Infrastructure 4

Thanks to John Paul for this photo of the big crane as seen the land area called Spuyten Duyvil in the Bronx.   The tidal strait–entrance/exit of the Harlem river–is also called Spuyten Duyvil.  That 328′ boom shrinks the swing bridge it’s assisting with the repair of.  Of course the crane is the one that arrived from California 4.5 years ago here to raise components of the new TZ Bridge and lower the old one.

Paul Strubeck caught the crane from the water side, showing relative size of crane and swing bridge.  The higher bridge is Henry Hudson crossing.  For much more info on that bridge, click here.

I got these photos yesterday from Inwood Hill Park.  The railroad swing bridge was opened in 1900, although it was closed for most of the 1980s.  Now it carries 30 trains a day and opens about 1000 times a year, mostly for Circle Line boats.

According to this source, maintenance will focus on mechanical and electrical equipment damaged by Hurricane Sandy.   “Navigation strikes” may be another explanation.

The crane is rated at lifting capacity of 1929 tons, powered by three diesel 601 kW (806 hp) main generators and one 91 kW (122 hp) auxiliary generator provide its lifting power.  It has no propulsion power of its own.

The manufacturer is ZPMC, the same Chinese firm that provides state-of-the-art port gantry cranes here and here.

I’m not sure whose crew boat this is,

but the tugs on the scene are Dorothy J and

Robert.

Maybe I’ll find time to go back up that way tomorrow.

 

Review: Preserving South Street Seaport

First, if you’re free today and within travel distance of Lower Manhattan, do yourself a favor and attend this event, 4 p. m., a book signing by Dr. James M. Lindgren.  His new book is a much needed complement to Peter Stanford’s A Dream of Tall Ships, reviewed here a few months ago.   Details in Preserving South Street Seaport cover almost a half century and will enthrall anyone who’s ever volunteered at, donated to, been employed by, or attended any events of South Street Seaport Museum.  Lindgren laments SSSM’s absence of institutional memory saying, “Discontinuity instead defined the Seaport’s administration.”  Amen . .  as a volunteer I wanted to know the historical context for what seemed to me to be museum administrations’ repeated squandering of  hope despite herculean efforts on the part of volunteers and staff I knew.

As my contribution to creation of memory, I offer these photos and I’d ask again for some pooling of photos about the myriad efforts of this museum over the years.

Pier 17.  April 17, 2014.  According to Lindgren, this mall opened on Sept 11, 1985 with a fireworks show.  Its demise may by this week’s end be complete.

April 12, 2014.  Photo by Justin Zizes.

Feb 23, 2014.

Jan 21, 2014 . . . Lettie G. Howard returns.

Sept 20, 2013.  This is the last photo I ever took FROM the upper balcony of Pier 17.

Sept 12, 2013.

July 2012.  A fire had broken out on the pier, and Shark was the first on scene responder.   Damage was minimal, despite appearances here.

Now for some photos of vessels that have docked in the South Street area in the past half century.

July 2012 . . . Helen McAllister departs, assisted by W. O. Decker and McAllister Responder.

June 2012.  Departure of Marion M as seen from house of W. O. Decker.  Photo by Jonathan Boulware.  The last I knew, Marion M is being restored on the Chesapeake by a former SSSM volunteer.

Lettie G. Howard hauled out in 2009.

2009. The Floating Hospital . .  . was never part of the SSSM collection.

2009.  Maj. Gen. Hart aka John A. Lynch aka Harlem.

Helen McAllister with Peking and Wavertree.   Portion of bow of Marion M along Helen‘s starboard.

Mathilda posing with W. O. Decker in Kingston.  2009.

Moshulu now in Philadelphia.

2005, I believe.  Spuyten Duyvil (not a SSSM vessel) and Pioneer.

Thanks to Justin and Jonathan for use of their photos.  All others by Will Van Dorp.  For many stories on these vessels, that mall, and so much more, pick up or download these books and read them asap.

 

 

Merrily Merry 2

OK . . . I’ll admit that I’m foolish enough to think every day is Christmas, every day in New Years,  . . . and I could go on.

So happy 18th day of Christmas 2013.   And my heart-felt thanks go out to Tim and Bill Hughes of Hughes Marine for these images.  Thanks also to John Skelson who helped reformat them for this blog.

Let’s go back to November 1997.  Tugboat Spuyten Duyvil delivered a barge carrying a Torsilieri truck carrying a Norway spruce bound for Rockefeller Center.

The tree was felled in Stony Point.  Click here for the article by James Barron detailing the tree transaction.

If that tree is 74 feet, that’s a long trailer.

You gotta love those red balls.  By the way, Hughes logo on the barge was painted out for this transit.

Here were some fotos taken in the Upper Bay.  I highly recommend getting the children’s book version of the story in part to see the artistic liberties taken in rendering both tug and truck.

Fireboat John D. McKean  does the honors.

Although I’m still working on locating more pics of this event, including Joyce Dopkeen’s shots of the offloading process, I am thrilled to share these with you here.

Again, many heartfelt thanks to Bill Hughes for sending these photos and to John Skelson for reformatting them.

I hope to have more belated “christmas” fotos soon.

Random Tugs 117

I’ll start here for a reason.  This 1941 vessel built in Stamford, CT,   was originally YTL 169, 61′ loa.  In November 1997 she was called Spuyten Duyvil and used to transport the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree from Stony Point to the East river.  I’ve mentioned this before, but although I’ve searched high and low, by letter, word-of-mouth, and electronically . . . I’ve located NO fotos of that event.  None!!  Can this event have completed eluded the photography crowd?  If you know of a foto, please get in touch.   Click here for a foto of this tug–I believe–I took almost 8 years ago now.

Ever Decent . . .  foto taken 10 days ago, here being passed by Evening Star, is already well into the Pacific Ocean.

Turecamo Girls, here in the KVK, was waiting on the outside of the Amtrack Prtal Bridge last week, but of course I didn’t have a camera.

Amy C McAllister slings in a Bouchard barge, and

McAllister Sisters does the same with a Reinauer barge.

Bering Dawn moves another dredge scow out to sea.

Bob-tailed B. Franklin heads back to her barge, and

Eastern Dawn heads west into the Kills.

So, does anyone know of a foto showing Spuyten Duyvil with the 1997 Rockefeller Christmas tree heading south from Stony Point?

All fotos except the top one by Will Van Dorp.

High and Dry II

A few weeks ago I wrote about one type of dry dock. Some photos below show my favorite flat-bottomed schooner high and dry.

The blue frame behind schooner Pioneer is called a marine travel lift. It’s a mobile and self-propelled frame with slings that winch tighter or looser to “haul” a vessel from the water or “float” one back in. Let’s watch Pioneer get floated or “splashed,” as other people say.

Scale is shown by the travel lift operator walking back to his “driving” platform after ensuring that Pioneer is securely cradled and ready to move. The manufacturer of this machine makes models that can lift up to 1000 tons; Pioneer weighs less than 100.

Splash … into the Arthur Kill. That’s Perth Amboy and a little of the Outerbridge that you see in the background off the port and starboard sides of Pioneer. After a vessel is lowered and floating, a thorough check needs to be made inside the hull to ensure that no leaking is taking place. I once saw a wooden cabin cruiser floated after it had been on land for a few months; hull planks had dried out and shrunk, which opened seams. The cabin cruiser was left in the slings for a day, mobile pumps evacuating the water, while the planks swelled back shut.

The same lift was used to haul and place this tug and the one below.

With a metal hull, there’s no planks to shrink and open seams. This tug was under restoration last winter. A friend who reads this blog might just be interested in restoring a tug to serve as a retirement liveaboard. What think you?