Could not resist going for the 57 again this morning as the fog was lifting quickly, Network Rail 57 306 on the final few yards of its journey from Seaforth to Ironbridge with containerized biomass 4G01

Under Secretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy delivers remarks at the unveiling of the completion of two Containerized Biocontainment System units at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia, on August 11, 2015. The units will be instrumental in expanding and expediting medevac capabilities for healthcare workers on the frontlines fighting Ebola. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]

Almost everything you have in your home spent time at some stage in shipping container. Zeebrugge counts as one of the most important ports in Europe for containerized cargo, handling over 2.5 million TEUs (containers) in 2010.

Can’t help wondering about the effect on trade because of Brexit. Places like Zeebrugge could be hard hit. What do you think?

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The flag of the Hamburg-Süd Line in the stiff breeze at Norfolk Virginia.

Wikipedia says:

Hamburg Süd is a shipping line on the North-South ocean trade routes, in which was part of the Oetker Group and sold to A.P. Moller–Maersk Group's shipping division Maersk Line.

History

In 1871 Hamburg Südamerikanische Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft (Hamburg - South America Steam Shipping Company or Hamburg South America Line) was established by a conglomerate of 11 Hamburg-based merchant houses.

Three steam-ships totalling 4,000 GRT provided a monthly shipping service to Brazil and Argentina.

By 1914 the company was operating over 50 ships totaling approximately 325,000 GRT.

World War I culminated in the loss of all Hamburg Süd's vessels, and the company was forced to begin again by chartering vessels.

The early 1950s saw the company embark on tramp shipping and tanker shipping, and large growth of refrigerated cargoes.

In 1955 the Dr. August Oetker company took the company over, and began rapid expansion of the liner and passenger services.

The takeover of Deutsche Levante Linie in 1956 saw the company commence its first foray into the Mediterranean.

1957 saw liner services begin between North America and Australia/New Zealand, with the Columbus New Zealand being the first container ship to ply trade-lanes in the region in 1971, pioneering containerization in the Pacific.

Roles in war

The Cap Trafalgar was a brand-new passenger liner, having been completed only on March 1, 1914 and had commenced her maiden voyage only on March 10, 1914. Germany had lightly armed the vessel with two 10.5 cm guns and 6 heavy machine guns, and had removed one of the three steam-funnels and re-coloured the vessel to disguise it as a British liner. The vessel encountered the British fully armed ex-steam liner Carmania about 700 miles east of the Brazilian coast, near the island of Trindade, at 9:30 a.m. on September 14, 1914. After a heated exchange of fire between the two ships, the Cap Trafalgar began listing to the left, then sunk bow-first.

The Cap Arcona, arguably one of the most beautiful passenger liners in its time, was converted to serve the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) as a converted transport vessel in 1940. At the end of 1944 it was then commandeered as a troopship, primarily transporting refugees and prisoners of war along the Baltic Sea. Loaded with 4,500 prisoners at Lübeck Bay, it was attacked by Royal Air Force Typhoons in an air-raid. The Cap Arcona remained capsized in Lübeck Bay until 1950 and was then taken apart by divers, over a period of years, and scrapped. The wreckage was registered and photographed in detail by Rolls Royce, who had produced the RAF's rockets, to assess their effectiveness.

Corporate takeovers

Hamburg Süd also owns Brazilian operator Aliança and Spanish operator Ybarra Sud. It has taken over many companies over the years including Ellerman, Kien Hung, South Seas Steamship, Deutsche-Nah-Ost-Linie, Royal Mail Line, Pacific Steam Navigation Company, Swedish Laser Lines, Rotterdam Zuid-America Lijn (RZAL), Havenlijn and the Inter-America services of Crowley American Transport. In the past parts of Hamburg Süd has been known as Columbus Line.

Since 2004 the services of Columbus Line are directly integrated into Hamburg-Süd. The current container fleet of dry boxes has a distinctive red color with a huge flag and white HAMBURG SÜD logo on the side.

The refrigerated boxes are white with the flag and navy blue lettering.

Humanitarian aid

Hamburg Süd supports international aid organisations with in-house shipping facilities. In the shortest possible time, relief supplies and technical or medical equipment are transported where needed, typically after natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.

Hamburg Süd maintains a long-term relationship to SOS Children's Villages, supporting their projects in different countries. Hamburg Süd also supports various initiatives in the fields of education and culture, including the United Buddy Bears exhibitions.

Some days everything just comes together with light, skies, clouds, shadows, leading lines, and dramatic warm light! This day was on December 18, 2023, as I was on the last leg of a trip to chase Pere Marquette 1225, where I captured this shot of CSX I028’s mid-train DPU, as they headed down the viaduct into Howell Yard, at Evansville, Indiana, on the CSX Henderson Subdivision. The only thing that would have made it better is if it was a train coming out of Evansville, but I’ll take it!

Judges' comments: The judges liked this image for its capture of modern-day containerized freight traversing the Midwest at sunset approaching the Ohio River. The dramatic interplay between the brilliant low-angle lighting and long shadows masterfully explores drone photography technology and creativity.

With the darkness of winter rolling over the Main West CFCLAs CM3303 and CM3301 interupt the stillness of Brewongle with 1877 containerized log service to Kelso. Both CMs are on lease to SSR

STS059-071-027 Osaka/Kobi Area, Honshu, Japan April 1994

The location of the complex and extensive port and harbor facilities that handles cargo (containerized and other) from ocean going ships is apparent in this detailed view of Osaka and Kobe. These two port cities plus other urban areas that are integrated into one large metroplex are located along the northeast end of the Osaka Bay at the eastern end of Japan’s Inland Sea. The two manmade islands (results of land reclamation projects-slightly above center) along the north edge of Osaka Bay are part of the modern Kobe port facilities, known as the Port Island Terminal (westernmost large island, part of the island still being constructed) and the roughly rectangular-shaped island immediately northeast of Port Island Terminal is Rokko Island Terminal. Many large manmade islands (shipping and receiving terminals) located along the east coast of Osaka Bay form the Port of Osaka, considered to be one of the foremost international ports of Japan. A causeway bridge connects Kansai International Airport (light-colored rectangular island) with the mainland. This bridge has also been constructed on reclaimed land and can be seen near the bottom center of the image. Several river channels (dark, linear, winding features), including the wide Yodo River (note the many bridges that cross the Yodo River), can be traced through the city of Osaka. The dark landscapes are low, forested mountains.

4.9.13

This 173-acre terminal has 4,780 linear feet (1,457m) of berthing space on 40 feet (12.2m) of deepwater.

The terminal handles containerized and breakbulk cargoes, imported automobiles and liquid bulk commodities such as turpentine and vegetable oil. Breakbulk cargoes include steel, lumber and paper, and a variety of frozen and chilled goods. Talleyrand is equipped with four container cranes, on-dock rail and 160,000 square feet of transit shed space capable of handling cargo in refrigerated, freezer or ambient conditions. Additionally, a 553,000-square foot warehouse stores a variety of cargoes, including rolls of fine and specialty papers, magazine papers and newsprint.

The Talleyrand terminal also offers two 50-LT capacity rubber tired gantry cranes, both of which straddle four rail spurs totaling 4,800 linear feet (1,463 m). Talleyrand's on-dock rail facilities are run by Talleyrand Terminal Railroad, Inc., which provides direct switching service for Norfolk Southern and CSX railroads. The terminal is only 25 minutes from Florida East Coast Railroad's intermodal ramp, and is conveniently located within minutes of interstates I-95 and I-10.

Photo Credit: JAXPORT, Meredith Fordham Hughes

A crowd of civilians watches as Soldiers from the 317th Maintenance Company, 391st Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, unload a cargo container of water treatment equipment at the Lagwal Dam Reservoir in Kitgum, Uganda, Oct. 5,, 2009.

U.S. Army photo and report by Spc. Jason Nolte, 21st TSC Public Affairs

KITGUM, Uganda – With Natural Fire 10 just a couple of weeks away, the set up of the life support area for troops participating in the exercise is in full swing – an area where safe drinking water is a premium and healthy living conditions are a priority.

“Hygiene issues are huge here. Right now it’s a very rustic environment. Soldiers have to ensure they practice good personal hygiene on a regular basis,” Said Maj. Ken Spicer, a specialist with the Center for Health Promotion and Preventative Medicine – Europe.

Spc. Brandon Johnson, a water treatment specialist with the 240th Quartermaster Company, 391st Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, said the importance of clean water for hygiene is absolutely critical.

“I’m purifying shower water and latrine water for the exercise,” said Johnson. “You don’t want to get an infection from bad water, and you don’t want to get sick from bad water.”

“The prevention of waterborne diseases is an interesting issue,” Spicer said. “First we have to find a water source, which we have. The water gets purified through a reverse osmosis water purification unit, and it’s treated with chlorine. It’s disinfected with chlorine that kills the bacteria.”

From there, Spicer said the water has to be transported to a holding container. Throughout the process the water is treated to ensure it remains disinfected and maintains an acceptable chlorine level so Soldiers can use it for showering and shaving.

During the exercise the joint U.S. forces will use containerized showers and latrine units. Those units will get their water from the hard work of water treatment specialists from the 240th QM Co.

Natural Fire 10 is a training exercise which offers an opportunity for east African community partner nations and the U.S. military to work together during a humanitarian assistance mission. Working together, all parties will learn from each other to increase regional capabilities to respond to complex humanitarian emergencies.

To learn more about U.S. Army Africa visit our official website at www.usaraf.army.mil

Official Vimeo video channel: www.vimeo.com/usarmyafrica

Under Secretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy views two newly completed Containerized Biocontainment System units at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia, on August 11, 2015. The units will be instrumental in expanding and expediting medevac capabilities for healthcare workers on the frontlines fighting Ebola. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]

7.27.12

JAXPORT's staff is comprised of 150 employees, whom manage and market the port and plan for its improvement. JAXPORT's staff work in a variety of areas, including terminal operations and security; cruise operations; planning and properties; construction and engineering; finance, administration, procurement, IT, government and external affairs, corporate communications and trade development and marketing.

Talleyrand Marine Terminal:

This 173-acre terminal has 4,780 linear feet (1,457m) of berthing space on 40 feet (12.2m) of deepwater.

The terminal handles containerized and breakbulk cargoes, imported automobiles and liquid bulk commodities such as turpentine and vegetable oil. Breakbulk cargoes include steel, lumber and paper, and a variety of frozen and chilled goods. Talleyrand is equipped with four container cranes, on-dock rail and 160,000 square feet of transit shed space capable of handling cargo in refrigerated, freezer or ambient conditions. Additionally, a 553,000-square foot warehouse stores a variety of cargoes, including rolls of fine and specialty papers, magazine papers and newsprint.

The Talleyrand terminal also offers two 50-LT capacity rubber tired gantry cranes, both of which straddle four rail spurs totaling 4,800 linear feet (1,463 m). Talleyrand's on-dock rail facilities are run by Talleyrand Terminal Railroad, Inc., which provides direct switching service for Norfolk Southern and CSX railroads. The terminal is only 25 minutes from Florida East Coast Railroad's intermodal ramp, and is conveniently located within minutes of interstates I-95 and I-10.

Photo credit: JAXPORT, Meredith Fordham Hughes

Spcs. Caleb Powell and John Williams, 317th Maintenance Company, 391st Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, unload a cargo container of water treatment equipment at the Lagwal Dam Reservoir in Kitgum, Uganda, Oct. 5, 2009.

U.S. Army photo and report by Spc. Jason Nolte, 21st TSC Public Affairs

KITGUM, Uganda – With Natural Fire 10 just a couple of weeks away, the set up of the life support area for troops participating in the exercise is in full swing – an area where safe drinking water is a premium and healthy living conditions are a priority.

“Hygiene issues are huge here. Right now it’s a very rustic environment. Soldiers have to ensure they practice good personal hygiene on a regular basis,” Said Maj. Ken Spicer, a specialist with the Center for Health Promotion and Preventative Medicine – Europe.

Spc. Brandon Johnson, a water treatment specialist with the 240th Quartermaster Company, 391st Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, said the importance of clean water for hygiene is absolutely critical.

“I’m purifying shower water and latrine water for the exercise,” said Johnson. “You don’t want to get an infection from bad water, and you don’t want to get sick from bad water.”

“The prevention of waterborne diseases is an interesting issue,” Spicer said. “First we have to find a water source, which we have. The water gets purified through a reverse osmosis water purification unit, and it’s treated with chlorine. It’s disinfected with chlorine that kills the bacteria.”

From there, Spicer said the water has to be transported to a holding container. Throughout the process the water is treated to ensure it remains disinfected and maintains an acceptable chlorine level so Soldiers can use it for showering and shaving.

During the exercise the joint U.S. forces will use containerized showers and latrine units. Those units will get their water from the hard work of water treatment specialists from the 240th QM Co.

Natural Fire 10 is a training exercise which offers an opportunity for east African community partner nations and the U.S. military to work together during a humanitarian assistance mission. Working together, all parties will learn from each other to increase regional capabilities to respond to complex humanitarian emergencies.

To learn more about U.S. Army Africa visit our official website at www.usaraf.army.mil

Official Vimeo video channel: www.vimeo.com/usarmyafrica

Left photo - 1970s photo recording a busy day with trucks parked along the seawall, ready to load or off-load bulk consignments for or after sea transportation. In those early days the Praya was with heavy traffic heading both to east and west, in addition to the trams that goes both ways along the Praya. Stevedores had coolies who often carry heavy boxes etc. shuttling between the seawall and a berthing barge on a narrow timber plank, which is less than 300 mm wide and slender

Right photo - at approximate the same spot, shooting in the early 1980s revealed significant changes; there was less transportation business along the pier, trucks parked at the sea wall were no longer seen, and a number of warehouses were pulled down for residential development. Yet still there were barges serving the cargo ships from abroad even though containerization has taken away much of the sea cargo business. The Praya has become a clear two-way traffic; driving along a 3 meter wide lane between the sea wall and a running tram can be frightening as the vehicle may end up plunging to the sea !

This section of the Praya was reclamed in 1997

SF Bay RR, 21 June 2018

The San Francisco Bay RR operates on the southeast side of San Francisco on and near the port. It uses two Alco S2 switchers that were built for the State Belt RR, later the San Francisco Belt RR, the line that served the piers of the Port of San Francisco for many years.

As shipping companies moved to containerization, the Port of Oakland became the big northern California container terminal and most of the piers of the Port of San Francisco were abandoned or converted to uses other than marine freight, so the SF Belt RR found itself out of a job. After 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake damaged the Embarcadero Freeway, which had run over the SF Belt for most of its length, the freeway was removed, opening up San Francisco's waterfront and much of the Belt's trackage as converted for use by the Muni F line, which runs historic streetcars to Fishermen's Wharf, and the Muni lines that now server the Caltrain station.

Meanwhile, Pier 96, near Hunter's Point was converted to a container facility and the railroad's operations survived there. The line was renamed the San Francisco Bay RR and continued to use Alco S2s 23 and 25 to switch its customers.

Today, the railroad's main business is transloading dirty dirt from constructions and clean up sites in the Bay Area from trucks to railcars. It is owned by Waste Solutions Group, which also owns a fleet of hopper cars. The SF Bay and UP interchange on an as needed basis, with UP's South City job running into the SF Bay's yard on Cargo Way with empties and taking away loads.

A couple of railfans, Ryan and Ben, work for the railroad and Ryan invited me to come by for a visit. I had stopped by one afternoon a couple of years ago, and lucked out to see an S2 running around the yard a bit, but the railrroad usually goes on duty betweeen 4 and 5 am, switches cars for a few hours and then is done for the day. So, a visit to the SF Bay from Sacramento entailed a night in a hotel. It took a few tries for me to get time off from work scheduled on the same day the railroad was running.

Eventually, it all lined up and my alarm went off at 0315 at a hotel in Daly City, just south of the SF city limit.

I was at the yard by 4 and met Ben, who went out and started Alco 23. 25 is out of service with a bad bearing on the radiator fan drive shaft. Ryan explained that the SF Belt had done a jerry rigged repair of the shaft at some point and it was never documented, so nobody knew about the bearing until it failed. As a new low emission unit will be delivered in the next few months, there is no reason to repair 25. 25 will be put on display somewhere, perhaps near the Ferry Building, while 23 will be held as backup for the new unit.

But for now, an S2 built in 1944 is doing the job it was built to do. If you think about it, that is as though the Virginia and Truckee had still been using the Reno and Genoa during WW2.

Shorty after I got there, Ben went out and fired up the 23. It has a block heater, so it started easily with a puff of white smoke. He did an inspection of the engine, including checking the journal boxes. We then went back into the office and waited for Ryan, brakeman Johnny, and engineer Nick to arrive. The crew plotted their switching moves for the day. Ryan, who is yard operations manager, suggested that I get some blue hour photos from the ground as empties were switched and then we rode 23 while they switched loads.

Each car has dirt from one particular construction site and the dirt from sites cannot be mixed as different sites will have different contamination. UP ships it to a dump site in Nevada, where it is processed. Ryan explained that sometimes they can use dividers in a car to separate dirt from different projects if there is not that much.

Right now transshipping dirty dirt is the SF Bay's only business, but there a couple of other industries are interested in bringing new business. The line that crosses the Illinois St. bridge has been out of service for a couple of years as there currently no customers north of Islais Creek.

We rode the S2 for a while after the day brightened, then got down and Ryan drove me around in a company car to get some more angles as they switched. He then had other work to do and I shot the end of 23's work day as well as 25, some spare Alco parts and another project of Waste Solutions, goats that are leased out for natural weed control. Ryan said that since Waste Solutions got more cars, they can't use their goats as much for weed control in the yard as most of the yard tracks are occupied.

The crew called it a day for switching about 0800 and then would be doing other work in the yard for the rest of their work day.

All of these photos were taken with permission after signing a release and while wearing required PPE.

I want to than Ryan, Ben, Johnny and Nick for their hospitality. I had a great time.

Under Secretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy delivers remarks at the unveiling of the completion of two Containerized Biocontainment System units at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia, on August 11, 2015. The units will be instrumental in expanding and expediting medevac capabilities for healthcare workers on the frontlines fighting Ebola. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]

1107 and HL203 hang on for the ride through Branxton station on the rear of 8448 containerized grain to Newcastle. The locos would begin to power up at the bottom of the hill to push the train up, as only the second C was powering due to failures with the front C

Close-up, cross-section view of CROCIDOLITE-based sprayed "Limpet" asbestos fireproofing sample, by Keasbey & Mattison Company (K&M) of Ambler, Pennsylvania, US.

The vintage containerized sample consists of approx. 65% crocidolite (also known as "blue asbestos") amphibole asbestos; explaining why the material appears blue-grey in color.

Imagine the airborne fiber concentrations of crocidolite on construction worksites when this material was being sprayed at high-velocity and in large quantities.

Thames Barrier is a large flood control structure on the River Thames, constructed between 1974 and 1982 at Woolwich Reach, and first used defensively in 1983.[1] It is the world's second largest movable flood barrier (the largest is the Maeslantkering in The Netherlands).

Located downstream of central London, the barrier's purpose is to prevent London from being flooded by an exceptionally high tide moving up from the sea, often exacerbated by a storm surge. It only needs to be raised for the duration of the high tide; at ebb tide it can be lowered to release upstream water that backs up behind it. On the northern bank it lies in the area of Silvertown in the London Borough of Newham. On the southern bank it lies in the New Charlton area of Charlton in the London Borough of Greenwich.

Built across a 572 yard wide stretch of the river, the barrier divides the river into four 200 feet and two 34 yd navigable spans and four smaller non-navigable channels between nine concrete piers and two abutments. The flood gates across the openings are circular segments in cross section, and they operate by rotating, raised to allow "underspill" to allow operators to control upstream levels and a complete 180 degree rotation for maintenance. All the gates are hollow and made of steel up to 1½ inches thick. The gates fill with water when submerged and empty as they emerge from the river. The four large central gates are 220 feet long, 35 feet high (above local ground level) and weigh 3,500 tonnes; the outer two gates are 100 feet. Additionally, four radial gates by the riverbanks, also 100 feet long, can be lowered. These gate openings, unlike the main six, are non-navigable.

Before 1990, the number of barrier closures was one to two per year on average. Since 1990, the number of barrier closures has increased to an average of about four per year. In 2003 the Barrier was closed on 14 consecutive tides. The barrier was closed twice on 9 November 2007 after a storm surge in the North Sea which was compared to the one in 1953.

The concept of the rotating gates was devised by Charles Draper. The barrier was designed by Rendel, Palmer and Tritton for the Greater London Council and tested at HR Wallingford Ltd. The site at Woolwich was chosen because of the relative straightness of the banks, and because the underlying river chalk was strong enough to support the barrier. Work began at the barrier site in 1974 and construction, which had been undertaken by a Costain/Hollandsche Beton Maatschappij/Tarmac Construction consortium,[2] was largely complete by 1982. In addition to the barrier itself the flood defences for 11 miles down river were raised and strengthened. The barrier was officially opened on 8 May 1984 by Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II. Total construction cost was around £534 m (£1.3 billion at 2001 prices) with an additional £100 m for river defences. The barrier was originally designed to protect London against a flood level with a return period of 100 years in the year 2070 after which the protection would decrease but be within acceptable limits. This defence level included long term changes in sea and land levels as understood at that time (c. 1970). Since then sea level rise due to global warming has been identified. Based on current estimates[3] the barrier will be able to cope with projected sea level rises until around 2060–2070 and is expected to serve its full term. Since 1982 (up to 2007) the barrier has been raised over 100[4] times; further, it is raised every month for testing. The barrier was originally commissioned by the Greater London Council under the guidance of Ray Horner. After the 1986 abolition of the GLC it was operated successively by Thames Water Authority and then the National Rivers Authority until April 1996 when it passed to the Environment Agency.

In 2005, a suggestion was made public that it might become necessary to supersede the Thames Barrier with a much more ambitious 16 km (10 mi) long barrier across the Thames Estuary from Sheerness in Kent to Southend in Essex.[5]

London is quite vulnerable to flooding. A storm surge generated by low pressure in the Atlantic Ocean sometimes tracks eastwards past the north of Scotland and may then be driven into the shallow waters of the North Sea. The storm surge is funnelled down the North Sea which narrows towards the English Channel and the Thames Estuary. If the storm surge coincides with a spring tide then dangerously high water levels can occur in the Thames Estuary. This situation combined with downstream flows in the Thames provides the triggers for Flood defence operations.

According to Gilbert & Horner on 7 December 1663 Samuel Pepys recorded in his diary "There was last night the greatest tide that ever was remembered in England to have been in this river all Whitehall having been drowned". In 1236 the river is reported as overflowing "and in the great Palace of Westminster men did row with wherries in the midst of the hall". (Gilbert & Horner - 1984). Fourteen people died in the 1928 Thames flood, and after 307 people died in the UK in the North Sea Flood of 1953 the issue gained new prominence.

The threat has increased over time due to the slow but continuous rise in high water level over the centuries (20 cm / 100 years) and the slow "tilting" of Britain (up in the north and down in the south) caused by post-glacial rebound.

Early proposals for a flood control system were stymied by the need for a large opening in the barrier to allow for vessels from London Docks to pass through. When containerization came in and a new port was opened at Tilbury, a smaller barrier became feasible with each of the four main navigation spans being the same width as the opening of Tower Bridge.

An incident which had the potential to be catastrophic for London occurred on 27 October 1997. The dredger, MV Sand Kite, sailing in thick fog, collided with one of the Thames Barrier's piers. As the ship started to sink she dumped her 3,300 tonne load of aggregate, finally sinking by the bow on top of one of the barrier's gates where she lay for several days. Initially the gate could not be closed as it was covered in a thick layer of gravel. A longer term problem was the premature loss of paint on the flat side of the gate caused by abrasion. One estimate of the cost of flooding damage, had it occurred, was around £13 billion.[6] The vessel was refloated in mid-November 1997.

The barrier was closed twice on 9 November 2007 after a storm surge in the North Sea which was compared to the one in 1953.[7] The main danger of flooding from the surge was on the coast above the Thames Barrier, where evacuations took place, but the winds abated a little and, at the Thames Barrier, the 9 November 2007 storm surge did not completely coincide with high tide.[8]

A Thames Barrier flood defence closure is triggered when a combination of high tides forecast in the North Sea and high river flows at the tidal limit at Teddington weir indicate that water levels would exceed 4.87 m in central London. Forecast sea levels at the mouth of the Thames Estuary are generated by Met Office computers and also by models run on the Thames Barrier's own forecasting and telemetry computer systems. About 9 hours before the high tide reaches the barrier a flood defence closure begins with messages to stop river traffic, close subsidiary gates and alert other river users. As well as the Thames Barrier, the smaller gates along the Thames Tideway include Barking Barrier, King George V Lock gate, Dartford Barrier and gates at Tilbury Docks and Canvey Island. Once river navigation has been stopped and all subsidiary gates closed, then the Thames Barrier itself can be closed. The smaller gates are closed first, then the main navigable spans in succession. The gates remain closed until the tide downstream of the barrier falls to the same level as the water level upstream.

After periods of heavy rain west of London, floodwater can also flow down the Thames upstream from London. Because the river is tidal from Teddington weir all the way through London, this is only a problem at high tide, which prevents the floodwater from escaping out to sea. From Teddington the river is opening out into its estuary, and at low tide it can take much greater flow rates the further one goes downstream. In periods when the river is in flood upstream, if the gates are closed shortly after low tide, a huge empty volume is created behind the barrier which can act as a reservoir to hold the floodwater coming over Teddington weir. Most river floods will not fill this volume in the few hours of the high tide cycle during which the barrier needs to be closed. If the barrier was not there, the high tide would fill up this volume instead, and the floodwater could then spill over the river banks in London.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thames_Barrier

Once a rather busy pier in the 1960s / 70s when containerization was not yet fully developed, there were boats and barges shipping in bulk cargo and then truck loads of the shipment on pier were distributed to other destinations thru Ma Tau Kok Road. Even in the 80s the pier was still in operation off-loading cattle from barges for heading to the abattoir.

A large part of the loading dock adjoining the pier was then redeveloped to a government workshop that belongs to the Electrical & Mechanical Services Department (EMSD), yet the seawall remained much the same except that bollards were no longer seen.

Top photo ( Actually taken on March 2011 ) -- there is a classic ramp built against the sea wall, it was meant for manual carrying of boxes and crates ashore from boats. When was it built ?

Close-up view detail of crocidolite fiber bundle in fibrous sample of sprayed "Limpet" asbestos by former Keasbey & Mattison of Ambler, Pennsylvania, US. Partial detail image of vintage containerized sample of 65% blue asbestos amphibole fireproofing material.

Mineral Water Plant

The demand of water is increasing year after year. The per capita consumption of water has increased and given the limited resource of fresh water it is difficult for the countries to make available its population the fresh water. Keeping this situation in mind many industries have set up mineral water plant in order to obtain fresh drinking water.

Purification

The first step is water purification. Water obtained from the external source is allowed to pass through the purification unit and then stored in a stainless tank. passed through the purification plant and stored in a stainless steel tank. After purification water is taken to the bottling section. Bottling is done as a continuous operation. Purification is followed by Rinsing, Filling and Capping. The unit automatically fills, rinses, and screws the cap on it. Finally mineral water is labeled, packed and marketed.

Process of Mineral Water Plant

What is the method for mineral water processing?

Processing mineral water from underground water resource or other resources goes as follows. Motor pump is used to draw water from theses sources or source which is transported to the source water reservoir. Coagulation chemical is added to remove the settled colloidal and suspended materials contaminated in the water. Water is then sterilized using oxidants like chlorine or other chemicals to kill harmful bacteria and microorganism.

Filtration is the next step. Using filtration system like Quartz Sand Filtration System gives good purifying results. After purification water contains very little amount of suspended solids.

For further purification, water is absorbed on the activated carbon which absorbs most pollutants dissolved in water. This also helps in the removal of the odors and helps in improving the flavor of the water.

After being purified water softening is done by passing water through the tank containing sodium ion. The tank consist of resin pellets and the softening is done by ion exchange method Water still contains small micro pollutants that are removed by passing them through tanks that are meant for this purpose.

Apart from this method reverse osmosis process is also used for obtaining pure water. In this process water is purified by using semi permeable membrane. Purified water is sterilized or disinfected and then packed for market

Supply Chain Of Imported Mineral Water External Source Mineral Water Interface Structure:

R.O.Tack Water Technology

Water Treatment sector is undergoing a rapid change on account of the entry barrier in the global market. In competitive and quality environment international level recognition has become need for every company for the longer-term growth. Every component of the quality system in the plant that meets the National and International standards has become necessity for today. Therefore every step of the project delivery from conceptualization detailed engineering to documentation have to be prepared to comply with the stringent regulatory requirements.

The foundation stone of R.O. Tack Water Technology was laid in the year of 2001 in Karachi by a veteran Mr. Ayaz Attari and Mr. Azhar Frooqi is the main Director of the company who guided the company to touch the height of success. Due to the continuous efforts of the our director towards excellence R.O.Tack Water Technology has become an unrivaled manufacturer & supplier of RO Water Systems; especially Reverse Osmosis Systems. Today our Reverse Osmosis Filtration Systems are considered as the best in the market. Some of the attributes that play significant role in our uniqueness are as follows and we provide complete range of solution like packaged system turn key projects and also we offer you technical services.

Multi Grade Filter

Dual Media Filter

Micro filtration

Ultra Filtration

Nano Filtration

Reverse Osmosis

Water Softening System

Demineralization Plant

Mixed Bed Plant

Sea Water Desalination Plant

Waste Water Recovery Plant

Water Treatment Chemicals

Sewage treatment plant

Mineral Water Treatment Plant

Package Drinking Water Treatment Plant

Swimming Pool Filtration Systems

DM Plant

Effluent Minimization

Sterilization by Ultraviolet Systems

Ozonation.

Domestic RO system

Water filtration plant for residential projects

Chemicals,

Turn Key Projects

Complete Detail Design, Engineering, Procurement and construction provided at single finger only for complete End to End solution with high quality deliverables.

Our Deliverables.

Detail Proposal with Costing.

Basic Design and Engineering Packages.

Complete Engineering with all related standard norms.

Complete procurement.

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Commissioning.

Operation and maintenance.

Tel: +92 (21) 5436228

Fax: +92 (21) 2621927

Cell: +92 (300) 2824299

Email:www.rotackwater@yahoo.ca

Website: www.rotackwater.com

Close-up view of crocidolite fiber bundle in fibrous sample of sprayed Limpet asbestos by Keasbey & Mattison of Ambler, Pennsylvania, US. Partial detail image of vintage containerized sample of 65% blue asbestos fireproofing material.

BL31 8131 guide a containerized coal train.

7.27.12

JAXPORT's staff is comprised of 150 employees, whom manage and market the port and plan for its improvement. JAXPORT's staff work in a variety of areas, including terminal operations and security; cruise operations; planning and properties; construction and engineering; finance, administration, procurement, IT, government and external affairs, corporate communications and trade development and marketing.

Talleyrand Marine Terminal:

This 173-acre terminal has 4,780 linear feet (1,457m) of berthing space on 40 feet (12.2m) of deepwater.

The terminal handles containerized and breakbulk cargoes, imported automobiles and liquid bulk commodities such as turpentine and vegetable oil. Breakbulk cargoes include steel, lumber and paper, and a variety of frozen and chilled goods. Talleyrand is equipped with four container cranes, on-dock rail and 160,000 square feet of transit shed space capable of handling cargo in refrigerated, freezer or ambient conditions. Additionally, a 553,000-square foot warehouse stores a variety of cargoes, including rolls of fine and specialty papers, magazine papers and newsprint.

The Talleyrand terminal also offers two 50-LT capacity rubber tired gantry cranes, both of which straddle four rail spurs totaling 4,800 linear feet (1,463 m). Talleyrand's on-dock rail facilities are run by Talleyrand Terminal Railroad, Inc., which provides direct switching service for Norfolk Southern and CSX railroads. The terminal is only 25 minutes from Florida East Coast Railroad's intermodal ramp, and is conveniently located within minutes of interstates I-95 and I-10.

Photo credit: JAXPORT, Meredith Fordham Hughes

Probably at their peak. Some vessels are semi-containerized. Courtesy of Grek Peromingan.

7.27.12

JAXPORT's staff is comprised of 150 employees, whom manage and market the port and plan for its improvement. JAXPORT's staff work in a variety of areas, including terminal operations and security; cruise operations; planning and properties; construction and engineering; finance, administration, procurement, IT, government and external affairs, corporate communications and trade development and marketing.

Talleyrand Marine Terminal:

This 173-acre terminal has 4,780 linear feet (1,457m) of berthing space on 40 feet (12.2m) of deepwater.

The terminal handles containerized and breakbulk cargoes, imported automobiles and liquid bulk commodities such as turpentine and vegetable oil. Breakbulk cargoes include steel, lumber and paper, and a variety of frozen and chilled goods. Talleyrand is equipped with four container cranes, on-dock rail and 160,000 square feet of transit shed space capable of handling cargo in refrigerated, freezer or ambient conditions. Additionally, a 553,000-square foot warehouse stores a variety of cargoes, including rolls of fine and specialty papers, magazine papers and newsprint.

The Talleyrand terminal also offers two 50-LT capacity rubber tired gantry cranes, both of which straddle four rail spurs totaling 4,800 linear feet (1,463 m). Talleyrand's on-dock rail facilities are run by Talleyrand Terminal Railroad, Inc., which provides direct switching service for Norfolk Southern and CSX railroads. The terminal is only 25 minutes from Florida East Coast Railroad's intermodal ramp, and is conveniently located within minutes of interstates I-95 and I-10.

Photo credit: JAXPORT, Meredith Fordham Hughes

7.27.12

JAXPORT's staff is comprised of 150 employees, whom manage and market the port and plan for its improvement. JAXPORT's staff work in a variety of areas, including terminal operations and security; cruise operations; planning and properties; construction and engineering; finance, administration, procurement, IT, government and external affairs, corporate communications and trade development and marketing.

Talleyrand Marine Terminal:

This 173-acre terminal has 4,780 linear feet (1,457m) of berthing space on 40 feet (12.2m) of deepwater.

The terminal handles containerized and breakbulk cargoes, imported automobiles and liquid bulk commodities such as turpentine and vegetable oil. Breakbulk cargoes include steel, lumber and paper, and a variety of frozen and chilled goods. Talleyrand is equipped with four container cranes, on-dock rail and 160,000 square feet of transit shed space capable of handling cargo in refrigerated, freezer or ambient conditions. Additionally, a 553,000-square foot warehouse stores a variety of cargoes, including rolls of fine and specialty papers, magazine papers and newsprint.

The Talleyrand terminal also offers two 50-LT capacity rubber tired gantry cranes, both of which straddle four rail spurs totaling 4,800 linear feet (1,463 m). Talleyrand's on-dock rail facilities are run by Talleyrand Terminal Railroad, Inc., which provides direct switching service for Norfolk Southern and CSX railroads. The terminal is only 25 minutes from Florida East Coast Railroad's intermodal ramp, and is conveniently located within minutes of interstates I-95 and I-10.

Photo credit: JAXPORT, Meredith Fordham Hughes

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© All rights are reserved, please do not use my photos without my permission. Thanks !

A ConRo vessel is a hybrid between a RORO and a container ship. This type of vessel has a below-decks area used for vehicle storage while stacking containerized freight on the top decks.

Flag: Malta [MT]

Homeport: Valletta

Owner (Operator): POL-LEVANT Shipping Lines Ltd.Gdynia/Poland

Year Built: 1988

Length: 147,37m

Beam: 23,49 m

Draught: 7,05

Deadweight: 8044 tons

Brutto - GT: 15 652

Netto - NT: 4 624

Main engine power [kW]: 2 x 3000

Speed: 15 kn

Capacity: 1200 Lanemeters, 512 TEU

Call Sign: 9HXP4

MMSI: 249516000

IMO: 8302284

Chicago area railroad junctions are listed on this website: www.dhke.com/CRJ/index.html

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BNSF_Railway

The BNSF Railway (AAR reporting marks BNSF) headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is one of the four remaining transcontinental railroads and one of the largest railroad networks in North America. Only the Union Pacific Railroad is larger in size. With globalization, the transcontinental railroads are a key component in the containerization of trade from the Pacific Rim. The BNSF Railway moves more intermodal freight traffic than any other rail system in the world.

It was formed December 31, 1996, as the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway when the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway was merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad. In 1999 the BNSF Railway and the Canadian National Railway announced their intention to merge and form a new corporation entitled the North American Railways to be headquartered in Montreal, Canada. The United States' Surface Transportation Board (STB) placed a 15-month moratorium on all rail mergers, which ended this merger. On January 24, 2005, the railroad's name was officially changed to BNSF Railway.[1]

The BNSF Railway is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation, the holding company formed by the September 22, 1995 merger of Burlington Northern, Incorporated and the Santa Fe Pacific Corporation. According to corporate press releases, the BNSF Railway is among the top transporters of intermodal freight in North America. It moves more grain than any other American railroad. It also hauls enough coal to generate roughly 10% of the electricity produced in the United States. The company's northern route completes the high-speed link from the western to eastern United States.

This was the route of the Great Northern Railway's Silk Extras in the 1920s. They had priority over all other trains, stopping only for refueling and crew changes. These trains transported silk to the east from ships arriving in the Port of Seattle from Japan.

SF Bay RR, 21 June 2018

The San Francisco Bay RR operates on the southeast side of San Francisco on and near the port. It uses two Alco S2 switchers that were built for the State Belt RR, later the San Francisco Belt RR, the line that served the piers of the Port of San Francisco for many years.

As shipping companies moved to containerization, the Port of Oakland became the big northern California container terminal and most of the piers of the Port of San Francisco were abandoned or converted to uses other than marine freight, so the SF Belt RR found itself out of a job. After 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake damaged the Embarcadero Freeway, which had run over the SF Belt for most of its length, the freeway was removed, opening up San Francisco's waterfront and much of the Belt's trackage as converted for use by the Muni F line, which runs historic streetcars to Fishermen's Wharf, and the Muni lines that now server the Caltrain station.

Meanwhile, Pier 96, near Hunter's Point was converted to a container facility and the railroad's operations survived there. The line was renamed the San Francisco Bay RR and continued to use Alco S2s 23 and 25 to switch its customers.

Today, the railroad's main business is transloading dirty dirt from constructions and clean up sites in the Bay Area from trucks to railcars. It is owned by Waste Solutions Group, which also owns a fleet of hopper cars. The SF Bay and UP interchange on an as needed basis, with UP's South City job running into the SF Bay's yard on Cargo Way with empties and taking away loads.

A couple of railfans, Ryan and Ben, work for the railroad and Ryan invited me to come by for a visit. I had stopped by one afternoon a couple of years ago, and lucked out to see an S2 running around the yard a bit, but the railrroad usually goes on duty betweeen 4 and 5 am, switches cars for a few hours and then is done for the day. So, a visit to the SF Bay from Sacramento entailed a night in a hotel. It took a few tries for me to get time off from work scheduled on the same day the railroad was running.

Eventually, it all lined up and my alarm went off at 0315 at a hotel in Daly City, just south of the SF city limit.

I was at the yard by 4 and met Ben, who went out and started Alco 23. 25 is out of service with a bad bearing on the radiator fan drive shaft. Ryan explained that the SF Belt had done a jerry rigged repair of the shaft at some point and it was never documented, so nobody knew about the bearing until it failed. As a new low emission unit will be delivered in the next few months, there is no reason to repair 25. 25 will be put on display somewhere, perhaps near the Ferry Building, while 23 will be held as backup for the new unit.

But for now, an S2 built in 1944 is doing the job it was built to do. If you think about it, that is as though the Virginia and Truckee had still been using the Reno and Genoa during WW2.

Shorty after I got there, Ben went out and fired up the 23. It has a block heater, so it started easily with a puff of white smoke. He did an inspection of the engine, including checking the journal boxes. We then went back into the office and waited for Ryan, brakeman Johnny, and engineer Nick to arrive. The crew plotted their switching moves for the day. Ryan, who is yard operations manager, suggested that I get some blue hour photos from the ground as empties were switched and then we rode 23 while they switched loads.

Each car has dirt from one particular construction site and the dirt from sites cannot be mixed as different sites will have different contamination. UP ships it to a dump site in Nevada, where it is processed. Ryan explained that sometimes they can use dividers in a car to separate dirt from different projects if there is not that much.

Right now transshipping dirty dirt is the SF Bay's only business, but there a couple of other industries are interested in bringing new business. The line that crosses the Illinois St. bridge has been out of service for a couple of years as there currently no customers north of Islais Creek.

We rode the S2 for a while after the day brightened, then got down and Ryan drove me around in a company car to get some more angles as they switched. He then had other work to do and I shot the end of 23's work day as well as 25, some spare Alco parts and another project of Waste Solutions, goats that are leased out for natural weed control. Ryan said that since Waste Solutions got more cars, they can't use their goats as much for weed control in the yard as most of the yard tracks are occupied.

The crew called it a day for switching about 0800 and then would be doing other work in the yard for the rest of their work day.

All of these photos were taken with permission after signing a release and while wearing required PPE.

I want to than Ryan, Ben, Johnny and Nick for their hospitality. I had a great time.

SF Bay RR, 21 June 2018

The San Francisco Bay RR operates on the southeast side of San Francisco on and near the port. It uses two Alco S2 switchers that were built for the State Belt RR, later the San Francisco Belt RR, the line that served the piers of the Port of San Francisco for many years.

As shipping companies moved to containerization, the Port of Oakland became the big northern California container terminal and most of the piers of the Port of San Francisco were abandoned or converted to uses other than marine freight, so the SF Belt RR found itself out of a job. After 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake damaged the Embarcadero Freeway, which had run over the SF Belt for most of its length, the freeway was removed, opening up San Francisco's waterfront and much of the Belt's trackage as converted for use by the Muni F line, which runs historic streetcars to Fishermen's Wharf, and the Muni lines that now server the Caltrain station.

Meanwhile, Pier 96, near Hunter's Point was converted to a container facility and the railroad's operations survived there. The line was renamed the San Francisco Bay RR and continued to use Alco S2s 23 and 25 to switch its customers.

Today, the railroad's main business is transloading dirty dirt from constructions and clean up sites in the Bay Area from trucks to railcars. It is owned by Waste Solutions Group, which also owns a fleet of hopper cars. The SF Bay and UP interchange on an as needed basis, with UP's South City job running into the SF Bay's yard on Cargo Way with empties and taking away loads.

A couple of railfans, Ryan and Ben, work for the railroad and Ryan invited me to come by for a visit. I had stopped by one afternoon a couple of years ago, and lucked out to see an S2 running around the yard a bit, but the railrroad usually goes on duty betweeen 4 and 5 am, switches cars for a few hours and then is done for the day. So, a visit to the SF Bay from Sacramento entailed a night in a hotel. It took a few tries for me to get time off from work scheduled on the same day the railroad was running.

Eventually, it all lined up and my alarm went off at 0315 at a hotel in Daly City, just south of the SF city limit.

I was at the yard by 4 and met Ben, who went out and started Alco 23. 25 is out of service with a bad bearing on the radiator fan drive shaft. Ryan explained that the SF Belt had done a jerry rigged repair of the shaft at some point and it was never documented, so nobody knew about the bearing until it failed. As a new low emission unit will be delivered in the next few months, there is no reason to repair 25. 25 will be put on display somewhere, perhaps near the Ferry Building, while 23 will be held as backup for the new unit.

But for now, an S2 built in 1944 is doing the job it was built to do. If you think about it, that is as though the Virginia and Truckee had still been using the Reno and Genoa during WW2.

Shorty after I got there, Ben went out and fired up the 23. It has a block heater, so it started easily with a puff of white smoke. He did an inspection of the engine, including checking the journal boxes. We then went back into the office and waited for Ryan, brakeman Johnny, and engineer Nick to arrive. The crew plotted their switching moves for the day. Ryan, who is yard operations manager, suggested that I get some blue hour photos from the ground as empties were switched and then we rode 23 while they switched loads.

Each car has dirt from one particular construction site and the dirt from sites cannot be mixed as different sites will have different contamination. UP ships it to a dump site in Nevada, where it is processed. Ryan explained that sometimes they can use dividers in a car to separate dirt from different projects if there is not that much.

Right now transshipping dirty dirt is the SF Bay's only business, but there a couple of other industries are interested in bringing new business. The line that crosses the Illinois St. bridge has been out of service for a couple of years as there currently no customers north of Islais Creek.

We rode the S2 for a while after the day brightened, then got down and Ryan drove me around in a company car to get some more angles as they switched. He then had other work to do and I shot the end of 23's work day as well as 25, some spare Alco parts and another project of Waste Solutions, goats that are leased out for natural weed control. Ryan said that since Waste Solutions got more cars, they can't use their goats as much for weed control in the yard as most of the yard tracks are occupied.

The crew called it a day for switching about 0800 and then would be doing other work in the yard for the rest of their work day.

All of these photos were taken with permission after signing a release and while wearing required PPE.

I want to than Ryan, Ben, Johnny and Nick for their hospitality. I had a great time.

017 Solar cold room storage with solar panel and sandwich panel:

Our innovation, FOCUSUN 20ft and 40ft solar container cold room is a “plug and play” modular, solar-powered walk-in cold room, for 24/7 off-grid storage and preservation of perishable foods. It adequately addresses the problem of post- harvest losses in fruits, vegetables and other perishable food.

The solar powered walk-in cold room is made of 120mm insulating cold room panels to retain cold. Energy from solar panels mounted on the roof-top of the cold room are stored in high capacity batteries, these batteries feeds an inverter which in turn feeds the refrigerating unit.

Product Name

Solar-powered container cold room in 20ft or 40ft

Material stainless steel

Color Whilte & Blue

Capacity 1T to 20T

Panel Prefabricated Panel

Interior temperature -25℃ to 5℃

Applicarion area Sea food/fish/meat/fresh fruits/vegetables

Core material of panel Polyurethane

Compressor Copleand

Core density 40~42kg/m3

Condition It can use everywhere where is enough sun

Panel thickness 100mm, 120mm, 150mm

Control system Full automatic control, easy to operation and management

Material of panels surface Stainless steel

Refrigerant R404a environment friendly refrigerant

7.27.12

JAXPORT's staff is comprised of 150 employees, whom manage and market the port and plan for its improvement. JAXPORT's staff work in a variety of areas, including terminal operations and security; cruise operations; planning and properties; construction and engineering; finance, administration, procurement, IT, government and external affairs, corporate communications and trade development and marketing.

Talleyrand Marine Terminal:

This 173-acre terminal has 4,780 linear feet (1,457m) of berthing space on 40 feet (12.2m) of deepwater.

The terminal handles containerized and breakbulk cargoes, imported automobiles and liquid bulk commodities such as turpentine and vegetable oil. Breakbulk cargoes include steel, lumber and paper, and a variety of frozen and chilled goods. Talleyrand is equipped with four container cranes, on-dock rail and 160,000 square feet of transit shed space capable of handling cargo in refrigerated, freezer or ambient conditions. Additionally, a 553,000-square foot warehouse stores a variety of cargoes, including rolls of fine and specialty papers, magazine papers and newsprint.

The Talleyrand terminal also offers two 50-LT capacity rubber tired gantry cranes, both of which straddle four rail spurs totaling 4,800 linear feet (1,463 m). Talleyrand's on-dock rail facilities are run by Talleyrand Terminal Railroad, Inc., which provides direct switching service for Norfolk Southern and CSX railroads. The terminal is only 25 minutes from Florida East Coast Railroad's intermodal ramp, and is conveniently located within minutes of interstates I-95 and I-10.

Photo credit: JAXPORT, Meredith Fordham Hughes

Displayed here is one of the 6 old harbour cranes on display on the terrain of the Maritiem Buitenmuseum at the Leuvehaven in Rotterdam. At night three of the biggest specimens are lighted blue, yellow and red . A spectacular sight. This yellow crane is a “Glijbalans kraan” it was built in 1939 by Kampnagel Aktiengesellschaft . It’s of the portal type – two freight trains could pass side by side underneath it. The super structure of a “Figee” crane from 1959 is in view in the background. Behind it is the brightly lit up top floor of the post-modern Fortis bank on the Blaak.

Until the containerization of sea transport these type of cranes dominated the Rotterdam city harbour scape. Most of the harbours are now outside the city of Rotterdam.

Like the previous post, part of last years NightHunt

The Thames Barrier is the world's second largest movable flood barrier. It is a flood control structure located downstream of central London. The barrier's purpose is to prevent London from being flooded by an exceptionally high tide moving up from the sea, often exacerbated by a storm surge. It only needs to be raised for the duration of the high tide; at ebb tide it can be lowered to release upstream water that backs up behind it. On the northern bank it lies in the area of Silvertown in the London Borough of Newham. On the southern bank it lies in the New Charlton area of Charlton in the London Borough of Greenwich.

Historical needs for a barrier

London is quite vulnerable to flooding. A storm surge generated by low pressure in the Atlantic Ocean sometimes tracks eastwards past the north of Scotland and may then be driven into the shallow waters of the North Sea. The storm surge is funnelled down the North Sea which narrows towards the English Channel and the Thames Estuary. If the storm surge coincides with a spring tide then dangerously high water levels can occur in the Thames Estuary. This situation combined with downstream flows in the Thames provides the triggers for flood defence operations.

The threat has increased over time due to the slow but continuous rise in high water level over the centuries (20 cm / 100 years) and the slow "tilting" of Britain (up in the north and west, and down in the south and east) caused by post-glacial rebound.

Fourteen people died in the 1928 Thames flood, and after 307 people died in the UK in the North Sea Flood of 1953 the issue gained new prominence.

Early proposals for a flood control system were stymied by the need for a large opening in the barrier to allow for vessels from London Docks to pass through. When containerization came in and a new port was opened at Tilbury, a smaller barrier became feasible with each of the four main navigation spans being the same width as the opening of Tower Bridge.

Design and construction

One of the gates in underspill (March 2007)

The concept of the rotating gates was devised by Charles Draper. The barrier was designed by Rendel, Palmer and Tritton for the Greater London Council and tested at HR Wallingford Ltd. The site at Woolwich was chosen because of the relative straightness of the banks, and because the underlying river chalk was strong enough to support the barrier. Work began at the barrier site in 1974 and construction, which had been undertaken by a Costain/Hollandsche Beton Maatschappij/Tarmac Construction consortium,[1] was largely complete by 1982. In addition to the barrier itself the flood defences for 11 miles down river were raised and strengthened. The barrier was officially opened on 8 May 1984 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Total construction cost was around £534 m (£1.3 billion at 2001 prices) with an additional £100 m for river defences.

Built across a 520-metre (570 yd) wide stretch of the river, the barrier divides the river into four 61-metre (200 ft) and two about 30 metre (100 ft) navigable spans. There are also four smaller non-navigable channels between nine concrete piers and two abutments. The flood gates across the openings are circular segments in cross section, and they operate by rotating, raised to allow "underspill" to allow operators to control upstream levels and a complete 180 degree rotation for maintenance. All the gates are hollow and made of steel up to 40mm thick. The gates fill with water when submerged and empty as they emerge from the river. The four large central gates are 20.1 metres (66 ft) high and weigh 3,500 tonnes. [2] Four radial gates by the riverbanks, also about 30 metres (100 ft) wide, can be lowered. These gate openings, unlike the main six, are non-navigable.

Prediction for operation

A Thames Barrier flood defence closure is triggered when a combination of high tides forecast in the North Sea and high river flows at the tidal limit at Teddington weir indicate that water levels would exceed 4.87 m in central London. Forecast sea levels at the mouth of the Thames Estuary are generated by Met Office computers and also by models run on the Thames Barrier's own forecasting and telemetry computer systems. About 9 hours before the high tide reaches the barrier a flood defence closure begins with messages to stop river traffic, close subsidiary gates and alert other river users. As well as the Thames Barrier, the smaller gates along the Thames Tideway include Barking Barrier, King George V Lock gate, Dartford Barrier and gates at Tilbury Docks and Canvey Island. Once river navigation has been stopped and all subsidiary gates closed, then the Thames Barrier itself can be closed. The smaller gates are closed first, then the main navigable spans in succession. The gates remain closed until the tide downstream of the barrier falls to the same level as the water level upstream.

After periods of heavy rain west of London, floodwater can also flow down the Thames upstream from London. Because the river is tidal from Teddington weir all the way through London, this is only a problem at high tide, which prevents the floodwater from escaping out to sea. From Teddington the river is opening out into its estuary, and at low tide it can take much greater flow rates the further one goes downstream. In periods when the river is in flood upstream, if the gates are closed shortly after low tide, a huge empty volume is created behind the barrier which can act as a reservoir to hold the floodwater coming over Teddington weir. Most river floods will not fill this volume in the few hours of the high tide cycle during which the barrier needs to be closed. If the barrier was not there, the high tide would fill up this volume instead, and the floodwater could then spill over the river banks in London.

Barrier closures and incidents

Before 1990, the number of barrier closures was one to two per year on average. Since 1990, the number of barrier closures has increased to an average of about four per year. In 2003 the Barrier was closed on 14 consecutive tides.

An incident which had the potential to be catastrophic for London occurred on 27 October 1997. The dredger, MV Sand Kite, sailing in thick fog, collided with one of the Thames Barrier's piers. As the ship started to sink she dumped her 3,300 tonne load of aggregate, finally sinking by the bow on top of one of the barrier's gates where she lay for several days. Initially the gate could not be closed as it was covered in a thick layer of gravel. A longer term problem was the premature loss of paint on the flat side of the gate caused by abrasion. One estimate of the cost of flooding damage, had it occurred, was around £13 billion.[3] The vessel was refloated in mid-November 1997.

The barrier was closed twice on 9 November 2007 after a storm surge in the North Sea which was compared to the one in 1953.[4] The main danger of flooding from the surge was on the coast above the Thames Barrier, where evacuations took place, but the winds abated a little and, at the Thames Barrier, the 9 November 2007 storm surge did not completely coincide with high tide.

Ownership / operating authority

The barrier was originally commissioned by the Greater London Council under the guidance of Ray Horner. After the 1986 abolition of the GLC it was operated successively by Thames Water Authority and then the National Rivers Authority until April 1996 when it passed to the Environment Agency.

Future

The barrier was originally designed to protect London against a flood level with a return period of 1000 years in the year 2030 after which the protection would decrease but be within acceptable limits [6]. This defence level included long term changes in sea and land levels as understood at that time (c. 1970). Since then sea level rise due to global warming has been identified. Based on current estimates[7] the barrier will be able to cope with projected sea level rises until around 2060–2070 and is expected to serve its full term. Since 1982 (up to 2007) the barrier has been raised over 100[8] times; further, it is raised every month for testing.

In 2005, a suggestion was made public that it might become necessary to supersede the Thames Barrier with a much more ambitious 16 km (10 mi) long barrier across the Thames Estuary from Sheerness in Kent to Southend in Essex.

Wikipedia

SF Bay RR, 21 June 2018

The San Francisco Bay RR operates on the southeast side of San Francisco on and near the port. It uses two Alco S2 switchers that were built for the State Belt RR, later the San Francisco Belt RR, the line that served the piers of the Port of San Francisco for many years.

As shipping companies moved to containerization, the Port of Oakland became the big northern California container terminal and most of the piers of the Port of San Francisco were abandoned or converted to uses other than marine freight, so the SF Belt RR found itself out of a job. After 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake damaged the Embarcadero Freeway, which had run over the SF Belt for most of its length, the freeway was removed, opening up San Francisco's waterfront and much of the Belt's trackage as converted for use by the Muni F line, which runs historic streetcars to Fishermen's Wharf, and the Muni lines that now server the Caltrain station.

Meanwhile, Pier 96, near Hunter's Point was converted to a container facility and the railroad's operations survived there. The line was renamed the San Francisco Bay RR and continued to use Alco S2s 23 and 25 to switch its customers.

Today, the railroad's main business is transloading dirty dirt from constructions and clean up sites in the Bay Area from trucks to railcars. It is owned by Waste Solutions Group, which also owns a fleet of hopper cars. The SF Bay and UP interchange on an as needed basis, with UP's South City job running into the SF Bay's yard on Cargo Way with empties and taking away loads.

A couple of railfans, Ryan and Ben, work for the railroad and Ryan invited me to come by for a visit. I had stopped by one afternoon a couple of years ago, and lucked out to see an S2 running around the yard a bit, but the railrroad usually goes on duty betweeen 4 and 5 am, switches cars for a few hours and then is done for the day. So, a visit to the SF Bay from Sacramento entailed a night in a hotel. It took a few tries for me to get time off from work scheduled on the same day the railroad was running.

Eventually, it all lined up and my alarm went off at 0315 at a hotel in Daly City, just south of the SF city limit.

I was at the yard by 4 and met Ben, who went out and started Alco 23. 25 is out of service with a bad bearing on the radiator fan drive shaft. Ryan explained that the SF Belt had done a jerry rigged repair of the shaft at some point and it was never documented, so nobody knew about the bearing until it failed. As a new low emission unit will be delivered in the next few months, there is no reason to repair 25. 25 will be put on display somewhere, perhaps near the Ferry Building, while 23 will be held as backup for the new unit.

But for now, an S2 built in 1944 is doing the job it was built to do. If you think about it, that is as though the Virginia and Truckee had still been using the Reno and Genoa during WW2.

Shorty after I got there, Ben went out and fired up the 23. It has a block heater, so it started easily with a puff of white smoke. He did an inspection of the engine, including checking the journal boxes. We then went back into the office and waited for Ryan, brakeman Johnny, and engineer Nick to arrive. The crew plotted their switching moves for the day. Ryan, who is yard operations manager, suggested that I get some blue hour photos from the ground as empties were switched and then we rode 23 while they switched loads.

Each car has dirt from one particular construction site and the dirt from sites cannot be mixed as different sites will have different contamination. UP ships it to a dump site in Nevada, where it is processed. Ryan explained that sometimes they can use dividers in a car to separate dirt from different projects if there is not that much.

Right now transshipping dirty dirt is the SF Bay's only business, but there a couple of other industries are interested in bringing new business. The line that crosses the Illinois St. bridge has been out of service for a couple of years as there currently no customers north of Islais Creek.

We rode the S2 for a while after the day brightened, then got down and Ryan drove me around in a company car to get some more angles as they switched. He then had other work to do and I shot the end of 23's work day as well as 25, some spare Alco parts and another project of Waste Solutions, goats that are leased out for natural weed control. Ryan said that since Waste Solutions got more cars, they can't use their goats as much for weed control in the yard as most of the yard tracks are occupied.

The crew called it a day for switching about 0800 and then would be doing other work in the yard for the rest of their work day.

All of these photos were taken with permission after signing a release and while wearing required PPE.

I want to than Ryan, Ben, Johnny and Nick for their hospitality. I had a great time.

Dorena Genetic Resource Center staff. DRGC's 50th anniversary celebration. Cottage Grove, Oregon.

Photo by: Unknown

Date: August 24, 2016

Credit: USDA Forest Service, Region 6, Umpqua National Forest, Dorena Genetic Resource Center.

Source: Richard Sniezko, Cottage Grove, Oregon.

From the news release for the event:

"The USDA Forest Service’s Dorena Genetic Resource Center is celebrating 50 years of serving as a regional service center for Pacific Northwest tree and plant genetics.

Dorena GRC houses disease-resistance breeding programs for five-needled pines and Port-Orford-cedar, a native plant development program, and a national tree climbing program for the Forest Service. Their program is known internationally as a world leader in development of populations of trees with genetic resistance to non-native diseases.

The public is invited to the 50th celebration on Thursday, August 25 at the Cottage Grove-based center located 34963 Shoreview Road. The Open House and public tours are scheduled from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Tours of the center will include:

Genetic Resistance Trials

Inoculation ‘Fog’ Chamber

Tree Improvement Activities of Grafting, Pollination, & Seed Production

Port-Orford-cedar Containerized Orchards

Native Species Plant Development

Seed and Pollen Processing

Tree Climbing

A special guest at the event will be Jerry Barnes, the first manager at Dorena when established in 1966. All guests will be able to enjoy viewing informative posters about the programs and activities at the Center. ..."

For more see: www.fs.usda.gov/detail/umpqua/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD513088

Image provided by USDA Forest Service, Region 6, State and Private Forestry, Forest Health Protection: www.fs.usda.gov/main/r6/forest-grasslandhealth

7.27.12

JAXPORT's staff is comprised of 150 employees, whom manage and market the port and plan for its improvement. JAXPORT's staff work in a variety of areas, including terminal operations and security; cruise operations; planning and properties; construction and engineering; finance, administration, procurement, IT, government and external affairs, corporate communications and trade development and marketing.

Talleyrand Marine Terminal:

This 173-acre terminal has 4,780 linear feet (1,457m) of berthing space on 40 feet (12.2m) of deepwater.

The terminal handles containerized and breakbulk cargoes, imported automobiles and liquid bulk commodities such as turpentine and vegetable oil. Breakbulk cargoes include steel, lumber and paper, and a variety of frozen and chilled goods. Talleyrand is equipped with four container cranes, on-dock rail and 160,000 square feet of transit shed space capable of handling cargo in refrigerated, freezer or ambient conditions. Additionally, a 553,000-square foot warehouse stores a variety of cargoes, including rolls of fine and specialty papers, magazine papers and newsprint.

The Talleyrand terminal also offers two 50-LT capacity rubber tired gantry cranes, both of which straddle four rail spurs totaling 4,800 linear feet (1,463 m). Talleyrand's on-dock rail facilities are run by Talleyrand Terminal Railroad, Inc., which provides direct switching service for Norfolk Southern and CSX railroads. The terminal is only 25 minutes from Florida East Coast Railroad's intermodal ramp, and is conveniently located within minutes of interstates I-95 and I-10.

Photo credit: JAXPORT, Meredith Fordham Hughes

7.27.12

JAXPORT's staff is comprised of 150 employees, whom manage and market the port and plan for its improvement. JAXPORT's staff work in a variety of areas, including terminal operations and security; cruise operations; planning and properties; construction and engineering; finance, administration, procurement, IT, government and external affairs, corporate communications and trade development and marketing.

Talleyrand Marine Terminal:

This 173-acre terminal has 4,780 linear feet (1,457m) of berthing space on 40 feet (12.2m) of deepwater.

The terminal handles containerized and breakbulk cargoes, imported automobiles and liquid bulk commodities such as turpentine and vegetable oil. Breakbulk cargoes include steel, lumber and paper, and a variety of frozen and chilled goods. Talleyrand is equipped with four container cranes, on-dock rail and 160,000 square feet of transit shed space capable of handling cargo in refrigerated, freezer or ambient conditions. Additionally, a 553,000-square foot warehouse stores a variety of cargoes, including rolls of fine and specialty papers, magazine papers and newsprint.

The Talleyrand terminal also offers two 50-LT capacity rubber tired gantry cranes, both of which straddle four rail spurs totaling 4,800 linear feet (1,463 m). Talleyrand's on-dock rail facilities are run by Talleyrand Terminal Railroad, Inc., which provides direct switching service for Norfolk Southern and CSX railroads. The terminal is only 25 minutes from Florida East Coast Railroad's intermodal ramp, and is conveniently located within minutes of interstates I-95 and I-10.

Photo credit: JAXPORT, Meredith Fordham Hughes

Another of the ships coming into Baltimore for the 200th anniversary of our national anthem.

This is an amazing craft. It's capable of a speed of 35 knots compared to 27 for our little 30' 10,000 lb boat. This thing can outrun us!!

USNS Choctaw County (JHSV-2) is one of the U.S. Navy’s nine joint high-speed vessels (JHSV) designed for rapid intra-theater transport of troops and equipment. Operated by Military Sealift Command (MSC), she is crewed by civil service mariners.

An aluminum catamaran, Choctaw County is designed to be fast, flexible and maneuverable, even in shallow waters. She was built to a modular design, allowing her to be rapidly refitted with various equipment in her 20,000 square feet bay, depending on the mission at hand. For instance, she could carry containerized portable hospitals for disaster relief or transport tanks and troops. She can transport approximately 600 tons of troops, vehicles and supplies 1,200 nautical miles at an average speed of 35 knots. Her aviation flight deck can support day and night flight operations for a variety of aircraft, including CH-53 Super Stallions.

Guemes Channel. Dakota Creek Industries.

Coastal Standard carries palletized frozen product below decks with space for containerized or breakbulk cargo topside. Moving cargo on and off the ship is done by the sideport loading system built by TTS of Bergen, Norway.

Guemes Channel. Dakota Creek Industries.

Coastal Standard carries palletized frozen product below decks with space for containerized or breakbulk cargo topside. Moving cargo on and off the ship is done by the sideport loading system built by TTS of Bergen, Norway.

7.27.12

JAXPORT's staff is comprised of 150 employees, whom manage and market the port and plan for its improvement. JAXPORT's staff work in a variety of areas, including terminal operations and security; cruise operations; planning and properties; construction and engineering; finance, administration, procurement, IT, government and external affairs, corporate communications and trade development and marketing.

Talleyrand Marine Terminal:

This 173-acre terminal has 4,780 linear feet (1,457m) of berthing space on 40 feet (12.2m) of deepwater.

The terminal handles containerized and breakbulk cargoes, imported automobiles and liquid bulk commodities such as turpentine and vegetable oil. Breakbulk cargoes include steel, lumber and paper, and a variety of frozen and chilled goods. Talleyrand is equipped with four container cranes, on-dock rail and 160,000 square feet of transit shed space capable of handling cargo in refrigerated, freezer or ambient conditions. Additionally, a 553,000-square foot warehouse stores a variety of cargoes, including rolls of fine and specialty papers, magazine papers and newsprint.

The Talleyrand terminal also offers two 50-LT capacity rubber tired gantry cranes, both of which straddle four rail spurs totaling 4,800 linear feet (1,463 m). Talleyrand's on-dock rail facilities are run by Talleyrand Terminal Railroad, Inc., which provides direct switching service for Norfolk Southern and CSX railroads. The terminal is only 25 minutes from Florida East Coast Railroad's intermodal ramp, and is conveniently located within minutes of interstates I-95 and I-10.

Photo credit: JAXPORT, Meredith Fordham Hughes

Fleet Air Arm XJ607 De Havilland DH-110 Sea Vixen FAW Mk.2 c/n 110074.

Built in Christchurch, UK as a Mk.1, it was first flown from Hurn on 22 November 1960. Allocated to numerous RN Fleet Air Arm squadrons during its life span, notably 890 Squadron (on HMS Ark Royal), 893 Squadron (on HMS Victorious), 892 Squadron (HMS Hermes), and 766 Squadron. Conversion to FAW Mk.2 commenced 28 February 1964.

Ended its service days as an instructional airframe. In May 1987 the aircraft was pit up for disposal tender. Finally in March 1996 the aircraft was broken up.

Nose section and other components purchased from owner, Mr. John Hallett, by QAM (Queensland Air Museum) on 18 November 1996. Collected and containerized for shipping to Australia in turn arriving at Caloundra on 2 May 1997.

Restoration work commenced and the nose sector was mounted on a trailer as a mobile display unit which is frequently seen at air shows and other public displays.

The nose section is where the GEC AI Mk.18 radar is housed - Day 1 Watts Bridge Airfield Festival of Flight 'The Vintage Experience' 2009. File: XJ607_YWSG_20090829_7824

IMO: 9660011

"In 1955, former trucking company owner Malcom McLean worked with engineer Keith Tantlinger to develop the modern intermodal container. The challenge was to design a shipping container that could efficiently be loaded onto ships and would hold securely on long sea voyages. The result was a 8 feet (2.44 m) tall by 8 ft (2.44 m) wide box in 10 ft (3.05 m)-long units constructed from 2.5 mm (0.098 in) thick corrugated steel. The design incorporated a twistlock mechanism atop each of the four corners, allowing the container to be easily secured and lifted using cranes. After helping McLean create the successful design, Tantlinger convinced him to give the patented designs to industry; this began international standardization of shipping containers."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Containerization

- Cisco Delivers Containerized Data Center

Activity on Talleyrand Marine Terminal 10.10.12

This 173-acre terminal has 4,780 linear feet (1,457m) of berthing space on 40 feet (12.2m) of deepwater.

The terminal handles containerized and breakbulk cargoes, imported automobiles and liquid bulk commodities such as turpentine and vegetable oil. Breakbulk cargoes include steel, lumber and paper, and a variety of frozen and chilled goods. Talleyrand is equipped with four container cranes, on-dock rail and 160,000 square feet of transit shed space capable of handling cargo in refrigerated, freezer or ambient conditions. Additionally, a 553,000-square foot warehouse stores a variety of cargoes, including rolls of fine and specialty papers, magazine papers and newsprint.

The Talleyrand terminal also offers two 50-LT capacity rubber tired gantry cranes, both of which straddle four rail spurs totaling 4,800 linear feet (1,463 m). Talleyrand's on-dock rail facilities are run by Talleyrand Terminal Railroad, Inc., which provides direct switching service for Norfolk Southern and CSX railroads. The terminal is only 25 minutes from Florida East Coast Railroad's intermodal ramp, and is conveniently located within minutes of interstates I-95 and I-10.

www.jaxport.com/cargo/facilities/talleyrand

Photo credit: JAXPORT, Meredith Fordham Hughes