construction hydraulic dredge alameda deepening e channel at port hedland western aust derrick barge martinez re-positioning discharge line of franciscan at long beach of module for superhay han ito position by four cranes v r 230 feet from central core general electric transfc plant shreveport louis mutual benefit life insurance company office building los angeles built by haas & haynie our remaining construction operations consisting of dredging and commercial construction produced excellent results substantially exceeding the earnings from these activities in the preceding year 1970 earnings approached the level of the entire year 1969 including all con struction operations prior to the sale of our heavy construction division as of april 30 1969 but excluding the extra ordinary gain resulting from the sale utah experienced an exceptional year in its dredging activities primarily because of the completion of a succession of major dredging contracts at port hedland in western australia these projects had kept our equipment continu ously in use over a period of 5 years without the costly move-in and move-out and idle time which are characteristic of dredging the dredge alameda was assigned to this work and at year's end was under tow to japan for drydocking before resuming operations for the 21 72 months remaining under a 5-year lease to japan industrial land develop ment company the company's other major dredge franciscan was idle early in the year but is presently working on a harbor project in long beach california dredging activities should be profitable in 1971 but cannot be expected to repeat the high level of performance in 1970 earnings from commercial construction performed by our limited partnership with haas and haynie corporation showed improvement reflecting the larger volume and value of work amounting to approximately 60 million put in place during the year major projects com pleted during 1970 included the general electric transformer manufacturing plant at shreveport louisiana the kaiser aluminum research and develop ment facility at pleasanton california 20 the 32 story mutual benefit office building in san francisco and the mcdonnell douglas final assembly building for the dc 10 aircraft at long beach california still under construction at the year end were the superbay hangar for american airlines at los angeles a 37 story office building in san francisco for west coast life insurance company a hotel and hospital in honolulu and other commercial structures the superbay hangar is a unique and impressive project covering an area equal to five football fields it will house four b 747 aircraft at one time its roof is composed of 16 hyperbolic sections which cantilever 230 feet from a central core each module weighs 187 tons and is assembled on the ground and raised into position as of october 31 1970 the construction backlog of the limited partnership amounted to approximately 49 million not including a 35 million project postponed pending disposal of issues delaying a redevelopment program in san francisco we expect construction earnings in 1971 to fall off sharply from the excep tional results recorded in 1970