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man go down inside this with a cutting torch. We then pump
the water out so the man can work dry. When he has cut the
pile off, he will weld on a capping piece to carry the cross
stringers and secure them solidly, then go to work on the next
pile. As soon as the capping pieces are all on, we lower our
concrete stringers and bolt them in place on top of the piles.
This can easily be done by skin divers. Then we lay our slabs
in place on the beams, secure them, and we have our ramp
complete.
It was a simple, straightforward plan, and when they tried it
out at Kaneohe it proved as easy as it looked on paper. Croze
drove the steel H-piles without trouble and wound up in a
beautiful bed of hard clay under the coral sand. When the
caisson cylinder was pushed down into this, it sealed off the
ocean perfectly and a small pump was enough to unwater the
pile for cutting. Then, in quick succession, fittings, beams,
and ramp slabs followed without a hitch.
But at Johnston first and later at Palmyra, it was impossible
to (121) get a watertight joint at the bottom of the steel
cylinder. The coral was as pervious as a sponge and no pump
could keep up with it. Harrie Muchemore went to work again
at Kaneohe and presently had devised a hinged door for the
bottom of the caisson. Opening in two leaves, this door was
slipped down the length of the pile, then closed by a rod
which clamped a heavy rubber gasket around the contours of
the H-section. It worked.
Kaqneohe’s invention spread to every island. The slabs were
cast on a “farm” there and weighed ten or twelve tons apiece,
while the stringers were even heavier. It took two steel barges
to carry the various parts for a single ramp, and a long
procession of these started in tow of tugboats for the islands.
Arriving, the massive pieces were lifted off by cranes and
stored. Meanwhile, a crawler crane had been fitted up as a
pile driver and arranged to travel down the slope of the future
ramp as it was laid, driving row after row of piles, then
standing by to handle the caisson while the “burner” cut off
the steel and welded on the capping plates. The crane would
then lift on the necessary stringer and divers would fasten it
in place. A slab would come next; then the crane would be
“walked” down the slopes to carry the work along another
step. The operation was not expensive, as it required only
the simplest handling equipment and could readily be done by
ordinary steel workers and riggers. A complete ramp could be
built in less than three weeks. The men were well pleased.
This business of outwitting nature at her prettiest and most
stubborn made a lot of sense to them.
And yet, in spite of the buoying spirit of achievement, the
peculiar loneliness of this tiny isle was getting them down.
What to do with the off-hours? That was the problem. Here
at Palmyra they didn’t even have beer. It had been omitted
for the purpose of comparison with Johnston to see whether
morale was better (122) with or without it. And in spite of the
griping that followed, no beer proved definitely the best
arrangement – so much so that it was later adopted as a policy
on all PNAB work.
In their leisure and beerless hours, the Palmyrans could at
least get away from each other by taking long
the water out so the man can work dry. When he has cut the
pile off, he will weld on a capping piece to carry the cross
stringers and secure them solidly, then go to work on the next
pile. As soon as the capping pieces are all on, we lower our
concrete stringers and bolt them in place on top of the piles.
This can easily be done by skin divers. Then we lay our slabs
in place on the beams, secure them, and we have our ramp
complete.
It was a simple, straightforward plan, and when they tried it
out at Kaneohe it proved as easy as it looked on paper. Croze
drove the steel H-piles without trouble and wound up in a
beautiful bed of hard clay under the coral sand. When the
caisson cylinder was pushed down into this, it sealed off the
ocean perfectly and a small pump was enough to unwater the
pile for cutting. Then, in quick succession, fittings, beams,
and ramp slabs followed without a hitch.
But at Johnston first and later at Palmyra, it was impossible
to (121) get a watertight joint at the bottom of the steel
cylinder. The coral was as pervious as a sponge and no pump
could keep up with it. Harrie Muchemore went to work again
at Kaneohe and presently had devised a hinged door for the
bottom of the caisson. Opening in two leaves, this door was
slipped down the length of the pile, then closed by a rod
which clamped a heavy rubber gasket around the contours of
the H-section. It worked.
Kaqneohe’s invention spread to every island. The slabs were
cast on a “farm” there and weighed ten or twelve tons apiece,
while the stringers were even heavier. It took two steel barges
to carry the various parts for a single ramp, and a long
procession of these started in tow of tugboats for the islands.
Arriving, the massive pieces were lifted off by cranes and
stored. Meanwhile, a crawler crane had been fitted up as a
pile driver and arranged to travel down the slope of the future
ramp as it was laid, driving row after row of piles, then
standing by to handle the caisson while the “burner” cut off
the steel and welded on the capping plates. The crane would
then lift on the necessary stringer and divers would fasten it
in place. A slab would come next; then the crane would be
“walked” down the slopes to carry the work along another
step. The operation was not expensive, as it required only
the simplest handling equipment and could readily be done by
ordinary steel workers and riggers. A complete ramp could be
built in less than three weeks. The men were well pleased.
This business of outwitting nature at her prettiest and most
stubborn made a lot of sense to them.
And yet, in spite of the buoying spirit of achievement, the
peculiar loneliness of this tiny isle was getting them down.
What to do with the off-hours? That was the problem. Here
at Palmyra they didn’t even have beer. It had been omitted
for the purpose of comparison with Johnston to see whether
morale was better (122) with or without it. And in spite of the
griping that followed, no beer proved definitely the best
arrangement – so much so that it was later adopted as a policy
on all PNAB work.
In their leisure and beerless hours, the Palmyrans could at
least get away from each other by taking long
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Paradise Island
| Tight Fitting Ramp Concrete Panels |
| Ramp Sections Down by the Water |
| Left Over Equipment, Back Hoe |
| Remnants of the Old Machine Shed. NW Airstrip |
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