REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF To the Board of State Harbor Commissioners. GENTLEMEN: I herewith submit biennial report of the operation of the Belt Railroad for the fiscal period beginning July 1, 1922, and ending June 30, 1924. OPERATION. The Belt Railroad maintains a twenty-four-hour switching service, except on Sundays and legal holidays, when there is no service between 8 a.m. and midnight, with a provision in the tariff, however, for special engine service on these days, upon payment of the additional cost. During this biennial period the demands upon the Belt Railroad for service have been increasingly greater, as an inspection of the comparative statement of revenue and expense, printed elsewhere in this report, will indicate. It has been necessary to work additional crews in order to care for this increased business, but by the exercise of strict economy it has been possible to do this and yet effect a saving in the total expense of the road as between the years 1923 and 1924, of nearly twenty thousand dollars. The number of carloads handled in this biennial period was 227,056, the month of October, 1923, being exceptionally high, with 14,368 carloads. Additional revenue has been derived from the use of the Belt Railroad box cars furnished to shippers on a flat rental basis. The amount received from this source for the two fiscal years is $11,930, representing some 2386 rentals. Another source of revenue is the Belt Railroad crane which is rented to anyone desiring the services of a fifteen-ton capacity locomotive crane. The tariff rate for this service is $7.50 per hour, with a minimum charge of $22.50. The amount received during the two fiscal years is $9,173.25. The amounts received from miscellaneous sources, other than boxcar and crane rentals is detailed in the comparative statement above referred to. MAINTENANCE. Cost of track maintenance and maintenance of the mechanical equipment has been kept at the minimum consistent with good operation and safety. During the biennium it has been necessary to renew numbers of switches and frogs in the tracks, 60 new switches being placed at a cost of $27,549 for material and 22 new frogs placed at a cost of $5,492 for material. Much of the track material now in place has been in use for a number of years and consequently is increasingly hard to maintain, requiring frequent renewals and replacements. CONSTRUCTION. The reconstruction referred to in the previous report to the Board was completed in 1922 and has been in continuous operation since that time. While this greatly facilitated the movement of trains and the switching to piers and industries, we find ourselves cramped for storage and yard room with the business we get during the busy season, ranging from July to November. The total mileage, including the tracks at Islais Creek and China Basin, operated by the Southern Pacific Company and Santa Fe, under joint agreement, is now 58.35 miles. A number of new tracks were built at the site of the China Basin Terminal, connecting this proposed facility with the Belt Railroad. This work was done at a cost of $15,019.19, and until the completion of the warehouse, the trackage can be used for ship spurs. In order to conform to plans which have been proposed by the municipal authorities for widening and beautifying the Marina boulevard, a portion of the track on the Marina running to the Presidio will be shifted from one side of the road to the other, and this work will be undertaken in the near future. RECOMMENDATIONS. The storage and yard room should be increased by the construction of additional tracks. I have previously recommended that The Embarcadero between Mason and Taylor streets be closed and this space filled with tracks for storage of cars, including the extension of tracks known as Ferry 9, 10 and 11. Additional trackage should also be provided on the south side of Market street for storage of cars. I also recommend that locomotives Nos. 4 and 5 be sold and that order be placed for two additional locomotives of larger type, delivery of one to be made immediately and the other during the coming year. The engines to be disposed of were built in 1911 and 1912, and are in good mechanical condition, but too light for the work we are compelled to perform. With the increased size of boxcars, and the capacity loading insisted upon by the carriers, heavier engines are needed to do the switching on the Belt Railroad. GENTLEMEN : I beg to submit herewith for your consideration my report as Chief Engineer of the Board of State Harbor Commissioners, for the two fiscal years beginning July 1, 1922, and ending June 30, 1924. At the time of the presentation of the last biennial report on July 1, 1922, there were under construction the following structures: Bulkhead Wharf, Piers 19 and 21 to 25, which was 97 per cent completed. China Basin Terminal substructure, which was 15 per cent completed. The bulkhead wharf was completed in July, 1922, at a cost of $107,896.23 and the China Basin Terminal substructure was completed in January, 1923, the total cost being $1,039,107.19. For the purposes of this report the work of the Engineering Department will be divided as follows: 1. Pier extensions and buildings. 2. Embarcadero subway. 3. Maintenance and repairs. 4. Paving. 5. Electrical. 7. Testing. 8. Designing and drafting. 9. Recommendations. Pier 22, Extension. 1. PIER EXTENSIONS AND BUILDINGS. Pier 22, which was 400 feet in length and 127 feet in width, was extended into the bay a distance of 323 feet. The extension was not carried to the pierhead line on account of conditions at the site, namely, extremely deep water and a very soft mud bottom. The structure is of creosoted pile and timber construction with a timber frame shed. The cost of the extension was $148,735.98 and it was completed in April, 1923. Pier 42, Extension. Pier 42 was extended to the old pierhead line, a distance of 148 feet, the width being 145 feet. The extension was of creosoted pile and timber construction with a timber shed and one depressed railroad track. The cost of the structure was $69,647.50, and it was completed in October, 1923. Pier 44, Extension. Pier 44 was extended to the old pierhead line, the extension having a length of 149 feet and a width of 145.5 feet. The substructure is of creosoted pile and timber construction with one depressed railroad track on the south side. The shed is a two-story structure of timber with steel girders carrying the second floor. In conjunction with the extension two passenger aprons and sixteen additional freight aprons were constructed for the purpose of landing cargo and passengers on the second floor. The cost of the extension was $89,722.49, and it was completed in April, 1923. Islais Grain Terminal. Following the decline in the vegetable oil trade through this port it was decided to convert the oil terminal at Islais Creek into an export grain terminal. The grain which is exported from San Francisco, consisting principally of barley, is all handled in sacks. A considerable proportion, however, requires reconditioning and this necessitated the construction of a plant for cleaning and grading and bins for storage and resacking. The buildings are timber-frame structures covered with corrugated galvaninzed iron. The five-story grader building is 58 feet by 62 feet and houses the cleaning, grading and elevating machinery, which was furnished and installed by the Islais Creek Grain Terminal Corporation, the operators of the terminal. The storage bins are 21 by 79 feet and the resacking bins 18 by 46 feet. The warehouse for the temporary storage of sacked grain has an area of 140,000 square feet. It is a one-story structure except for a section 62 feet by 158 feet adjacent to the grader building, where a second story was constructed for the handling of screenings. The existing wharf along the Islais Creek channel in front of the terminal, an old timber structure, was entirely rebuilt, using creosoted materials. This wharf is 70 by 788 feet and carries one depressed railroad track. An extension at the easterly end was also constructed of creosoted materials, the dimensions being 48 by 503 feet. In order to expedite the receipt of grain by rail, a depressed railroad track 785 feet. in length was constructed at the rear of the terminal. Several separate contracts covered the construction of the grain terminal. On June 30, 1924, the facilities outlined had been completed with the exception of the reconstruction of the old wharf, which was under construction, and the portion of the building extending over the wharf. The entire cost of the improvements aggregates $294,370. Pier 34, Addition. Pier 34 was originally constructed with one surface railroad track in the center of the pier shed. This arrangement was found to be very unsatisfactory due principally to the congestion in the relatively narrow building. The center track was therefore removed and a depressed track was constructed along the south side of the pier. The construction was of creosoted piles and timber with a section of reinforced concrete across the existing bulkhead wharf. The cost of the addition was $52,831.79 and it was completed in March, 1924. Pier 36, Car Ferry Apron.. From the time of its construction difficulty was experienced in operating the car ferry slip at Pier 36 at low stages of the tide. In order to overcome this difficulty it was decided to lower the hinge end of the apron and a section of the deck of the pier 25 feet in width, 150 feet in length and weighing 375 tons. This necessitated supporting the structural steel and reinforced concrete deck on needle beams and jacks, cutting down the concrete cylinder supports, lowering this section of the deck 2 feet at the outer end to its new position on the cylinders and securing it with reinforced concrete. The work was successfully completed in January, 1924, at a cost of $18,089.83. Marble Floors-Ferry Building. The first-floor waiting rooms of the Southern Pacific, Santa Fe, Northwestern Pacific, Key System and Western Pacific Railways were paved with Columbia marble, a hard, light gray marble produced in California. This work greatly improved the appearance of the waiting rooms and also provided a more sanitary floor surface. The marble floors were laid at a cost of $36,073.81 and the work was completed June 30, 1924. 2. EMBARCADERO SUBWAY. On account of the steady increase in the business of the port and the waterfront industrial district, the congestion of traffic at the intersection of The Embarcadero and the foot of Market street has become increasingly acute. In order to relieve this congestion a vehicular subway is being constructed along The Embarcadero under the street railway loop in front of the Ferry Building. This subway will carry the |