28
DOCK ENGINEERING.
Fig. 4. —Longitudinal Section of Modern Cargo Steamer.
capacity for 20,000 tons of cargo at
40 feet per ton and 1,000 tons of fuel.
This would require dimensions approxi-
mately as follows :—Lengtli between
perpendiculars, 500 feet; breadth, 60
feet; depth, moulded, 36 feet to main
deck; 44 feet to shelter deck. The
draught of water loaded would be
about 27 feet 6 inches.” The longi-
tudinal section of such a vessel is
shown in fig. 4.
These remarks were made with-
out reference to the advent of the
“ Oceanic,” but they will serve as
the approximate standard of an aver-
age purely cargo - carrying vessel.
Vessels built for passenger traffie
are, of course, on somewhat different
lines. Most steamships combine, in
varying proportions, the functions of
passenger transport with freight-
carrying.
The largest vessels at present
under construction are 760 feet long
by 78 feet beam and 52 feet deep.
There can be no doubt that even
such large dimensions as these will
be exceeded in the near future. The
1,000-foot vessel is almost within the
range of practical politics.
Naturally, these conditions do not
apply to all ports, but they serve as
an indication of modern tendencies.
And as it behoves a dock engineer,
above all things, to exercise foresight
and to be prepared for growth and
expansion, he will lay his plans accord-
ingly-
The following table gives an aver-
age of the leading dimensions of
the twenty largest steamships in
existence at each of the years named,
between 1881 and 1901, and an
approximate forecast for the year
1911