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    <title>Transport Research International Documentation (TRID)</title>
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    <copyright>Copyright © 2026. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.</copyright>
    <docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs>
    <managingEditor>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</webMaster>
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      <title>Transport Research International Documentation (TRID)</title>
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      <title>USSR RIVER CATAMARAN TESTED</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/65812</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The new river catamaran Anatoliy Uglovskiy has sailed from Archangel for trials in the White Sea.  The project of the passenger catamaran was developed by the Central Technical Design Bureau of the Ministry of the River Fleet of the RSFSR in cooperation with scientists of the Gor'kiy and Leningrad institutes of water transport engineers.  The prototype vessel was built at the ship repair yards of Velikiy Ustyug.  The catamaran was made of aluminum- magnesium alloys.  Because of the twin hulls, the vessel has a wide deck area where passenger cabins and a lounge are located.  An open promenade deck is located at the stern. The vessel can accommodate 150 passengers for a trip lasting eight hours.  On runs lasting half that time the number of passengers may be doubled.  The new motorship is not affected by weather and can safely cruise along rivers and lakes during storms.  Its shallow draught makes it possible for the vessel to navigate rivers with a water depth of 1.1 meters.  The vessel has a top speed of 42 kilometers per hour.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 15 Dec 1978 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/65812</guid>
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      <title>CONCRETE LNG VESSEL HALVES COSTS OF ONSHORE FACILITY</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/65827</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Constructing a $270-million precast, prestressed concrete barge to process and store liquefied natural gas (LNG) would be about half as costly as building a comparable facility onshore, according to the vessel's designer.  A liquefying plant mounted on deck of the 860-ft-long ship-like vessel could produce almost 450 million cu ft of LNG per day from offshore wells or from unwanted natural gas flared from oil production operations.  Lined cryogenic holds below deck could store up to 5.6 million cu ft of the liquid gas. Part of the cost saving would result from being able to moor the plant adjacent to offshore wells, thus eliminating pipelines to shore.  Construction of berthing terminals and extensive dredging also would be unnecessary because the 140,000-ton vessel would double as a dock for LNG tankers. When fully loaded, the barge would draw about 48 ft.  The top and bottom slabs of the 192-ft-wide barge would be of a patented honeycomb sandwich panel design, similar to aircraft construction but using concrete instead of metal alloys.  Concrete was chosen because of its "superior resistance to thermal shock and low temperature exposure and durability in an ocean environment."  The hull will probably never have to be drydocked for maintenance and any hull repairs could be made while afloat.  The 96-ft-high hull has three cryogenic sections in cross- section, which are separated by bulkheads of sandwich design.  The deck is 10 ft thick and the bottom slab is 15 ft.  The hull's sides are 10 ft thick.  Transverse bulkheads, 10 ft thick, divide the storage areas generally every 154 ft and help support the deck.  Construction would require about 86,000 cu yd of concrete.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 15 Dec 1976 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/65827</guid>
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      <title>SWEDISH NOZZLE THRUSTER PROVIDES STEPLESS CONTROL IN ANY DIRECTION</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/65817</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Karlstads Mekaniska Werkstad has developed a new rotatable nozzle thruster which gives stepless thrust control in any direction.  The unit's design permits it to be removed and replaced under water with the aid of a patented cable system.  The thruster is intended for use in dynamically- positioned vessels.  The whole unit can be rotated through 360 degrees.  The nozzle thruster has a pod and impeller similar to those incorporated in the company's KaMeWa steering propeller unit.  The vertical stay is flanged to the rotating support and is journalled in roller bearings in a pivot casing bolted to the hull.  Thruster is rotated by two slow-speed hydraulic-rotors via gearing to the rotating support.  Blade seals have been tested through the equivalent of 9 million pitch changes at a water pressure corresponding to 40 m submersion, the company says. Extensive acoustic studies have permitted the low noise levels essential in dynamic-positioning to be attained.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 15 Dec 1976 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/65817</guid>
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      <title>SURPLUS TANKER CAPACITY</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/65809</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Surplus carrying capacity of the world's tanker fleet at the end of 1975 was about 37 percent - 114 million tons out of 255.7 million tons-according to UK broker John I. Jacobs and Co., and the surplus could rise to 150 million tons at the end of 1976.  The surplus was made up of 41.3 million tons of laid up tankers, 2.1 million tons of laid up combined carriers, the equivalent of 55.6 million tons for 18 percent slow steaming by tankers and 15 million tons for various inefficiencies.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 15 Dec 1976 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/65809</guid>
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      <title>UK FIRM DEVELOPS EFFICIENT AMPLIFIER FOR RADIO BEACON</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/65803</link>
      <description><![CDATA[A new maritime multifrequency radio beacon built around a special output circuit is 50 per cent more efficient than conventional circuits.  The system is being launched by England's Redifon Telecommunications Ltd., the world's largest supplier of radio beacons.  The key is the first use of a push-pull class D amplifier for a unit with a 125-watt power-output rating.  The increased efficiency means low power consumption and a four-to-one reduction in internal thermal dissipation.  There's no need for cooling fans because the output transistors operate at low temperatures. The circuit also handles mismatched loads caused by a faulty antenna.  The approximately $4,000 solid-state BK125M beacon is to guide coastal ships and direct helicopters onto oil rigs in bad weather.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 15 Dec 1976 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/65803</guid>
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      <title>CN DRYDOCK EYES SOVIET FISHING FLEET FOR REPAIRS</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/65823</link>
      <description><![CDATA[When sacks of grain begin arriving last year at Canadian National's Newfoundland Drydock, some observers wondered whether the company was running a repair yard or a feed lot.  Actually, the grain served a useful overhaul function.  From past experience with electrically propelled ships in CN's ferry fleet, the yard has found that the best way to clean hard-to-get-at electrical motors is by corn-blasting.  The corn has a sufficiently abrasive quality to clean away carbon and other grime, and it is absorbent enough to soak up unwanted oil.  The yard used the corn blasting procedure to overhaul 33 propulsion motors on the Sedco 445 offshore oil drilling rig.  It was the first time that Sedco Inc. had used Newfoundland Drydock's facilities.  In a letter to the yard, it said it was intrigued and highly impressed by the method and the professional way the work had been performed.  The yard is still interested in attracting overhaul and repair work from the Soviet fishing fleet.  Indeed, it was actively pursuing such a contract last year before action by Canada closed Newfoundland's ports to the Soviets because of repeated violations of international fishing agreements.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 15 Dec 1976 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/65823</guid>
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      <title>CONTAINER SAFETY LEGISLATION EXPECTED IN FALL</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/65825</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Legislation and regulations governing safety standards for freight containers, prepared by the federal Department of Transport and other federal government departments, are expected to be put before Parliament in the fall.  Canada will thus be implementing an International Convention for Safe Containers, drafted under the auspices of the UN's Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organization to obtain international agreement for minimum safety requirements, and, at the same time, reinforce the work of the International Standards Organization in this area.  The Convention is a regulatory document adopted by IMCO in 1972. It is expected to come into force in 1977, some 12 months after it is ratified by a minimum of 10 of the IMCO member countries.  So far there are seven contracting governments. The Convention is concerned with the need to maintain a high level of safety in the handling, stacking and transporting of freight containers.  It sets out structural safety requirements, and provides for testing inspection, approval and maintenance of all containers.  The technical annex requires a safety approval plate to be affixed to every approved container.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 15 Dec 1976 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/65825</guid>
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      <title>THROUGH RATES WILL AID VANCOUVER</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/65819</link>
      <description><![CDATA[A major Pacific Ocean shipping conference has announced a new through rate for cargo moving to Eastern Canada through the Port of Vancouver which absorbs almost all of the inland transportation costs.  The Hong Kong-Taiwan-West Canada Freight Conference last month adopted a rate that amounts to the previous ocean rates to Vancouver, plus only $20 a ton for goods to Toronto or Montreal.  The new rate is expected to help Vancouver win back traffic to Eastern Canada that has been lost to U.S. West Coast ports.  Under the new tariff the cheapest rate for a 40-ft. container to Toronto-Montreal is $1,588, including a $52 terminal service charge, less a refund of $270 if the railways use it westbound, for a final minimum of $1,318.  Canadian railways are studying a conference proposal on division of revenue that would make the rates through the Port of Vancouver even more competitive.  Under the proposal the conference lines would pay roughly 30 cents a cubic foot on the inland freight, whether it moved in boxcar, piggyback or container.  Both railways have expressed interest and there is some hope an accommodation can be reached.  Even without reductions on containers, the new conference rates should attract more cargo through Vancouver because they also apply to boxcar and piggyback movements, which carry about 80 percent of the eastbound goods landing in the port.  This should give the port more less-than-container load and break bulk cargo.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 15 Dec 1976 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/65819</guid>
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      <title>FLUID FILM MOVES VESSELS OVER LAND</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/65811</link>
      <description><![CDATA[A water film about 0.005 in. thick is now being used by Vancouver Shipyards Co. Ltd., Vancouver, B.C., Canada, to move heavy vessels over land.  To increase the building capacity of the firm's 40-acre site in the Port of Vancouver, they added a multiship level building berth that uses an Aero-Caster "water film" overland ship assembly transfer system.  A new side launchway and buildings enable the yard to now build vessels up to 500 ft long and with a 100-ft beam.  The level berth area is large enough for simultaneous construction of two vessels each 500 ft long and with a 100-ft beam.  It is surfaced with concrete runways over which the Aero-Casters lift and float vessels on the 0.005-in. thick water film.  Berth surface area is 280 by 420 ft.  The water-film transfer system was developed by Aero-Go Inc., Seattle, Wash.  It reportedly virtually eliminates friction under heavy loads so that only a 1-lb push is needed for each 1,000 lb of load weight to move heavy loads in any direction and desired speed.  Each Aero-Caster has a 40-ton capacity at 50 psi and operates with a water requirement of 15-20 gpm.  The unit itself is a 48-in. diameter, donut-shaped diaphragm of flexible nylonneoprene and hypalon materials.  It is bolted to a square, load-carrying top plate of aluminum.  When pressurized with water to lift 40 ton, the units lift the load about 1 in.  At this point, water seeps under the flexible bottom face, and the ship assemblies become free-floating above the concrete surface on a thin film of captured water.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 15 Dec 1976 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/65811</guid>
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      <title>USSR ICEBREAKER</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/65814</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The atomic powered icebreaker Sibir was recently launched at Leningrad's Baltic shipyard.  The Sibir is the second atomic powered icebreaker in the series started by the shipyard in the past five years and is being built to the same plans and specifications as the Arktika, which has already been in operation in the Arctic Ocean this winter. Tests are currently under way at the Arctic Insitute in Leningrad for operational laboratory simulation of 120,000 to 140,000 hp icebreakers.  It has recently been revealed that the Arctic Institute carries out model tests of all icebreakers built in the USSR and abroad.  The icebreakers currently under construction for the USSR in Finland, having 36,000 hp diesel electric engines, were tested at this Institute and earlier vessels in the same series called the Yurmak, the Admiral Makirov and the Krasin were also subjected to model tests before they were built. The model is capable of generating different types of ice which can simulate very open pack conditions and can also range to simulated old ice packs of many years.  The temperature in the laboratory can, reportedly, reach 40 degrees below zero.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 15 Dec 1976 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/65814</guid>
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      <title>JAPANESE BUOY CREATES ENERGY FROM WAVES</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/65816</link>
      <description><![CDATA[A large buoy which will act as a breakwater and simultaneously create energy from wave action is planned at the Japan Maritime Science & Technology Centre at Yokosuka.  The tanker-shaped buoy will measure 100 by 20 by 6 meters in its test phase, but will be even larger when manufactured for practical use.  Breaking waves will force air in jets through the buoy's perforated deck (a design originally developed at Canada's National Research Council) driving turbines to generate electricity.  The initial target is 2,400 kw at a cost of 11 yen per kw, compared to current methods which cost 12 yen for household power.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 15 Dec 1976 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/65816</guid>
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      <title>CANADIAN PRODUCT PREVENTS SPILLS</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/65805</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Four years of research and development by Honeywell Ltd. of Toronto have resulted in a new safety device for the petroleum industry: the Optic Liquid Level Sensor (OLLS). The new product is designed to detect fluid levels in tank trucks or storage tanks during filling by means of a signal received from the control monitor transmitted via fibre optic cable to the sensor's probe, which protrudes into the storage tank or each of the product compartments on a tank truck.  When an overfill condition occurs, a glass prism at the tip of the sensor's probe is submerged in the petroleum product, and at this time the pulsed light is refracted from the prism base into the product, causing a loss of electronic signal.  The control monitor senses the loss and automatically ends the filling operation.    The OLLS is safe and can be used for Class I, II and III petroleum products.  As optic technology is used in the OLLS, no electrical power is present inside the product compartment. Safety features include an automatic shutdown system with any component failure; an intrinsically safe 24-volt DC, maximum 60 milliamp barriered control monitor, and an all solid state design to preclude mechanical failures.  In addition to these, the control monitor also monitors ground faults.  Thus, if resistance to ground is 10,000 ohms or greater, the control monitor will not alow a filling operation.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 15 Dec 1976 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/65805</guid>
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      <title>HOVERING STORAGE TANKS IN JAPAN</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/65821</link>
      <description><![CDATA[A Japanese company, Nippon Kensan of Osaka, have been appointed licensed contractors by the Southampton-based company, Air Cushion Equipment Ltd., who developed the system of moving tanks by air cushion.  They have already shipped out a complete set of tank-moving equipment to NKC. It is understood that the appointment results directly from the interest taken in the air-cushion method of moving tanks following severe pollution damage caused to Japanese fishing resources by a giant oil slick from a cracked storage tank at a Mitzushima refinery.  Following a survey subsequently ordered by the Japanese Fire Defence Department of all storage tanks in the country, 500 are so far said to be in an unsafe condition and many of these, it is expected, will have to be lifted or moved by the air-cushion method, while their foundations, most of which are by the sea, are reconstituted.  To learn more about the ACE system, representatives from 118 Japanese companies attended a presentation given at the British Trade Centre in Tokyo by Mr. Tim Horn, managing director of Air Cushion Equipment Ltd.  It was arranged by the company's Agency in Tokyo, Essco Japan, in conjunction with NKC and their associates, Japan Development Consultants.  Specialists in foundation work and soil mechanics, they are linked in with NKC to evaluate the problems of foundations and also to move the tanks where necessary.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 15 Dec 1976 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/65821</guid>
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      <title>BULK CARGO FLEET ENVISAGED IN ARCTIC</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/65808</link>
      <description><![CDATA[If iron ore deposits on Baffin Island are developed, Canada may need at least 10 ice-strengthened bulk cargo ships in the next 10 to 15 years, a government official has said.  Roy Illing, Marine Administrator in the Department of Transportation, told a recent Canadian Export Association Annual Meeting that the size of the ships needed for mineral transport would range up to 150,000 tons. He said the ships would be operable for about 100 days a year, and that these ships may be built and manned with federal government assistance.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 15 Dec 1976 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/65808</guid>
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      <title>U.S. NAVY DEVELOPS PORTABLE PIER SYSTEM</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/65824</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The U.S. Navy has successfully demonstrated a portable pier system for handling containers from barges to trucks which might go far beyond its original conception of extending naval and army capabilities for handling containerized cargoes on undeveloped beachfronts, and prove beneficial to some of the developing nations.  The system was developed by the Civil Engineering Laboratory (CEL) Naval Construction Battalion Center, Port Hueneme, Calif.  The month-long operations last November-December involved the handling of 20-foot containers at Coronado, Calif.  The 630-foot elevated causeway consisted of nine sections of standard NL pontoons, each 21' x 90'.  The pierhead or loading platform was 180' long.  A fast hydraulic system lifted the pontoons to a predetermined height.  Pilings 20 inches in diameter and up to 60 feet long were driven 15 feet into the ocean bottom.  A combination of four jacks lifted and positioned each 90-foot section.  Normal installation time is projected to be two to three hours per section.  During the Coronado tests, a 100-ton capacity crane weighing 150,000 pounds was used to lift the containers.  To take the weight of this crane, the pier head was reinforced.  A transfer rate of up to 20 boxes an hour was reported.  Based on the results of the Coronado operations, CEL plans only minor modifications to the system before a joint Navy-Army demonstration of the total system, which is scheduled for the summer of 1977.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 15 Dec 1976 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/65824</guid>
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