Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

66 ENGINEERING WONDERS OF THE WORLD. steamer was needed to keep the traffic going. Until the line encircled the western end of the lake a short time ago, the Baikal formed the connecting link in the Trans-Siberian Railway between the sections west of the lake and the Manchurian extension. Her form is such as to offer the least possible re- sistance while working among ice. Her stem in depth runs the full length of the vessel. The plating is flush on the outside, and addi- tionally strengthened by a strong, solid belt of wood, 18 inches thick, extending from stem to stern. This belting forms an almost solid mass at the extreme ends, which are further strengthened by numerous struts and breast- hooks, so that the very severe shocks experi- THE REBUILDING OF THE “ BAIKAL.” U'fy- 2.) and stern are heavy steel castings, and the appearance of the vessel is similar at both ends when she is floating at her maximum draught. The structure up to the carriage deck is built entirely of Siemens-Martin steel, with frames of a heavy channel section, very closely spaced, giving a hull abnormally strong and heavy, especially at the level of the ice, where a belt of plating 1 inch in thickness and 10 feet enced when “ramming” in ice have no effect on the structure. The vessel is 290 feet long, with a 57 feet beam. Her maximum mean draught is 18 feet 6 inches. She has numerous water-tight sub- divisions, and a double bottom runs nearly the full length of the vessel, capable of holding about 600 tons of water ballast. On the main or carriage deck there are three