Preliminary operations on the construction of the Haifa harbor were started. It is expected that the work will be completed within three years, declares a statement issued by engineers Rendel, Palmer and Tritton, with whose consultation the Palestine government is constructing the harbor.
The two principal features will be the construction of breakwaters requiring a million tons of rock, and the dredging of two million cubic yards of sand in deepening the harbor and reclaiming the strip of land along the shore. The rock will be obtained from neighboring quarries.
Haifa was chosen for the harbor due to its potential value in serving the extensive hinterland of Transjordania and beyond, forming the best outlet to the sea by rail communication, the statement declares. Steamers are now forced to anchor half a mile offshore and lighters are employed to transport cargo and passengers to the jetty. This resulted in considerable losses in time and materials.
The breakwater will stretch about one and a half miles, parallel with the town front and will offer accomodation to two or three steamers as well as a number of lighters.
Complete railway and road facilities will be provided. The reclaimed strip of land will be utilized as follows: ten acres for coal storage and the remaining fifty-five acres for the expansion of business quarter of the city.
To meet the increasing tourist traffic an area near the harbor entrance will be deepened and moorings provided to enable 30,000 ton liners to safely enter the harbor and permit the passengers to disembark within the shelter of the breakwaters.
During last season 31 liners bringing more than 9,000 tourists called at the Haifa harbor.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
