OCR

two miles of tidal flats where there was not enough water to assure flotation at low tide. Across this area, the contractor built 11,000 feet of "crib line" consisting of the 30 inch pipeline coupled with Victaulic couplings and carried on timber pile bents. The land line, running from the beginning of the embankment at the end of the runway, was made up of 40 foot lengths of 30 inch pipe with slip couplings. These pipe sections were handled by Allis-Chalmers HD-21 tractors equipped with A frames, and a similarly equipped Le Tourneau-Westinghouse C Tournadozer. The tractors assembled the line of pipe and seated the joints by ramming the pipe home with their dozers. The first sections of this pipe were to remain in place and in use for a long time as the filling progressed. This being the case, steel bands were welded across the slip joints to tie them together. Since the fills were relatively shallow---ranging from 18 ft. down to less than 4 ft. --and since the embankment was a series of strips extending over an area some two miles long, moving discharge pipe was a continuing job. As many as eight big gear - and-ratchet type gated wyes were used to keep the dredge going while new lines of pipe were added. The burden of handling most of the heavy pipe and the wyes was taken over by four Allis-Chalmers. HP-21 tractors equipped with Gar Wood power control units and dozers, plus chop-built rear mounted A-frames. Utah installed Cummins 270 HP diesel engines in the tractors on the job. This was tough work for the tractors for the dredge fill was an extremely abrasive sand which cut into weaving parts. Another hazard for the rigs was that of being submerged in a mexture of mud, sand, and salt water—something which happened whenever a tracter accidently got into a soft pocket. The well sealed Cummins engines and Gar Wood Power control units, as well as the Allis- Chalmers track rollers and final drives made damage minimal; tractors were back at work in an amazingly short time, even after being submerged.