Show CONCRETE LAYING AT GATUN DOCKS all hourly records for concrete laying were broken on october ath 1910 by the cable ways used in constructing the great locks on the panama canal at gatun galun two million cubic yards of concrete are to be used in building these locks lidgerwood cable ways are used for placing the concrete these cable ways are arranged in duplex form on four pairs of towers the pair of cable ways which broke the record are known officially as strand A and strand B of no 1 strand A placed forty nine cubic yards in one hour and strand B placed fifty cubic yards during the same hour this means that the carriage on each strand made awen ty y five trips per hour the cable ways were sold under a guarantee that they would make twenty trips per hour these cable ways are arranged to give higher carriage speed than was ever attempted before for this class of work this speed is rendered possible by important improvements prove ments made by spencer miller in anticipation of just such needs with these improvements it is possible to use carriage speeds up to 2500 feet per minute as against speeds of or feet per minute which were as great as were before practicable the cable ways each have a span of feet between towers they are actuated by electricity and the control is as easy and simple and of the same character as the control of of an up to date dale electric train one operator controls the entire operation on each strand |