6 
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 
March 5, 1954 
Swing Span Bridge Over Gatun Locks 
To Be Opened For Traffic Next Week 
GATUN LOCKS’ NEW vehicular crossing was assembled on land before it was set in place across 
the northern end of the locks. The swing-span bridge replaces the sea-gate spans on which vehicular 
traffic has crossed the locks for many years. 
The new vehicular crossing at the 
lower end of Gatun Locks is expected to 
be opened for use during the coming week. 
Work on installation of the four swing- 
spans which form the new bridge was 
started by Maintenance Division forces 
on February 7 and the. project is being 
finished well ahead of schedule. The four 
structural-steel frames and the steel- 
grid decks had been assembled prior to 
beginning the actual installation. 
The first job accomplished was the 
removal of the four sea-gate spans over 
which vehicular traffic has been handled 
for many years, the first time these gates 
had been removed since they were 
installed before the Canal was opened 
in 1914. 
The gates were partially floated off 
their pintles and were then towed into 
the Lock chambers where the four leaves 
were tipped over on their sides. They 
have since been towed to an anchorage 
in Gatun Lake until a final decision is 
made on their disposition. 
Following the removal of the 400-ton 
gate leaves, the pintles on which the gates 
rest were removed and replaced by new 
pintles. This was followed by the placing 
of the framework and steel-grid roadway 
for the new bridge. This was done 
February 22, 23, and 24. Work since 
then has been on the bridge approaches 
and the mechanical and electrical con¬ 
nections necessary for the operation of 
the swing spans. 
Careful advance planning and close 
coordination of several Canal units made 
possible the completion of the work ahead 
of schedule. Several of the operations 
were out of the routine but were handled 
expeditiously by the men engaged on 
the job. 
Only one unscheduled job was neces¬ 
sary in the entire project. This devel¬ 
oped when it was found, after removal of 
one gate leaf, that the yoke at the top 
was badly worn. This required a rebor- 
]ng of the yoke as well as building up and 
machining the bushing to fit the bridge- 
span pin. 
The new bridge spans are fitted in the 
same manner in which the sea gates were 
hinged to the lock walls. They will be 
operated by the old gate machinery by 
remote control in the lock control tower. 
The gate spans fold back into the gate 
recesses when not in use. 
The bridge spans cross the Lock 
approach at right angles instead of being 
mitered toward the sea like the guard 
gates. The bridge has a nine-foot road¬ 
way and a pedestrian crossing on the sea 
side of the bridge. The bridge is suffi¬ 
ciently wide only for one-way traffic 
which will be controlled by traffic signal 
lights. 
LEAVING TOMORROW 
C. D. DAMERON, manager of the Cristobal Club¬ 
house and Supervisor of the Clubhouse’s northern 
district, is sailing tomorrow with his family to make 
their home in Urbanna, Va., about 60 miles east of 
Richmond. 
He has bought a 26-bedroom, colonial-type hotel 
where he hopes to have as guests many of his vaca¬ 
tioning Canal Zone friends. A.summer resort with 
fishing and swimming, Urbanna is located on the 
Appomattox River, about 20 miles from Chesapeake 
Bay. 
A Virginian by birth, Mr. Dameron came to the 
Canal Zone in 1941. He has served three tours of 
clubhouse duty in Cristobal—once in 1941, again in 
1946-47, and finally since 1950. 
Cold Storage Move 
From Mt. Hope Plant 
Started This Week 
The transfer and realignment of cold 
storage facilities of the Commissary Divi¬ 
sion were started this week following the 
leasing early last month of space in the 
Army’s cold storage warehouse at Corozal. 
The move will be made gradually over 
a period of several weeks to avoid dis¬ 
ruptions in the service. Some alterations 
will be required at the Corozal warehouse 
and the Balboa cold storage warehouse to 
meet Commissary Division requirements 
for storage and handling of cold storage 
products. This work is being done by 
Canal units. 
The consolidation of Army and Canal 
cold storage facilities is expected to pro¬ 
vide a more economical and efficient oper¬ 
ation. It will also avoid the extensive and 
expensive rehabilitation of the plant at 
Mount Hope which has been in use now 
for the past 35 years. 
The existing cold storage warehouse of 
the Commissary Division will not be 
demolished but the major part of the 
plant will be closed down. The front part 
of the ground floor will continue to be 
used for limited operations. Four meat 
chill rooms will continue in use since the 
Commissary Division’s abattoir will not 
be moved. The cold storage facilities for 
ship service will also be maintained there. 
Employees Transferring 
The consolidation will require the trans¬ 
fer of seven U. S.-rate and 91 local-rate 
employees to the Pacific side. Thirty-day 
notices of the transfer were issued to these 
employees on February 15, but few if any 
will be transferred within the 30-day 
period. 
It is expected that the men engaged in 
unloading work will be the first to be 
transferred. The actual transfer of opera¬ 
tions will begin, probably sometime late 
this month, with the arrival of a large 
shipment of cold storage products. It 
will be sometime after that, however, 
before the new plan is in full swing and 
the Mount Hope plant will continue its 
operations and retail stores will continue 
to be supplied from there until existing 
stocks are exhausted. 
With the transfer Commissary officials 
plan to modify and expand existing facili¬ 
ties for prepackaging. At present central¬ 
ized prepackaging is done at Mount Hope 
and products are shipped from there to 
the individual stores. 
After operations are transferred to 
Corozal about half of the prepackaging of 
cold storage foods will be done at the 
Balboa warehouse. The other will even- 
t 
tually be divided among three of the 
larger retail stores, two on the Pacific side 
and one on the Atlantic side. These 
probably will be the Ancon, Tivoli, and 
Cristobal Commissaries. Some alterations 
will be required at the stores where the 
prepackaging of foods will be done. 
Refrigerated Trucks 
It is planned to use refrigerated trucks 
for the transportation of much of the 
cold storage products to the Pacific side. 
The transfer of the main cold storage 
operations to Corozal will not greatly 
increase haulage since approximately 
two-thirds of cold (See page 12 ) 
