The Mechanical Handling and Storing of Material

THE WAREHOUSING OF GRAIN 673 existed at both Braila and Galatz. These were, however, one and all situated at some distance from the quays, and lacked modern grain-handling machinery. In those days the loading of ships with grain was a cumbrous and expensive process. The Granary Buildings.—-The marshy nature of the banks of the Danube precluded the building of the granaries on the river bank. It was therefore decided to excavate, both at Braila and Galatz, a basin 1,640 ft. long by 400 ft. wide, and to erect the granaries on the quay wall of these basins. In building both these silo warehouses provision was made for doubling the installation at some future time should this be desirable. Although these silos were built at some distance from the actual river bank, it was found necessary to erect them (as well as the quay walls) for their whole length of 1,640 ft. on piles. The illustrations show in cross section a tunnel of considerable dimensions for the accommodation of a band conveyor. Besides these there are along the quay walls, at intervals of 23 ft., fifteen well-like receptacles of a depth of 20 ft. and a diameter of 6 ft. These are connected with the above-mentioned tunnel by shoots. (The use of this tunnel will be more fully described later on.) There are also two transverse tunnels extending to the ends of the silo building. One of the sections shows these tunnels, which are all intended for the reception of band conveyors. The silo-house lies back at a distance of 115 ft. from the quay wall, the ground space occupied being 394 ft. long by 92 ft. wide. The height of the building to the eaves is 60 ft. The granaries with their accessories are illustrated in Figs. 946, 947, and 948, which include a small scale ground plan and two cross sections. Figs. 949, 950, and 951 give, to a larger scale, the plan of the granaries in longitudinal and cross sections. Figs. 952 to 956 show plan and four elevations of the engine and boiler house. The foundations of the granaries were laid on a system of more than 5,000 piles. In addition to this, the foundations of the building extend to a depth of 23 ft. into the ground. Immediately on top of the piles is a layer of concrete which brings the level of the basement to 17 ft. 6 in. below the outer ground level. Both ends of the building terminate in two higher parts to accommodate the staircases, elevators, auto- matic scales, and driving gears. The centre portion of the building which encloses the silos is covered by a roof with large skylights. The whole of the basement is intersected by tunnels which run the entire length of the building. The tunnels are each 10 ft. high, and are intercepted at three points by cross tunnels connecting the nine trans- verse silos. Above these tunnels rise the silos themselves. They are 55 ft. high, and of a hexagonal shape. The building material used for these silos was Monier plates, which consist of cement, slabs with wire insertion or foundation. These insertions project at the ends of the slabs, and when the latter are set in position, corner cavities are formed into which these ends are inserted. The cavities are then filled up with semi-liquid cement, which, when hardened, forms a solid block. The silos in both granaries are made in two sizes, about one-fourth of the area being occupied by cells measuring 8 ft. 2 in. across, whilst the remaining cells have a measurement of 11 ft. 6 in. Between the silos and the northern annexe, in which the stairs, etc., are situated, is an elaborate grain-cleaning plant. Further north still, in a separate building some distance away from the actual silo- house, is the engine and boiler house, the arrangement of which will be seen from Figs. 952 to 956. This building is divided into four sections, more than half being occupied by the boilers, while one section is taken up by the steam engine. All these buildings 43