38 DEVELOPMENT OF SHIPYARDS IN THE 



keeping- of records of all dredges in the United States, including their type, capa- 

 city and the work on which they were engaged, the settling of disputes arising over 

 dredging operations, the securing of surveys of work accomplished, the personal in- 

 spection of dredging operations and the keeping of records of the requirements, 

 progress and completion of all dredging, were details incidental to this work. 



Railroad connections and yard railroad systems are important features of ship- 

 yards. Some of the shipyards constructed for war purposes were of such size that 

 the problem of handling incoming and outgoing cars was of vast importance. It in- 

 volved the design of complete railroad yards within the shipyards themselves, which 

 included all the necessary trackage for handling quickly and economically the num- 

 ber of cars received daily, necessitating receiving tracks, classification tracks, stor- 

 age tracks, interchange tracks and the adequate connections and auxiliaries required 

 for such development. In addition, there were provided the tracks leading to the 

 storage yards, the shops, the ways and the outfitting piers. To handle the ma- 

 terials within the shipyard limits there were provided locomotives, locomotive 

 cranes and cars together with repair facilities and housing facilities for the transpor- 

 tation equipment. All this detail was rendered more important by the fact that the 

 railroads of the country were strained to the utmost to meet the conditions imposed 

 upon them by the war, and the rapid handling of cars was no small factor in aiding 

 them to meet their problems successfully. 



The importance of sanitation systems was early recognized in the Fleet Corpo- 

 ration and a Department of Health and Sanitation was established in the Shipyard 

 Plants Division, having at its head an officer of the Medical Corps of the Army, as- 

 sisted by a staff of sanitary engineers and physicians. It was felt that the applica- 

 tion of modern sanitary methods and standards to the shipyard could not be left to 

 private initiative. The yards did not ordinarily possess the talent required for initi- 

 ating this kind of work. It is true that, in some of the states, the sanitary regulations 

 were such that local communities had been encouraged to establish satisfactory san- 

 itary standards. In general, however, the health of the workman and his safety, 

 from a sanitary standpoint, required active steps on the part of the central organi- 

 zation of the Fleet Corporation. After the Department of Health and Sanitation had 

 been well established and arrangements made to provide physical equipment, it was 

 determined that the department should be transferred from the Shipyard Plants 

 Division to the Industrial Relations Division because of the great importance of 

 the control of the personnel in the shipyards. 



The safety of the men was dependent not only upon proper measures as to 

 health and sanitation, but also upon the provision of modern safety methods of con- 

 struction and operation. A safety section was established in order to insure proper 

 forms of construction and the guarding of machines and dangerous places, so as to 

 eliminate avoidable accidents. This section undertook to further reduce accidents by 

 instilling into the workmen habits of care and caution in conducting their work. The 

 Shipyard Plants Division cooperated in the establishment of this work, which was 

 placed under the Industrial Relations Division because of the greater facility in 



