68

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

January 12, 1917.

These transporters are self-contained, and are made in
different sizes, with beams from 30 to 65 ft. long, and
for handling loads of up to 40 cwt. At every 5 ft.
length of the beam a stop is provided, under the lower
flange, at which the trolley can be stopped and held firm
for lifting or lowering the load. The trolley is provided
with either single- or double-purchase lifting gear, and
an automatic cam device is employed to stop the travel
and hold it fixed whilst the load is being lifted or
lowered. When the load is lifted, a counter-balance
weight fitted on the rope above the hoisting hook enters
a guide, which releases suspension hooks on the trolley,
which support the load whilst being transported, the
trolley at the same time being released on the beam and
free to travel. The transporter is generally rigged at
an incline of about 1 in 3, as indicated in fig. 2, and the
arrangement of working is briefly as follows :—When
the trolley is locked to the beam, the lifting or lowering
of the load is effected, as usual, by hauling in or paying
out the rope; to release the trolley, the rope is hauled
in until the counter-balance weight has been engaged by
the suspension hooks; to travel the trolley along the
beam, up the incline, the rope is hauled in until the
trolley has reached the stop where it is to be fixed for

Fig. 3.—Shipping Coal at Gijon.

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bour, and vessels drawing 17 ft. can go alongside the
wharves of the outer harbour. Musel is situated on
the opposite side of the bay. The port there has
recently been improved by the construction of a break-
water, to afford greater protection to vessels, and. the
quays are equipped with electric cranes and tips. Fig. 3
illustrates a special goliath crane (Babcock and Wilcox)
erected at Gijon, for loading coal from railway wagons to
vessels. This crane is electrically operated, and is
capable of handling loads of 20 tons. The method of
operation is as follows The loaded wagons are hauled
on to a cradle, which rests in a pit on the rail track,
over which the crane is travelled, the wagon being then
fixed to the cradle, which is hoisted and traversed out
over the hatchway of the vessel by means of a special
horizontal jib, the"discharge of the wagon being effected
by releasing its bottom doors. The orane is controlled
from the driver’s cabin, and 14 wagon loads can be dealt
with per hour. The speeds of the respective motions
are as follow : Hauling wagons (three at a time)., 6 ft.
per minute; hoisting (20 tons), 5 ft. per minute;
traversing, 50 ft. per minute. The crane can be
travelled along its track of 26 ft. gauge at a speed of
40 ft. per minute, and, as can be seen from fig. 3, the



for the shipment of which there a.re a number of tips
available, and, as already mentioned, coal is received in
large quantities from the Asturias mines. The port
discharging dues for coal are equivalent to about 2d. per
ton. Fig. 4 shows an equipment for discharging coal at
Bilbao, namely, a Tempe-rley tower-type travelling
transporter, the beam of which extends a Length of
100 ft. over the -storage ground, the waterside extension
of the beam being hinged up, when not in u-se, to clear
the vessels’ rigging. This equipment handles automatic
dumping skips of 25 cwt. capacity, the gross load being
35 cwt., which is lifted at a speed of 250 ft. a minute,
and transported at a speed of about 600ft. per minute,
thus enabling over 60 tons per hour to be dealt with.
This plant is worked by steam power, but B similar
equipment erected later is operated electrically. Bunker
supplies at Bilbao are provided by lighters from shore
storage. In passing, a special conveyor equipment at
Bilbao for shipping ore may be referred to, which is
capable of loading 1,500 tons per hour, and a-s ship-
ment is effected from a high level, no power is required,
the plant operating by gravity. Only three men are
necessary for the working of thi-s plant, one of whom con-
trols the speed of the conveyor by a brake, and two
operate the loading valve.

In concluding the-se references to coal supplies at
Spanish ports, mention may be made of other ports of
interest, including Santander, Corunna, Seville, -and
Huelva. At Santander, coal from the Asturias mines is
discharged and iron ore is shipped extensively, the port
accommodation allowing for large vessels. At Corunna,
considerable quantities of coal are imported from Great
Britain, about 58,500 tons having being consigned there
during 1914, as against about 33,500 tons in 1913. This
increase was attributed to the Spanish Government’s
import tax on British coal being removed on, account of
the increased price of Spanish coal. Corunna provides a
well-protected harbour, and accommodates vessels draw-
ing up to 22 ft. of water. It may be added that there- is
al-so a large belt conveyor plant for shipping ore there.

Huelva is of interest particularly for the shipment of
iron and copper ore. Both the Rio- Tinto and the
T-hansis iron and copper companies have piers, that of the
former providing 700 ft. length of wharfage, with 20 to
30 ft. depth of water alongside, the equipment including
a number of belt conveyors, hydraulic orane-s, and tips.
Other piers are equipped with both steam amd electric
cranes. Coal imports from the British Isles during
1913 amounted to 159,500 tons, and coke 16,650 tons:
and about 33,000 tons of coal were received from
Holland. To indicate the importance of the mineral
shipments from Huelva, it may be stated that nearly
three million tons were loaded during the year 1913,
consisting mostly of iron and copper pyrites and ore.

Seville is situated some distance up the river (Guadal-
quivir), but nevertheless, the port is being extended, the
entrance channel has been dredged to allow the passage
of large vessels, and the quays are equipped with steam
and electric cranes. Coal was shipped to Seville from

lifting or lowering the load; then, by reversing the winch
and paying out the rop-e, the loading or hoisting hook
is lowered. To travel the trolley in the opposite direc-
tion, on the decline, the rope is paid out, and -allows it ■
to descend by gravitation. Although a-n ordinary ship’s
winch can be used to work this tran-sporteir, a high-speed
winch ensures greater capacity or more rapid working;
and the barrel of the winch should not be less than 15 in.
diameter. Coal is usually handled in tilting skips., o-r, if
in bags, by a rope sling holding about six bags at a
time. The illustration will dispense with further expla-
nation of this useful portable equipment.

Coal Resources of Spain.

Reference -has so far been made more particularly to
the principal ports of Spain for coal bunker supplies
and to coal imports there; but attention may now be
directed to the coal resources of Spain. The coal
measures of that -country are reputed to extend over a
total area of over 3,000 -square miles, and to contain
about 8,700,000,000 tons, of which about 6,300,000,000
tons- is bituminous- -coal. The- coal fields are distributed
over four main areas, the northern, or Asturias, field
being the principal. The southern field is in the pro-
vince of Seville, the -central field is in the province of
Cordova, and there is -also a coal field in the north-east,
near the Southern Pyrenees. Lignite is extensively
available, and is distributed over some nine provinces,
the principal deposit being at Utrillos, whilst anthracite
is available in Cordova, as well as at Palenzi-a, which is
!an extension of the northern field. The annual coal
output of Spain is about 3| million tons, with about
275,000 to 300,000 tons of lignite, and about 220,000 to
250,000 tons of 'anthracite, whilst the manufacture of
briquettes amounts to about 450,000 to 475,000 tons,
and that of coke to about 480,000 to 500,000 tons.
Almost the whole of this production i-s utilised in Spain
itself. The total figure relating to imports into Spain
for the year 1913 amounted to 2,702,000 tons; and the
quantity of coke and briquettes imported during the
same period totalled together about 396,000 tons, of
which the far greatest proportion was consigned from
Great Britain. Reverting to the supplies from the
northern, or Asturias, field of Spain, the Gijon district
alone, which is also important for its iron ore production,
yielded, during the year 1914, coal to the amount of
about 2| million tons.

Gijon—Musel.

The joint ports of Gij-on—Musel are principally con-
cerned with local coal shipments to Bilbao and
Santander, as well 'as to the Mediterranean ports of
Spain, about 500,000 tons having been shipped from
there in 1914.

The port of Gijon comprises an inner and outer har-

Fig. 4.—Transporter Discharging Coal at Bilbao.

gantry of the crane spans two railway tracks, and the
wagons are traversed by the crane jib between the main
supports. At Musel, the same manufacturers have sup-
plied electrically operated gantry cranes, capable of deal-
ing with loads of 30 tons. The gantries of these cranes
also -span two railway tracks, and handle the wagons on
cradles, bollards being provided (on the cranes) for
hauling the wagons on to the cradles. An auxiliary
hoisting gear is used for tipping the cradle in the case
of wagons of the- end-discharge type (both patterns
having to be dealt with). The figures relating to the
respective motions of these cranes are : Span of gantry,
26 ft.; radius of jib, 39 ft.; hoisting speed, 30 tons at
18ft. per minute, and 15 tons at 23ft. per minute;
slewing speed, one revolution in 52 seconds; travelling
speed, 26ft. per minute; and pull of bollard, 1| tons at
98 ft. per minute, or two tons at about 78 ft. per minute.

Bilbao.

Reference may next be made to Bilbao, the most
prominent port in the north of Spain. This port is con-
cerned particularly with the export of pig iron and ore,

this country, in 1913, to the extent of about 127,000
tons; and the iron and copper exports that year
amounted to a total of -about 785,000 tons, which will
give an idea of the importance of shipping there.

Lectures on Staple Trades.—An important course of public
lectures has been arranged by the London School of
Economics a-nd Political Science (University of London) on
“ The Staple Trades of the Empire,” in furtherance of the
aims of the Imperial Studies Committee of the University of
London, and it is especially desired to draw the attention
of business men engaged in the trades to the lectures, a-s
affording then an opportunity of considering the vital import-
ance to the Empire and the Allies of the work that is being
carried on. Mr. 0. C. Beale, chairman of the Chamber of
Commerce, Sydney, will deliver the second lecture, on
February 9, commencing at 5 p.m. Subject: “Metals as
the Base of Imperial Strength.”