe Muncie plant to Mt. Vernon on the Mississippi River andfrom there by barge to the Port of Houston.

With the Houston shipment aboard, the DOCKLIFT NO. Isailed to Camden, New Jersey, to load three W501 gas tur-bine generators, manufactured by the Westinghouse GasTurbine Systems Division at Lester, Pennsylvania. The 65-megawatt units, each weighing 136 tons, were moved to dock-side by carfloat and loaded using the ship’s gantry cranes.These units will be installed at the Taiwan Power Company’sLinkow station.

The cargo, weighing more than 2,100 tons, was due to bedischarged in Taiwan during the last week of August andmoved to the Chinshan and Linkow sites by Big Lift, B.V.

In attendance at Houston to witness the loading for theTaiwan Power Company were K. J. Chow, T. S. Feng andB. S. Sung, all of the Chlnshan Nuclear Power Project.Representing Westinghouse were Carl Moberg and Les Leighof the company’s Overseas Traffic Department.

The 7,000 ton DOCKLIFT I specializes in oversize and overweight loadsand is seen here in another view showing its special stern loading facilities.

One of the huge pieces of electrical machinery is shown nestled in thehold of DOCKLIFT I, resting on top of some of the more than 2,000 drumsof transformer oil which were shipped along with the rest of the hugemachines.


News In Views Around The Port Of HoustonGermany will be honored this year at

Houston’s Consular Ball in October and theladies committee and Ball officials of the Junior

Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors andoriginated the gala more than a quarter of a

century ago, gathered recently to discuss plansand toast the West German Republic aboardthe German containership ERLANGEN of theCOMBI Line. In the center, before a scene of

the historic clty-state of Bremen, are Capt.H. Klein and the Hon. Henry W. Bornemann,

Consul General of Germany and himself aBremer. Third from right is T. E. Dugey, executive

vice president of Beihl & Co., agents for theCOMBI Line, who arranged the luncheon.

Others, from left to right, are Jerald Arnoldof the Jaycees; Mrs. William (Lorraine) Bland;

James E. Sirois of the Jaycees; Mrs. Don(Rhoda) Tomasco; Mrs. Jack G. (Betty Anne)

Brannon; Mrs. E. Peane (Ginger) Kanaly,chairman of the ladies committee; Mrs. J. R.(Christine) Imber; Eric Liston of the Jaycees,chairman of the Ball Committee; Mrs. Frank

(Alma) King, and Vaughn M. Bryant, directorof international relations of the Port of Houston.

Former Astronaut James Lovell, left, presenteda photograph signed "Best Wishes to the Polish

Ocean Line from The Moon" to M. Kowalikowski,deputy general director of the Polish flag

steamship company, who was visiting Houstonrecently. The ceremonies were in the offices

of Frank E. Cartwright, next to Astronaut Lovell,who is president of the Dalton Steamship Co.,

agents for the Polish Ocean Line. At rightis Jerzy F. Hapko, representative of the Line in

Gulf ports. Astronaut Lovell retired recentlyfrom the Space Program and is presently seniorexecutive vice-president of Bay-Houston TowingCo. Mr. Kowalikowski also received a certificate

of honorary citizenship from the City ofHouston as well as a key to the City.

Wayne Slovacek, third from right, plantmanager of the Union Equity Corporation, was

elected chairman of the Port Safety andAdvisory Committee and Louis F. Brown, Jr.,left, chief fire protection and traffic control

officer of the Port of Houston Authority, waselected vice-chairman. Others, all committee

chairmen, are, from left, Edwin Eikel, presidentof Intracoastal Towing and Transportation Co.;

James Adams, Exxon Corporation; CaptainWarren W. Waggett, U.S. Coast Guard, Captain

of the Port; Slovacek; Homer Blaylock, ShellOil & Refining Co., and Capt. J. E. Pearson,

president of the Houston Pilots. The Committeeis composed of representatives of Ship Channel

industries and other interests and meetsregularly to seek better ways to keep safe the

entire 25 mile stretch of the Ship Channelto Morgans Point.

SEPTEMBER, 1973 11

One Of A Series

The Rev. Sam M. Du~ee

He’S S~,niur Ehaplain [If S,~am~n’s E,~nl~r

i must go down to the seas again~ tothe lonely sea and the sky,

And all ! ask is a tall ship and a starto steer her by.

--Sea Fever By John Masefield.

By LLOYD GREGORYInformation Director

AS HE GOES ABOUT HIS DUTIES of senior port chaplain andprogram director of the busy Houston International

Seamen’s Center, the Reverend Sam M. Duree of the UnitedMethodist Church is inspired by the statements of John Wesley,English preacher and founder of Methodism:

"The world is my parish.""My heart was strangely warmed"--speaking of his con-

version.

A flag of white, black, red, yellow and brown flies over thecenter, indicating the beautiful building, to the rear of Wharf23, is dedicated to service of all races.

Since the center was opened January 22, 1973, seamen of57 nationalities have been guests.

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In July of this year, 4,779 visited the center, with 317attending religious services. Vohmteers donated 1590 hoursof work.

Soccer was the most popular sport in July, with 17 gamesstaged. While at sea, the crew of the Fiery Cross Isle, underGerman flag, sent a radiogram to the center asking that asoccer game he arranged. The Germans were accommodated,and played a Peruvian crew from the YACU RUNA.

Baseball is the most popular sport of crews from Japanand Venezuela.

The most popular spot on hot days is the center’s Olympicsize swimming pool.

While visiting the center, the writer was told by PedroPerez, 21, ordinary seaman on the Sea Land container shipCharleston: "I have sailed around the world, but no otherport offers an accommodation comparable with Houston’sInternational Seamen’s center."

The center represents a rare concord among patrons ofthe Port of Houston, the Committee for Ministry, and thePort of Houston Authority, which leased eight choice acresto the center for 50 years at a rental of one dollar a year.

Among the major contributors is Mrs. Kenneth Dale Owenof Houston.

The center is warm and home-like, remindful of the campushome of a major winning football team.

Every ship is visited by a chaplain from the center. Thechaplains are paid by their respective churches.

Full-time chaplains are the Rev. Tom Malone, MissouriSynod Lutheran; Rev. Tom Stewart, Presbyterian Church,U.S.; Rev. Roy Strange, United Presbyterian, USA; Rev.Jim Scott, Episcopal; Father Ivan Turic, Catholic; Rev. Duree,Methodist.

Part-time chaplains are: Father Rivers Patout, Catholic;Father Costas Kouklis, Greek Orthodox.

The Reverend Duree was born in Seguin October 24, 1930,and was graduated from Victoria high school in 1947. Afterhis graduation from Lon Morris College, he attended andreceived his bachelor of science degree from Sam HoustonState University, and then studied at Perkins School ofTheology at SMU.

His ordination certificate was signed by the late distin-guished Bishop A. Frank Smith of the Methodist Church.

The Reverend Duree served several churches in East Texasand in Houston, the latest being Cokesbury Methodist ofwhich he is founding pastor, and Central Park Methodist.

The Reverend Duree in 1951 married the former Beverly

PORT OF HOUSTON MAGAZINE

Ann Watson. They have three children: a married daughter,Nona, 21; and sons, Sam, 20; and Tim, 17.

A steel plaque on the outside wall near the main entrancetells a dramatic story of ecumenical cooperation and "goodwill to all men." It reads:

Men Who Make The Port of Houston Hum

HOUSTON INTERNATIONAL SEAMEN’S CENTERJanuary 22, 1973.

Built by Tellepsen Construction Company throughthe dedication of Howard Tellepsen.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Albert H. Liedts, pres-ident; Jack G. Brannon, M.D., vice president; VaughnM. Bryant, secretary; Clarence L. Dupr6, treasurer;Sweency J. Doehring, D. V. Flores, Paul E. Hedemann,Lewis Homburg, Thad Hutcheson, James A. Muller,Mrs. Kenneth Dale Owen, Father Rivers A. Patout,Robert S. Reid, F. Val Thompson, Ralph Freidmann.

COMMITTEE FOR MINISTRY: The Rev. G. TaftLyon, Jr., Presbyterian U.S.. chairman; The Rev. JimmyLueders, Lutheran ALC, secretary; Martin Meisner,treasurer; The Rev. Art Allen, Presbyterian, UPUSA;The Rev. Don Black, Lutheran, M.S.; The Rev. ElzaLove, United Methodist; The Rev. Oddvar M. Michael-sen, Norwegian Lutheran; Mrs. Kenneth Dale Owen,Episcopal; Father Rivers A. Patout, Catholic; The Rev.Donald H. Weinelt, Lutheran LCA; The Rev. Sam M.Duree, United Methodist, senior chaplain.

FOR THE SEAFARERS OF THE WORLD.

REV. SAM M. DUREE

SEPTEMBER, 1973 13

Visitors See ThePort of Houston

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ABOARD THE SAM HOUSTON

Sydney McNeilly, left, harbourmaster and general manager of the Portof St. George’s, Grenada, West Indies, was a recent visitor to the Port ofHouston where he toured the landside facilities and then took a trip on theShip Channel aboard the inspection boat SAM HOUSTON. He is shown herewith his wife and with his brother and sister-in-law, both Houston residents,Mr. and Mrs. D. G. Ray McNeilly.

Goran Colldahl, right, the newest trade officer on the staff of Sweden’sTrade Commissioner Bjorn Skold, and Karin Larssnn, newly assigned to theSwedish Trade Commissioner office here, were recent guests aboard theinspection vessel SAM HOUSTON to view the installations of the Port andShip Channel industries at first hand. They are shown here on the upperdeck of the craft with the Swedish flag in the background between them.

On a recent trip aboard the Port of Houston’s inspection vessel SAMHOUSTON Sea-Land Service of Houston was host and had several guests.Dennis Toth of Sea-Land Service, Inc., of Houston, second from left in darkglasses, is shown with George Wood of Garlock, Inc., of Houston, left, andLau Leuthold, Oakite Products, Houston, and Hariett Kibler, right, Sea-LandService, Inc., of Houston.

This photo of the Sea-Land party aboard the SAM HOUSTON showsRobert Manney of Norris Industries in Dallas; Lorenne Hitt of R. P. Andersonof Dallas, and Clifford Pratt of Tichenor Carpets in Dallas.

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Also in the Sea-Land party are, from left to right, John Styles of Mont-gomery Ward’s, in Fort Worth; J. A. Pitner, of GSA in Fort Worth andBill Knight of GSA in Fort Worth.


SCENEAT THE Wf]RLnOn October 12th--Columbus Day, fittingly

enough--of 1914 Captain Walter L. Farnsworthpiloted his steamship DOROTHY, of the Bull Line,up the as then unopened Houston Ship Channel,which became the first deepsea vessel to navigatethe waters of the Channel which was dedicateda month later, an November lOth, by PresidentWoadrow Wilson. Photographs of the vessel, Cap-tain and Mrs. Farnsworth and leaders in Houston’sthen infant maritime circle, and of a hand-scrlpttestimonial of the event were presented last monthby Captain Walter L. Farnsworth, Jr., to ProfessorMarian Orgain, assistant director of libraries atthe University of Houston and curator of theSpecial Collections section. The valuable mementowill be on permanent loan to the ever-growingPort of Houston Collection in the U. of H. Libraryand will assist future scholars doing work on thehistory of the Port and its social and economicimpact on this area. Appropriately, the PortAuthority’s new fireboat, to be commissioned inOctober, has been named the W. L. FARNS-WORTH, in honor of the intrepid captain, and inthe group photo was Captain Crafty of theHouston Navigation District for whom the presentfireboat, CAPTAIN CROTTY, is named.

James E. Ritch, Jr., left, attorney with SantaMarina y Steta of Mexico City, recently spokeon Mexico’s new foreign investment laws to apacked audience in the World Trade Club com-posed of members of the Houston World TradeAssociation and the International Business Com-mittee of the Houston Chamber of Commerce.He is shown here with the Hon. Ramon Meade,center, Consul of Mexico, and E. F. Murphy,president of the World Trade Association andWorld Trade Club, who presided.

Daniel V. Jones, right, vice president and gen-eral manager of Moran Towing of Texas, Inc.,based in Corpus Christi, was a recent WorldTrade Club visitor of Walter J. Fernandez, vicepresident of Bay-Houston Towing Co., which hasheadquarters in Houston with other offices inGalveston, Corpus Christi, Freeport and PortAransas.

Recent visitors to the World Trade Club wereBurnell J. Russell, center, president of OceansInternational Corporation, who is shown herewith Ed Kozlnk, right, vice president and headof the Houston office of Transamerican SteamshipCorporation and Jerry Hardy, left, sales managerof Transomerican’s Houston office.

TBAnE ELUB

HIGH RISE BRIDGEOVER SHIP CHANNEL

STRUTS ITS GIRDERS

T HE LAST LINK in the freeway looparound Houston’s downtown area

will be open soon, gMng quick accessfor trucks moving in and out of thePort of Houston.

The freeway loop’s major item ofconstruction consists of a high risebridge which was recently completedover the Houston Ship Channel atWharf 31. As soon as the approachesare completed the loop will be openedfor a full flow of traffic.

The bridge is strategic for traffic asis witnessed by the fact that scores oftrucks and cars are crossing the bridgeew~ry day by using a temporary ap-proach. When the bridge is opened itis expected to carry nearly 100,000 carsand trucks daily.

The loop (Interstate Highway 610)around Houston is already the city’sand the state’s most used freeway, andclosing the gap at the Ship Channelbridge is expected to boost the totalvolume considerably.

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By Ted SumerlinEditor, Port of Houston Magazine

The bridge over the Ship Channel istile longest strutted-girder bridge in theUnited States and the National Societyof Professional Engineers selected thebridge as one of tile nation’s 10 mostoutstanding e n gin e e ri n g achievementsfor 1972.

This is the only bridge to cross theHouston Ship Channel, although thereare two tunnels and two ferries down-stream which carry large amounts oftraffic.

The Texas Highway Department de-signed the bridge and construction wasstarted by Brown & Root, Inc., in Oc-tober, 1968.

The bridge is 6,000 feet long, 155feet wide and carries 10 lanes of traffic.There is a shoulder on each side and a17-foot median in the center.

The superstructure is 1,230 feet longand provides a vertical clearance of 135feet and a horizontal clearance of 600feet. Basically the bridge is composed of

suspended center span placed betweentwo cantilevered end spans.

Overall the bridge deck has 1,040,607square feet of area, roughly the equiva-lent of 21 football fields.

The bridge’s size doesn’t overshadowits purpose--to nmve traffic.

Economics played an important partin the bridge’s development. The TexasHighway Department, which has donean outstanding job of providing the mosthighway mileage for the availablemoney, selected this design hecause itwas economical to l,uild and economicalto maintain.

An important consideration in selec-tion of the design was that the builderscould not close the Houston Ship Chan-nel for more than a few hours duringconstruction.

The approach spans of the bridge areconventional, but the superstructure forthe channel crossing is unique becauseof the large v-struts that were especiallydesigned for the bridge. Countless hours


This artist’s drawing gives a shipsview of thenew bridge over the Houston Ship Channel. Inthe right foreground is the Port’s Inspection Ves-sel SAM HOUSTON while the ship in the back-ground is unidentified. This unsual design pro-

vides 600 feet of horizontal clearance with aminimum of superstructure.

strut arm. The derrick barge and twoland cranes lifted the single girder andwalked it into place. This was followedby another single girder and then twogirders that were joined by lateral brae-ing to form a unit that weighed 450 tons.

The most exciting part of the con-struction was when the center span wasclosed with 290-feet-long box girders.The two outside girders weighed 455

tons each and the center girder weighed475 tons. It was during this time thatthe Ship Channel was closed to shiptraffic for 2¢ hours. However, the hugesteel sections were in place and securedin only 14 hours.

The decking plan for tile bridge re-quired the construction of two five-toncranes which operated along paralleltracks constructed of I-beams and laid

went into designing and planning, re-suiting in a 417,000 pound v-strut thathas a 170-foot arm reaching towardshore and a 128-foot arm projecting overwater. Twelve of these gigantic strutswere required. They are each held inplace on the concrete piers by a pin15-inches in diameter and weighing oneton.

The struts were fabricated in a yarddownstream and barged to the bridgesite. Each strut was slung from sixcranes and walked to the water’s edgeto be loaded on the barge. A 500-tonbarge crane at the bridge site lifted thestruts into position and held them untilsecured by the workmen.

Next came a single girder lift extend-ing from the approach out over the rear

The East Loop, shown by a dotted llne as partof Interstate 610, will be in full operation by theend of this year with the completion of the ap-proaches to the high rise bridge. Since the free-way crosses Port of Houston property, truck ship-ments will move with new speed.

SEPTEMBER, 1973

[A+RMONT PKWY

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on the completed portion of the bridge.The cranes walked a shop-fabricatedaluminum hanger scaffold slung fromthe bridge side as the work progressed.

The bridge was eheckerboarded into50 individual sections for the pouring ofthe concrete deck. The pouring was donein pre-selected sections in order to keepan even weight distribution over thesteel.

Beneath all this work were nets whichlooked much like those under the trapezestars in the circus. Fortunately the netswere not used, but they gave the work-men a sense of security during thedangerous task of bridge building.

The bridge was constructed at a costof $18,512,497.15, excluding the cost ofroadway or engineering. It required17,910,620 pounds of structural steel,14,550,000 pounds of reinforcing steel,85,830 cubic yards of concrete and 105,-815 feet of prestressed concrete beams.

"The Houston Ship Channel bridgeis big and impressive, just like Hous-ton," said one of the engineers. "Whenit opens in a few weeks it will be justas busy as Houston."

The strutted girders, which make this bridge sounusual, ore detailed in these two photos. On theright may be seen the five catwalks under theroadbed of the bridge for inspection and mainte-nance. The horizontal beams in the center of thebridge are almost 16 feet high.


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SEPTEMBER, 19 73 - portarchive.com