Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is an artificial 82 km waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. The canal is a conduit for maritime trade. Canal locks are at each end to lift ships up to Gatun Lake, an artificial lake created to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal, 26 m above sea level, lower the ships at the other end; the original locks are 34 m wide. A third, wider lane of locks was constructed between September 2007 and May 2016; the expanded canal began commercial operation on June 26, 2016. The new locks allow transit of larger, post-Panamax ships, capable of handling more cargo. France began work on the canal in 1881, but stopped due to engineering problems and a high worker mortality rate; the United States took over the project in 1904 and opened the canal on August 15, 1914. One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects undertaken, the Panama Canal shortcut reduced the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, enabling them to avoid the lengthy, hazardous Cape Horn route around the southernmost tip of South America via the Drake Passage or Strait of Magellan.
Colombia and the United States controlled the territory surrounding the canal during construction. The US continued to control the canal and surrounding Panama Canal Zone until the 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties provided for handover to Panama. After a period of joint American–Panamanian control, in 1999, the canal was taken over by the Panamanian government, it is now operated by the government-owned Panama Canal Authority. Annual traffic has risen from about 1,000 ships in 1914, when the canal opened, to 14,702 vessels in 2008, for a total of 333.7 million Panama Canal/Universal Measurement System tons. By 2012, more than 815,000 vessels had passed through the canal, it takes 11.38 hours to pass through the Panama Canal. The American Society of Civil Engineers has ranked the Panama Canal one of the seven wonders of the modern world; the earliest mention of a canal across the Isthmus of Panama occurred in 1534, when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, ordered a survey for a route through the Americas that would ease the voyage for ships traveling between Spain and Peru.
Such a route would have given the Spanish a military advantage over the Portuguese. In 1668, the English physician and philosopher Sir Thomas Browne speculated in his encyclopaedic endeavour Pseudodoxia Epidemica - "some Isthmus have been eat through by the Sea, others cut by the spade: And if policy would permit, that of Panama in America were most worthy the attempt: it being but few miles over, would open a shorter cut unto the East Indies and China". In 1788, American Thomas Jefferson Minister to France, suggested that the Spanish should build the canal since it would be a less treacherous route for ships than going around the southern tip of South America, that tropical ocean currents would widen the canal thereafter. During an expedition from 1788 to 1793, Alessandro Malaspina outlined plans for its construction. Given the strategic location of Panama and the potential offered by its narrow isthmus separating two great oceans, other trade links in the area were attempted over the years.
The ill-fated Darien scheme was launched by the Kingdom of Scotland in 1698 to set up an overland trade route. Inhospitable conditions thwarted the effort and it was abandoned in April 1700. Numerous canals were built in other countries in the late early 19th centuries; the success of the Erie Canal in the United States in the 1820s and the collapse of the Spanish Empire in Latin America led to a surge of American interest in building an inter-oceanic canal. Beginning in 1826, US officials began negotiations with Gran Colombia, hoping to gain a concession for the building of a canal. Jealous of their newly obtained independence and fearing that they would be dominated by an American presence, the president Simón Bolívar and New Granada officials declined American offers; the new nation was politically unstable, Panama rebelled several times during the 19th century. Another effort was made in 1843. According to the New York Daily Tribune, August 24, 1843, a contract was entered into by Barings of London and the Republic of New Granada for the construction of a canal across the Isthmus of Darien.
They referred to it as the Atlantic and Pacific Canal, it was a wholly British endeavor. It was expected to be completed in five years. At nearly the same time, other ideas were floated, including a canal across Mexico's Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Nothing came of that plan, either. In 1846, the Mallarino–Bidlack Treaty, negotiated between the US and New Granada, granted the United States transit rights and the right to intervene militarily in the isthmus. In 1848, the discovery of gold in California, on the West Coast of the United States, created great interest in a crossing between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. William H. Aspinwall, the man who won the federal subsidy for the building and operating the Pacific mail steamships at around the same time, benefited from this discovery. Aspinwall's route included steamship legs from New York City to Panama and from Panama to California, with an overland portage through Panama; the route between California and Panama was soon traveled, as it provided one of the fastest links between San Francisco and the East Coast cities, about 40 days' transit in total.
Nearly all the gold, shipped out of California went by the fast Panama route. Several new and larger paddle steamers were soon plying
Patrick Corporation
Patrick Corporation Ltd was an Australian publicly listed logistics conglomerate. Headed by CEO Chris Corrigan before it was absorbed by Toll Holdings in 2006, Patrick had interests in shipping and aviation, including a 62% shareholding in airline Virgin Blue, its headquarters were located in New South Wales. Patrick Corporation was one of the main parties in the 1998 Australian waterfront dispute which centred on the Port of Melbourne. In August 2005, Toll Holdings launched a hostile takeover bid for Patrick Corporation, which would include selling down its share in Virgin Blue. In January 2006, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ordered that Toll could not takeover Patrick Corporation. However, on 11 March 2006, after Toll gave the ACCC further undertakings in relation to the conduct of the business after a successful acquisition the ACCC indicated that it would withdraw its opposition. Patrick was given approval by the ACCC to acquire freight-forwarders FCL Interstate Transport on the condition that it broke up Pacific National, its joint-venture with Toll.
The deal hinged on Toll being unsuccessful in its bid for Patrick. On 14 April 2006, Patrick Corporation agreed to accept Toll's revised bid for the company after spending nine months fighting the hostile takeover. Toll's revised bid, some $5.8 billion instead of about $4 billion offered was considered by Patrick to be the best deal it could get. The deal ended Patrick's plans for acquiring FCL and was expected to mean the sell-off of Patrick's 50% stake in Pacific National to a third party. Toll would become the only vertically integrated logistics company in Australia — it would be able to provide a full package of shipping, road and door-to-door transport of freight. On 24 May 2006, after having had held over 50% of Patrick for the past two weeks and having extended its offer for an additional week after not being able to achieve the required stock to remove Patrick from the ASX, Toll reached 90%. Patrick was absorbed the following day. Patrick had been a constituent of the S&P/ASX 200 index.
Trade in the remaining shares was suspended on 6 June 2006, PRK was removed from the official list on 3 July 2006 after completion of compulsory acquisition. Patrick and Pacific National were demerged from Toll Holdings in 2007 and together became Asciano Limited. Toll Holdings Toll NZ Asciano Limited Patrick official website Asciano Limited Toll Holdings
Container port design process
Container port design process is a set of correlated practices considered during container port design, aiming to transfer general business mission into detailed design documents for future construction and operation. The design process involves detailed design; the source of funding determines the scope of the project. Choices include federal funding, state or local funding, private funding. American ports require subsidies from the federal government in order to keep up with advances in maritime transportation as well as the capabilities of the inland freight movement. 50% of the costs every year come from federal sources. The American Association of Port Authorities is an association which aims at ensuring and increasing federal funds to American ports. A few federal bills which provide funding for ports are Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act: $11 billion in funding to assist in surface transportation improvements National Highway Freight Program: at least $10 billion in funding reorganized for more efficient use in transportation improvementsMost the State's Department of Transportation is the largest state/local financier of public money investments.
The DOTs see the ports as key elements in the systems of movement that they are responsible for such as railways and highways. Investment from private entities is critical to the execution of port activities. American ports are run by private entities in the sense that day-to-day functions are financed and managed with the primary goal of creating revenue; the municipalities of the terminals are kept up by the Port Authority but the equipment and infrastructure required for operations are under the private entities' power. With the creation of new ports Public-Private Partnerships, otherwise known as 3P, are formed to bring in the upfront capital necessary for someone to take on the financial risk of operating a terminal. Container terminals are no different in this sense from other types of terminals. Cargo determines the main function, transportation mode and related characters required for the container port. In container port design, the object cargo is intermodal container. Containers are classified as 20-foot and 40-foot.
53-foot containers were introduced and used both in the U. S. A. and Canada for domestic road and rail transport. The type of vessel, its dimension and capacity, determines the required capacity for a port's input capacity, which involves berth design, water-borne handling equipment selection and requirements for both storage and land-mode capacity; the characteristics of vessels and the port characteristics: Main dimensions: length, which determines the widths and bends of channel, size required for the terminal and maximum number of berths. Cargo Capacity, which control over the cargo ship requirements of storage, can affect the loading and unloading processing cranes/ship. Designed vessel Function. Whether vessel has cargo handling equipment /. Container vessel require external handling equipment. Vessel routine shall get considered as the inter-modal capability requirement for import and trans-ship service will be different; the selection of designed vessel shall consider the development of the container ship.
Underestimating the trend of size development of container ship will result in incapability and low sustainability. It should get finished by receiving government permits; the choice of location is considered with philosophy of triple-bottom line and with considerations of waterside access, natural conditions, inter-modal connections and stakeholders. For ports Promotion of the advanced development of regional economy. For container terminals The availability of deep water. Access channel is a waterway; the importance of location of access channels is that it determines the oceanographic factors such as wave, tidal cycle, wind met by the ships in the channel. It needs to keep the depth of channel and be able to accommodate the world's largest cargo vessels. For example, in order to meet the need, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey runs the Main Navigation Channel Deepening Program, dredged 38 miles of federal channels to as deep as 50 feet by 30 years. There are several aspects, based on PIANC, a designer needs to consider: Vessel's dimension and velocity.
Natural conditions are classified as whether the area selected is natural. Natural condition determines whether there will be existing utilities and constraint for future terminal development. Intermodal connection is a place where rail, truck and other transport methods converge. Intermodal connection for container terminal consists of road and rail; the capacity of intermodal connection---docking and the handling, st
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state on the east coast of Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south, South Australia to the west, its coast borders the Tasman Sea to the east. The Australian Capital Territory is an enclave within the state. New South Wales' state capital is Sydney, Australia's most populous city. In September 2018, the population of New South Wales was over 8 million, making it Australia's most populous state. Just under two-thirds of the state's population, 5.1 million, live in the Greater Sydney area. Inhabitants of New South Wales are referred to as New South Welshmen; the Colony of New South Wales was founded as a penal colony in 1788. It comprised more than half of the Australian mainland with its western boundary set at 129th meridian east in 1825; the colony included the island territories of New Zealand, Van Diemen's Land, Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island. During the 19th century, most of the colony's area was detached to form separate British colonies that became New Zealand and the various states and territories of Australia.
However, the Swan River Colony has never been administered as part of New South Wales. Lord Howe Island remains part of New South Wales, while Norfolk Island has become a federal territory, as have the areas now known as the Australian Capital Territory and the Jervis Bay Territory; the prior inhabitants of New South Wales were the Aboriginal tribes who arrived in Australia about 40,000 to 60,000 years ago. Before European settlement there were an estimated 250,000 Aboriginal people in the region; the Wodi Wodi people are the original custodians of the Illawarra region of South Sydney. Speaking a variant of the Dharawal language, the Wodi Wodi people lived across a large stretch of land, surrounded by what is now known as Campbelltown, Shoalhaven River and Moss Vale; the Bundjalung people are the original custodians of parts of the northern coastal areas. The European discovery of New South Wales was made by Captain James Cook during his 1770 survey along the unmapped eastern coast of the Dutch-named continent of New Holland, now Australia.
In his original journal covering the survey, in triplicate to satisfy Admiralty Orders, Cook first named the land "New Wales", named after Wales. However, in the copy held by the Admiralty, he "revised the wording" to "New South Wales"; the first British settlement was made by. After years of chaos and anarchy after the overthrow of Governor William Bligh, a new governor, Lieutenant-Colonel Lachlan Macquarie, was sent from Britain to reform the settlement in 1809. During his time as governor, Macquarie commissioned the construction of roads, wharves and public buildings, sent explorers out from Sydney and employed a planner to design the street layout of Sydney. Macquarie's legacy is still evident today. During the 19th century, large areas were successively separated to form the British colonies of Tasmania, South Australia and Queensland. Responsible government was granted to the New South Wales colony in 1855. Following the Treaty of Waitangi, William Hobson declared British sovereignty over New Zealand in 1840.
In 1841 it was separated from the Colony of New South Wales to form the new Colony of New Zealand. Charles Darwin visited Australia in January 1836 and in The Voyage of the Beagle records his hesitations about and fascination with New South Wales, including his speculations about the geological origin and formation of the great valleys, the aboriginal population, the situation of the convicts, the future prospects of the country. At the end of the 19th century, the movement toward federation between the Australian colonies gathered momentum. Conventions and forums involving colony leaders were held on a regular basis. Proponents of New South Wales as a free trade state were in dispute with the other leading colony Victoria, which had a protectionist economy. At this time customs posts were common on borders on the Murray River. Travelling from New South Wales to Victoria in those days was difficult. Supporters of federation included the New South Wales premier Sir Henry Parkes whose 1889 Tenterfield Speech was pivotal in gathering support for New South Wales involvement.
Edmund Barton to become Australia's first Prime Minister, was another strong advocate for federation and a meeting held in Corowa in 1893 drafted an initial constitution. In 1898 popular referenda on the proposed federation were held in New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania. All votes resulted in a majority in favour, but the New South Wales government under Premier George Reid had set a requirement for a higher "yes" vote than just a simple majority, not met. In 1899 further referenda were held in the same states as well as Queensland. All resulted in yes votes with majorities increased from the previous year. New South Wales met the conditions; as a compromise to the question on where the capital was to be located, an agreement was made that the site was to be within New South Wales but not closer than 100 miles from Sydney, while the provisional capital would be Melbourne. The area that now forms the Australian Capital Territory was ceded by New South Wales when Canberra was selected.
In the years after World War I, the high prices enjoyed durin
Port of Rotterdam
The Port of Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe, located in the city of Rotterdam, Netherlands. From 1962 until 2004 it was the world's busiest port, now overtaken first by Singapore and Shanghai. In 2011, Rotterdam was the world's eleventh-largest container port in terms of twenty-foot equivalent units handled. In 2012 Rotterdam was the world's sixth-largest port in terms of annual cargo tonnage. Covering 105 square kilometres, the port of Rotterdam now stretches over a distance of 40 kilometres, it consists of the city centre's historic harbour area, including Delfshaven. Rotterdam consists of five distinct port areas and three distribution parks that facilitate the needs of a hinterland with 40,000,000 consumers. In the first half of the 19th century the port activities moved from the centre westward towards the North Sea. To improve the connection to the North Sea, the Nieuwe Waterweg, a large canal, was designed to connect the Rhine and Meuse rivers to the sea; the Nieuwe Waterweg was designed to be dug to further deepen the canal bed by the natural flow of the water.
However, the last part had to be dug by manual labour as well. Rotterdam from on had a direct connection between the sea and harbour areas with sufficient depth; the Nieuwe Waterweg has since been deepened several times. It was ready in all sorts of industrial activity formed on the banks of this canal. Over the years the port was further developed seaward by building new harbour-basins. Rotterdam's harbour territory has been enlarged by the construction of the Europoort complex along the mouth of the Nieuwe Waterweg. In the 1970s the port was extended into the sea at the south side of the mouth of the Nieuwe Waterweg by completion of the Maasvlakte, built in the North Sea near Hoek van Holland. In the past five years the industrialised skyline has been changed by the addition of large numbers of wind turbines taking advantage of the exposed coastal conditions; the construction of a second Maasvlakte received initial political approval in 2004, but was stopped by the Raad van State in 2005, because the plans did not take enough account of environmental issues.
On 10 October 2006, approval was acquired to start construction in 2008, aiming for the first ship to anchor in 2013. Most important for the port of Rotterdam is the petrochemical industry and general cargo transshipment handlings; the harbour functions as an important transit point for transport of bulk and other goods between the European continent and other parts of the world. From Rotterdam goods are transported by river barge, train or road. Since 2000 the Betuweroute, a fast cargo railway from Rotterdam to Germany, has been under construction; the Dutch part of this railway opened in 2007. Large oil refineries are located west of the city; the river Maas and Rhine provide excellent access to the hinterland. The EECV-quay of the port has a draft of 24 metres; this made it one of only two available mooring locations for one of the largest bulk cargo ships in the world, the iron ore bulk carrier MS Berge Stahl when it is loaded, along with the Terminal of Ponta da Madeira in Brazil, until the opening of a new deep-water iron ore wharf at Caofeidian in China in 2011.
The ship's draft of 23 meters leaves only 1 metre of under keel clearance, therefore it can only dock in a restricted tidal window. Such ships must travel in the Eurogeul. Much of the container loading and stacking in the port is handled by autonomous robotic cranes and computer controlled chariots; the ECT pioneered the development of terminal automation. At the Delta terminal, the chariots—or automated guided vehicles —are unmanned and each carries one container; the chariots navigate their own way around the terminal with the help of a magnetic grid built into the terminal tarmac. Once a container is loaded onto an AGV, it is identified by infrared "eyes" and delivered to its designated place within the terminal; this terminal is named "the ghost terminal". Unmanned Automated Stacking Cranes take containers to/from the AGVs and store them in the stacking yard; the newer Euromax terminal implements an evolution of this design that eliminates the use of straddle carriers for the land-side operations.
The port is operated by the Port of Rotterdam Authority a municipal body of the municipality of Rotterdam, but since 1 January 2004, a government corporation jointly owned by the municipality of Rotterdam and the Dutch State. The port of Rotterdam and its surrounding area is susceptible to a storm surge from the North Sea. In the Delta Works flood protection plan various options have been considered for protecting Rotterdam. A unique design was built, the Maeslantkering; this flood barrier consists of two huge doors that rest in a dry dock besides the Nieuwe Waterweg. When a flood of 3 metres above NAP is predicted the gates are floated into position, like caissons, sunk in place; when the water level recedes enough to open the gates, they are floated back into their docks. Another barrier, the Hartelkering, is situated in the Hartelkanaal; the Port of Rotterdam aims to be emission-less by the year 2050. Europoort Port of Antwerp Port of Rotterdam Rotterdam is s
Siding (rail)
A siding, in rail terminology, is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line or branch line or spur. It may connect to other sidings at either end. Sidings have lighter rails, meant for lower speed or less heavy traffic, few, if any, signals. Sidings connected at both ends to a running line are known as loops. Sidings may be used for marshalling, storing and unloading vehicles. Common sidings store stationary rolling stock for loading and unloading. Industrial sidings go to factories, quarries, warehouses, some of them are links to industrial railways; such sidings can sometimes be found at stations for public use. Sidings may hold maintenance of way equipment or other equipment, allowing trains to pass, or store helper engines between runs; some sidings have occasional use, having been built, for example, to service an industry, a railway yard or a stub of a disused railway that has since closed. It is not uncommon for an infrequently-used siding to fall into disrepair.
A particular form of siding is passing loop. This is connected to it at both ends by switches. Passing sidings allow trains travelling in opposite directions to pass, for fast, high priority trains to pass slower or lower priority trains going the same direction, they are important for efficiency on single track lines, add to the capacity of other lines. Single-ended siding with similar purpose to passing loop. A team track is a small siding or spur track intended for the use of area merchants, manufacturers and other small businesses to load and unload products and merchandise in smaller quantities; the term "team" refers to the teams of horses or oxen delivering wagon-loads of freight transferred to or from railway cars. Team tracks may be owned by the railroad company or by customers served by the railroad, or by industrial parks or freight terminals that encompass many customers. In some jurisdictions, the operation and construction of team tracks is regulated by legal authorities. Earliest rail service to an area provided a team track on railroad-owned property adjacent to the railroad agent's train station.
As rail traffic became more established, large-volume shippers extended owned spur tracks into mines and warehouses. Small-volume shippers and shippers with facilities distant from the rail line continued using team tracks into the early part of the 20th century. Throughout the mid to latter portion of the 20th century, improved highway systems and abandonment of low-volume rail lines made full-distance truck shipments more practical in North America and avoided delays and damage associated with freight handling during transfer operations. However, as a result of higher fuel costs, greater traffic jams on Interstate Highways, the growing movement towards sustainable development, there has been recent upward trend towards moving long-distance freight traffic off highways and onto rail lines; this has resulted in local communities and rail lines seeking construction of new team track and intermodal facilities. Some railroads publish detailed specifications for the design and construction of many elements of team tracks.
For example, the Union Pacific Railroad has standards and guidelines for many aspects of spur track construction including track layout, clearance standards and turnout and switch stand designs. Team tracks do not have road or pedestrian crossings across them. Marshalling yard or classification yard Rail yard Jackson, Alan A.. The Railway Dictionary, 4th ed. Sutton Publishing, Stroud. ISBN 0-7509-4218-5. Ellis, Iain. Ellis' British Railway Engineering Encyclopaedia. Lulu.com. ISBN 978-1-8472-8643-7. Riley, Joseph E. and Strong, James C. "Basic Track", AREMA, 2003 Solomon, Brian, "Railway Signalling", 1st Edition, Voyageur Press
Wharf
A wharf, staith or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbor or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths, may include piers, warehouses, or other facilities necessary for handling the ships. Wharfs are considered to be a series of docks in which boats are stationed. A wharf comprises a fixed platform on pilings. Commercial ports may have warehouses that serve as interim storage: where it is sufficient a single wharf with a single berth constructed along the land adjacent to the water is used. A pier, raised over the water rather than within it, is used for cases where the weight or volume of cargos will be low. Smaller and more modern wharves are sometimes built on flotation devices to keep them at the same level as the ship during changing tides. In everyday parlance the term quay is common in the United Kingdom, Canada and many other Commonwealth countries, the Republic of Ireland, whereas the term wharf is more common in the United States.
In some contexts wharf and quay may be used to mean berth, or jetty. In old ports such as London many old wharves have been converted to residential or office use. Certain early railways in England referred to goods loading points as "wharves"; the term was carried over from marine usage. The person, resident in charge of the wharf was referred to as a "wharfinger". One explanation is that the word wharf comes from the Old English "warft" or the Old Dutch word "werf", which both evolved to mean "yard", an outdoor place where work is done, like a shipyard or a lumberyard. Werf or werva in Old Dutch referred to inhabited ground, not yet built on, or alternatively to a terp; this could explain the name Ministry Wharf located at Saunderton, just outside High Wycombe, nowhere near any body of water. In support of this explanation is the fact that many places in England with "wharf" in their names are in areas with a high Dutch influence, for example the Norfolk broads. In the northeast and east of England the term staith or staithe is used.
The two terms have had a geographical distinction: those to the north in the Kingdom of Northumbria used the Old English spelling staith, southern sites of the Danelaw took the Danish spelling staithe. Both referred to jetties or wharves. In time, the northern coalfields of Northumbria developed coal staiths for loading coal onto ships and these would adopt the staith spelling as a distinction from simple wharves: for example, Dunston Staiths in Gateshead and Brancaster Staithe in Norfolk. However, the term staith may be used to refer only to loading chutes or ramps used for bulk commodities like coal in loading ships and barges. Quay, on the other hand, has its origin in the Proto-Celtic language. Before it changed to its current form under influence of the modern French quai, its Middle English spelling was key, keye or caye; this in turn came from the Old Norman cai, both meaning "sand bank". The Old French term came from Gaulish caium tracing back to the Proto-Celtic *kagio- "to encompass, enclose".
Modern cognates include Welsh cae "fence, hedge" and Cornish ke "hedge", the Dutch kade. Bollard Canal basin Dock Safeguarded wharf The dictionary definition of wharf at Wiktionary The dictionary definition of quay at Wiktionary
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