OCR

The Comilog Railroad is a 1.067 meter gauge, single track, comprised of 12 meter, 30 kg./mt. rails, laid on steel ties - I, 750 to the kilometer and 900 liters of ballast to the meter. The width of the roadbed is 4.5 meters or 5.5. meters in fill, and 6.50 meters in cut including the ditches. Maximum grades are 1% unfavorable and 1.5% favorable. The minimum radii are 200 meters. However, in the crossing of the Niari and the Louesse, even more sever characteristics were adopted for one seven- kilometer section of the track. Bases and Access Roads The existing roads and tracks in existence which could provide access to the route of the railroad were at this time practically all inadequate to carry the great traffic to which they would be subjected over a period of three years. The Contractor's first job consisted of creating a system of roads, utilizing aportion of these tracks and adding 100 kilometers of new roads, to make it possible to haul the heavy earthmoving equipment, and ensure the supplying and provisioning of the worksites. At the same time industrial bases were being installed - one main base established at the commencement of the project and five secondary bases to be established as the work progressed. The main base was built at Makabana at the point where the most important station of the line was to be located. This location had the advantage of being on the left bank of the Miari, thus eliminating the ferry crossing, close to a region where the work was very ticklish by reason of the construction of the two large structures on the Niari and the Louesse, and the huge volume of earthwork to be performed in this sector. This base included an industrial center, with offices, stores, central workshops, fuel depots, and the camps which made possible the housing of 600 workmen and 110 officials and their families. There was a general store, a school, a hospital and a dispensary, a post office, playing fields and an airfield. The secondary bases were established about 40 to 50 kilometers apart, in order to minimize loss of time travelling. Each of these bases contained a workshop for servicing and mainten- ance of the machines, a fuel depot, and housing for 500 workmen and about 50 officials and their families . Lastly, a work train followed the progress of the tracklaying, standing by on the siding every 20 to 25 kilometers.