Safe in Port (1948)

[Music] [Music] for thousands of years the ocean waves have pounded our rocky shores but the Steep Cliffs have held firm against the force of Stormy seeds and so men have learned to build their harbors of heavy Rock and steel Harbors are important because they give safe Anchorage to the ships that carry on our trade with foreign countries here a Breakwater stretches over 2 miles out into the bay to protect the Harbor from the high ocean waves the Army Engineers are filling in part of this Bay from the mainland to the Breakwater to make a wider Beach Bob is lucky to live at the Port near Los Angeles he likes to swim and play in the sand with his dog Mac here Mac come on help me dig a tunnel we'll dig one that is like the tunnel the engineers make Bob looks at the the Breakwater and wonders How It Was Made Bob's Uncle Jim is a harbor engineer and has told Bob how hard it is to build the strong breakwaters and Piers come on Mac hey boy come on keep digging that's a boy come on come on whoop look out hey those waves are coming up come on there boy way down look out there's one right in our tunnel well that's enough for today go home Mac go on go home boy home add a boy it's fun to climb along the beach and Bob wants to see how the men are progressing with their construction work out on the Breakwater large brown steel pipes are laid along the top of the brake water to carry the sand from the dredges to the beach they are widening dredges far out in the bay scoop up the sand from the bottom of the ocean and then mixed with water it is pumped ashore through those large pipes the pipes are laid on floating racks or pontoons to the Breakwater and from there the pipes continue on the top of the break water and dump the wet sand and clay on the beach a point of the new land already extends out into the water the clay and sand form large lumps yes just the thing for a good throw Bob inspects a piece why it isn't so hard he can break it on the Bayside of the break water the water is calm so that the men can fish and here Bob's neighbors are hunting crabs with net Dippers Harry puts a squib into his net for bait and then lowers it into the water Bob is anxious to help say Harry has a bite and up come some crabs and so does Mr Downey what fun this is uh-oh look out Bob those claws can really pinch here's some more when Mr Krab sees an enemy he can fold his legs under his shell and look just like a rock these crabs are fine eating Bob really understands now that while the water is rough on the outside of the break water inside it is calm a safe harbor for the small boats at anchor and for the large Freighters unloading at the Docks later the beach will be wide like this nearby a huge construction job is in progress Bob can see better from the top of the pile of lumber the harbor engineers in Long Beach are extending the land for a new pier where ships will dock trains and trucks bring the building materials to the Waterfront and the warf is a busy Place humming with activity the steel sheet piles are 78 ft long the workmen signal the operator in the cab how they want the crane to move and he skillfully operates the large crane to lower the sheet piles evenly on the stack the piles enter loock to form a strong wall Bob walks along a wall of the piles to a point farther out where the pile driver is pounding them into place there are many ways of building up here but this sheet piling is one of the cheapest quickest and most permanent Gail Jones the man at the top of their row of sheet piles is in a very dangerous place as the piles are heavy and might swing and hit him Gail directs the placing of the sheet pile so that the wall will be straight back and forth it swings and now down it goes interlocked with a pile next to it another Link in The Firm wall the heavy Hammer pounds each pile 35 ft down into the sand on the opposite side of the wall a crew of men on the large barge run the steam boiler and the Machinery that operates the heavy Hammer pile is now in place and the men move the hammer to pound the next one into the Sandy Bottom Of The Bay this pier will be 600 ft wide and 1200 ft long later two rows of sheet piling will stretch far out into the water and the space between the two walls will be filled in to make a pier here a crane is lifting buckets of rock and gravel from the bottom of the [Applause] bay The Rock must be cleared from this area so that the sheet piling can be set in a Sandy Bottom they could not pound the piles into the Rock large teeth in the bucket scoop up the [Applause] rock the crane operator swings the bucket over and dumps the gravel and rock where it is needed the pile driver hammers the huge wooden piles into the Sandy Bottom Of The Bay further over a line of wooden piles stretches far out into the bay this piling will be part of the foundation for the pier Bob's Uncle Jim is one of the harbor Engineers he explains to Bob that the wooden piles will hold the sheet piles in line for placing the sand filled that is the piles will stay firm when they dump the sand in the water to extend the land for the new pier Uncle Jim explains that Robert Kean is looking through the transit or telescope to see the plum Bob which one of the men holds Plum Bobs are used to determine the line of the pier so that when the pier is finished it will be straight the men on the raft are straightening the pilings with cables all the measurements for the pier must be exact the harbor designing Engineers draw up plans far ahead for a piece of construction work plans are made just the way people make plans for a house the transit is like a telescope and enlarges objects far away in fact through the transit Bob can see a nail at 100 yard Mr Kean shows Bob how to use the transit when the object they are looking at is in its correct position a DOT will be exactly at the spot where hairlines cross in the center of the lens that is how they can tell that the line of piles is straight later they Place steel rods from the wooden piles to the sheet piling large cranes swing buckets of sand from barges to fill in the space between the piles it will take a year to finish the fine new pier a harbor is laid out like a city with waterways in place of streets at this outer harbor construction base rocks are loaded onto barges for the construction work on the breakwaters Mr berdick Bob's friend explains to him that rocks play an important part in Harbor construction not only for the breakwaters and peers but also to protect the filled-in banks along the edge of the harbor every part of a harbor must be maintained and repaired to stand up against the ocean storm storms and more and more Harbor Docks are needed to take care of the growing foreign trade a freight train arrives with its heavy load the Rocks come from The Rock quaries in Riverside 100 m away they are loaded on the trains at the quaries and they long freight trains bring the Rocks directly to this outer base the harbor engineers get their materials from places as near as possible to their work an empty barge returns from the Breakwater for another load of rock tugboats haul the barges full of rock to the break water under construction and then bring it back empty for another load each barge carries a crew of about five men now the empty barge is in position and the men can begin loading the Rocks Bob thinks this crane is the biggest he has ever seen workmen fasten the heavy steel slings around the rock they wear padding around their waist so they will not be be cut or bruised by the huge Rock they signal the crane operator high up in the cab and the huge crane lifts the mighty Rock and swings it over onto the [Laughter] barge a Workman on the barge directs the placing of the rock the men are careful not to work under the rock they move fast to keep out of the way as sometimes the cables slip and the Rocks drop the number on the Rock tells its size this rock weighs 15 Tons huge cement blocks are also used these weigh 42,44 lb or 21 tons each and so the work continues until the barge has a full load and is ready to leave for the Breakwater far out at the end of The Brak water the construction work goes on on one side the water is rough what a contrast to the Bayside of the Breakwater where the water is calm and smooth a large crane swings the rocks from the barge to the point where they are building the Breakwater a man on the Breakwater by signals tells the crane operator where he wants the rock placed many types of cranes are used on a large construction job man uses Machinery to do as much of the heavy work as he can Bob understands now the tremendous amount of work involved in building a harbor he knows now why the birds seek refuge on the calm side of the Breakwater sheltered from the strong winds and ocean storms here a family of seals are bringing up their babies they Sun themselves lazily on the rocks in the calm Waters there go mama and papa their baby hardly knows enough to be afraid of visitors but finally in she goes a harbor is a place where ships can anchor protected from ocean Gales a refuge for the Navy in ship's language safe in Port and when storm clouds gather our man-made Breakwater and peers will stand the force of the mighty oceans just as our rocky shores have held back the ocean for hundreds of years [Music] [Applause] [Music]