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On this Page 18
Coal Loaders in Sydney Harbour
Mechanical coal loaders have been introduced into
the Port of Sydney, with signal success, for the opera-
tion of filling ships' bunkers; the advantages, as com
pared with the old method of shifting the coal in bas-
kets by the employ-
ment of manual la
bour, being chiefly
superior speed, con-
tinuity of working
and economy in the
number of persons
employed to achieve
this object.
In Britain and in
other coal-producing
countries mechanical
methods of bunker
ing vessels have been
widely applied, but
the conditions are
totally dissimilar to
those that prevail in
Australian ports. In
Britain the coal is
brought from the
mines to the bunker
ing plant chiefly by
means of rail trans-
port. In New South
Wales it is carried
by sea to Sydney,
and the colliers that
bring it must be seagoing vessels capable of making voy-
ages in all weathers, consequently the conditions in
which the coal must be transferred to the bunkers of
outgoing steamers are entirely different.
Engineering practice in Sydney has, however, pro-
vided various ad-
aptations of the cen-
tral principle — that
of an endless chain
of buckets carrying
the coal to pipes
through which it is
conducted by grav-
ity into the bunkers.
The jib crane, op-
erating a grab to
lift the coal from
the collier lying
alongside or from
the coal hulk used
for storage, has been
installed to act in
conjunction with the
chain of buckets.
The Wallarah
Colliery was the first
to instal a floating
mechanical coal
loader for bunkering
vessels in place of the old system of coaling by baskets
operated by manual labour. This principle was adopted
also by The Bellambi Coal Company Limited. It repre-
sents the first stage in the evolution of the methods of
bunkering steamers in Australia. Improvements will
doubtless suggest themselves as experience is gained in
the use of the present plants and as time goes on floating
coal plants will thus
gain increased effici-
ency.
In both of these
installations the lead
ing feature is the
mobility of the coal
loader. It is car-
ried on a coal-hulk,
and can be fed with
coal either from a
collier brought
alongside or from
the reserve of coal
carried in the hulk
itself. The Fortuna
or Muscoota, of the
Wallarah Coal Co.,
and Samson of The
Bellambi Coal Co.,
can be towed by
a tug to any part
of the Harbour
where a steamer is
lying that requires
bunkering. The hulk
carrying the coal-
loading plant is plac-
ed alongside the
steamer and the steamer's bunkers can then be filled by
a continuous chain of coal- laden buckets, moving up
elevators from the top of which they discharge the
coal into pipes through which it descends by gravity
into the bunkers, where it is trimmer by the trimmers.
The mechanical
loading is adjusted
to the speed at
which the trimmers
are able to distribute
the coal in the
bunkers.
In contrast with
these mobile mecha-
nical loaders mount-
ed on coal hulks,
which are towed out
and placed alongside
the steamers that
need bunkering,
there is a large-scale
fixed mechanical
loader at Balls' Head
operated by the Syd
ney Coal and Bunk-
ering Company. This
installation has been
erected on an Ameri-
can design. It in-
( Continued on page 21.)
Mechanical Coaler Muscoota coaling S.S. Beltana. Help
Mechanical Coaler Muscoota coaling S.S. Beltana.
Mechanical Coaler Fortuna coaling S.S. Anchises, Help
Mechanical Coaler Fortuna coaling S.S. Anchises,

Continued from page 16.
cludes a large reserve of coal on the spot (always avail-
able in the event of strikes, etc.), while a deep
water frontage enables steamers of the largest size to
go alongside. In that position their bunkers are filled
by mechanical loaders operating on a similar principle
to that which is in use on the coal hulks.

This installation,
was begun in 1913,
but the work
was interrupted by
the war, and it
was not completed
until later. A stack
of many thousands
of tons of coal is
built up from the
cargoes of colliers on
an extensive stone
floor provided with
openings through
which the coal is
discharged into
trucks running on
rails in tunnels un-
derneath. The load-
ed trucks are then
moved by electric
power to a position
where they open up
by an automatic de-
vice and discharge
their contents into
hoppers from which

the coal is lifted by a chain of buckets working on the
familiar principle of the bucket dredge. The loaded
buckets are carried to the top of lofty elevators. There
they discharge the coal upon a fast-moving rubber con-

veyor belt which car-
ries it to telescopic
spouts that are led in
to the bunkers of
the steamers lying
below. Two outload-
ers equipped with
elevators with chains
of buckets and aux-
iliary plant are set
upon rails so that
they can be moved
along by electric
motors contained in
the structure itself
to any part of the
steamer that may be
required. The de-
scending telescopic
spouts from the con
veyor of each struc-
ture are so arranged
that the coal can be
fed into the coal
ports on both sides of
the steamer simul-
taneously.

The process goes forward continuously, day and night
in all weather. The continuity of the process is not the
least of its advantages, for under the system of filling the
bunkers by manual labour employed in carrying full
coal baskets and emptying them into the coal ports
there was always a danger that heavy rain would neces-

sitate an interruption
of operations. The
company's plant has
a capacity varying ;
from 1,000 tons per
hour to any desired
minimum, so that the
speed of the inflow
of coal can be regu-
lated exactly to the
capacity of the trim-
mers to deal with it.
All coal is weighed
over a Government-
tested weighbridge
before it is delivered
to the steamer bunk-
ering.
The first mechani-
cai loader designed
for the Wallarah
Colliery was install-
ed on the hulk For-
tuna, which was
formerly the well-
known iron sailing
ship Macquarie,
built for Devitt and

Moore, and at one time a regular visitor to Sydney. She
was used as a training ship for cadets for Britain's mer-
cantile marine. The plant includes two steam-driven
jib cranes, which operate grabs that lift one ton and a

half of coal at each
movement and carry
it from the hold of
the collier; or, when
the collier has been
emptied, from the
hold of the hulk.
Each grab places its
load in a hopper,
from which the coal
is passed to the buc-
kets that move up
the elevator and as
they turn over tip it
automatically into
pipes. Through thè
pipes it falls by gra-
vity into the steam-
er's bunkers, where >
it is trimmed con-
tinuously by the
trimmers. The whole
structure is mounted
on rails, fixed one on
each side of the deck
of the hulk, so that
it can be moved

Mechanical Floating Plant Samson (owned by The Bellambi Coal Company Limited) coaling T.S.S. Karoola at Sydney, November 1, 1928. Help

Mechanical Floating Plant Samson (owned by The Bellambi Coal Company
Limited) coaling T.S.S. Karoola at Sydney, November 1, 1928.

Vessels bunkering at Sydney Coal and Bunkering Co. Vessel in foreground is at No. 1 Plant, where coal stack is shown and vessel in centre at No. 3 Plant on jetty,' Help

Vessels bunkering at Sydney Coal and Bunkering Co. Vessel in foreground is at
No. 1 Plant, where coal stack is shown and vessel
in centre at No. 2 Plant on jetty.

along to any part of the steamer that is being loaded.
The Fortuna carries 2,250 tons of coal when fully
loaded. She can be towed out by a tug to any part of
the Harbour where a steamer is lying that requires
bunkering, and she can move coal into the bunkers at
the rate of 200 tons

per hour.
An important ad-
vantage is that the
work goes on con-
tinuously in spite of
unfavourable weather
conditions, whereas
in wet weather the
method of hand-
loading by baskets
is impracticable.
The Fortuna was
the first mechanical
coal loader to oper-
ate in Sydney. Her
success speedily at
tracted attention,
and the Bellambi
Coal Company,
which supplies large
quantities of steam
coal for bunkering
purposes, quickly fol-
lowed suit with the
Sampson, upon which

a mechanical loading
plant, embodying several new principles was installed.
The Sampson, which was formerly a dredge, was
mounted into a coal hulk and was fitted with two elec-
trically driven jib cranes operating grabs capable of lift-

ing one ton and a
half of coal at each
movement. The grab
lifts the coal out of
a collier moored
alongside and places
it into a hopper on
the side of the ele-
vator. Thence it
descends by gravity
into the chain of
buckets which carry
it up the elevator.
Thence it descends
by gravity into the
chain of buckets,
which carry it up the
elevator and directly
to the pipes leading
into the steamer's
bunkers; or, if it is
desired to fill the
bunkers on the far-
side of the steamer,
into a fast moving
rubber-belt conveyor,
which empties the

coal into a pipe suitably placed on the far side. By
using the conveyor, two sides of a steamer can also be
loaded at the same time. The Bellambi Coal Company
designed their plant for coaling steamers such as the
Orient Company's liners— which can only be coaled

through side ports —
on both sides simul-
taneously, whereas
coaling with baskets
on the old system
necessitated a collier
on each side, the re-
ceiving steamer hav-
ing to haul off from
the wharf to let the
inside collier in, and
during coaling by
that method all other
work, such as dis-
charging or loading -
cargo, has to be sus-
pended.
So advantageous
did the mobile mech-
anical loaders prove
that the Wallarah
Company acquired ;
the well-known sail-
ing ship Muscoota,
originally the Buck-
ingham, and con-

verted her into a sec-
ond coal hulk, upon which a new mechanical loading
plant was installed displaying several improvements.
Electric-drive was substituted for the steam power used
in the Fortuna, and the great size of the Muscoota

proved a most use-
ful asset. The Mus-
coota has a carrying
capacity of 4,000
tons of coal, so that
coaling can Te pro-
ceeded with from the
reserve when the
load of the waiting
collier is exhausted.
By the use of the
plants described.
above, it is possible
for a steamer to
have her bunkers
filled in a fraction of
the time required for
bunkering by the
old method of carry-
ing baskets filled with
coal to the bunker
ports.
It is possible, and
even likely, that the
use of raw coal for
supplying the energy
to the machinery of

R.M.S. Narkunda bunkering under No. 2 Plant of Sydney Coal and Bunkering Co. Help

R.M.S. Narkunda bunkering under No. 2 Plant of Sydney Coal and Bunkering Co.

The No. 2 Plant of the Sydney Coal and Bunkering Co. showing outloaders. Help

The No. 2 Plant of the Sydney Coal and Bunkering Co. showing outloaders.

propulsion in ships will in time be replaced by oil — which
may be extracted from coal — or by electricity, for which
coal is needed by the generating plant. The propor-
tion of vessels, driven by oil fuel under the boilers, or
by internal' combustion engines, is steadily increasing,
but a considerable time must be expected to elapse be-
fore raw coal — that convenient source of energy in
which New South Wales is specially rich — will no
longer be employed for raising steam in marine engin-
eering. The experiments which Sir Charles Parsons
and others are now making with the object of improv-
ing the high pressure turbine, so as to get increased
power at less cost, appear to suggest that steam may
hold its own against the internal-combustion engine for
a time. As Australia has a practically inexhaustible sup-
ply of steam coal of the highest quality, while every
gallon of oil fuel that is used here has to be imported from
distant countries at great expense, there is a likelihood
that mechanical coal-loading will continue to manifest
its usefulness for an indefinite period.
The very considerable facilities that the port of Syd-
ney now enjoys through the enterprise of the above-
named companies, have been provided for the shipping
world without either suggestion or assistance from the
Government. In the case of the mobile coal-loaders,

Australian business men and Australian engineers have
provided, designed and erected plants that are specially
suited for dealing with Australian conditions, while the
stationary plant is the outcome of American engineering
experience and practice. The combination of coal-
loading plants now available for oversea and Australian
shipping companies places Sydney in an unique position
among Australian ports, and should do much to attract
shipping to Port Jackson. Coaling facilities that give
rapid, assured and economical service, free from inter-
ruption or delay, provide an encouragement to ship-
owners to send their ships to the port where these con-
veniences are found and in that way give a distinct im-
petus to the development of the trade of the port.

View of the Bridges and Coal Stacks, Sydney Coal and ; k Bunkering Co.'s Plant. Help

View of the Bridges and Coal Stacks, Sydney Coal and
; k Bunkering Co.'s Plant.

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