ADDITIONAL BULK FACILITIES.

Thames Star, Volume LXII, Issue 17371, 22 May 1928, Page 2

ADDITIONAL BULK FACILITIES.

(Published by Arrangement.)

FOR PETROLEUM PRODUCTS. LYTTELTON LINKS UP. The first constructional work on the recently reclaimed land at the Port of Lyttelton is now completed, and if the erections to follow represent industries of equal importance to that of the existing one, then much must be gained .so far as the industrial progress of the port is concerned. We refer to the completion of the Shell Company’s bulk installation, the opening of which \vill coincide with the arrival of bulk supplies of petroleum products, which are due by the S.S. Pleiodon on Monday next. The establishment of this installation at Lyttelton does not indicate merely the addition of a small link in the ever-increasing- chain of bulk storage facilities, as- with th e opening of this depot, Lyttelton takes pride of place as being equipped with the greatest storage capacity of any bulk installation in the Dominion—a great asset in the event of any disorganisation which may interfere with the regular importation of petroleum supplies front overseas. On e of the most remarkable developments in the commercial and social life for the last quarter of a. century has been the growth and progress of motor transport. So far as the Dominion is concerned, the rapid establishment of bulk facilities during the last three years has been or' incalculable value—mot ony by virtue of the tremendous expenditure involved, or by reason of the creation of employment for hundreds of New Zealand workmen, but on account of the Dominion being linked up with world-wide modernised methods which have been evolved to provide the latest means available for an efficient, expeditious and economical system of petrol re-

ticulation. The portion of reclamed land occu-

pied by the Shell Company’s installation covers an area of four acres, and

on it have been erected six large stor-

age tanks, five for motor spirit and one for kerosene. These tanks are of three distinct types, and embody the

most recent ideas in the construction

of petroleum spirit storage reservoirs. Four tanks are of the fixed roof type, and the fifth one, measuring 100 ’e?t in diameter, has a pontoon-flo i/: <g roof of the Gallagher type. The sixth tank is still larger, being 118 diameter, and with a floating roof of the Wiggins type. Practically all the material used for the construction of the installation is of British or of local manufacture. A boiler house has been built on a section for the purpose of supplying steam to the Shell tankers while discharging their bulk cargoes, as during unloading operations all fires on board are extinguished. The steam required for working the ship’s pumps and electric light dynamos is therefore obtained from the independent source mentioned. A railway siding has been laid down, so that the rail tank cars can receive

with expedition their bulk supplies for transportation to centres such as Christchurch, Ashburton and Grey-

mouth. In keeping abreast with the march

of motor development, the Shell Company, who pioneered the bulk system of distribution in New Zealand, have provided at Lyttelton an installation in keeping with the demands of modern industrial progress.