Mineral Facts and Problems: 1960 Edition Page: 135
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BITUMINOUS COAL
TRANSPORTATION
Almost 80.percent of all coal leaves bitumi-
nous mines via railroads, at rates that currently
add nearly 70 percent to the cost of the coal
at the mines.
Railroads have been the principal means for
shipping bituminous coal since their develop-
ment. In recent years this method of trans-
porting coal has declined appreciably owing
largely to increased movement by water and
truck from the mines to final destinations.
Furthermore, rail shipment is not necessarily
uninterrupted. Approximately 40 to 87 million
tons of coal is dumped annually at Atlantic
coast tidewater piers and transported by water
to ports in the United States or exported over-
seas. In the past decade a range of from 41
to 58 million tons annually has been dumped
at lower Lake Erie and Lake Ontario ports
and transported by water to the West North
Central States, New York and Canada. Some
of this coal is transhipped by rail or truck to
final destination.
Motor trucks for transporting coal appeared
immediately after World War I but were not
an outstanding factor until the late 1920's. By
the middle 1930's trucks had become an impor-
tant means of transporting coal from mines not
only to final destination but also to tipples,
railroad sidings, or waterways for further
shipment. The development of bigger and
better trucks and improved highways has stim-
ulated the growth of truck shipments to final
destinations. As railroad freight rates for coal
are not strictly proportional to distance and as
freight rates for short hauls are higher than
for long ones, trucks are used increasingly for
short-haul traffic.
Although some of the earliest shipments of
bituminous coal were made by river, the major
movement by river awaited the growth of large
consumers on water, particularly the steel in-
dustry on the Monongahela River near Pitts-
burgh, and in more recent years the aluminum
industry in the Ohio River Valley and the
Tennessee Valley Authority installations in the
Tennessee River Valley. Although in 1958
bituminous coal was shipped from mines by way
of ten rivers and the Inland Waterway, the
largest movement was on the Monongahela
River. The proportion shipped from mines by
water, including the tonnage trucked to water,
has grown from 4 percent of total production
in 1933 to 10.6 percent in 1958. Part of this
growth represents increased shipments on riv-
ers other than the Monongahela. Like rail
shipment, river shipment is not necessarily to
a final destination. A considerable tonnage,
particularly in the Cincinnati area, is tran-shipped from the Ohio River to final destina-
tion by railroad or truck.
An important development in shipping bitu-
minous coal has been the trucking o coal from
mines to railroad sidings or to waterways for
further shipment. This relatively new use of
trucks made possible the opening of many small
mines and even of larger strip mines.
Because of the importance of the cost of
transportation, pipeline transmission of coal in
water has been developed. The Consolidation
Coal Company has constructed a 108-mile coal
pipeline from a mine in eastern Ohio to the
East Lake power plant of the Cleveland Elec-
tric Illuminating Company near Cleveland.
The line has been placed in operation deliver-
ing 14 mesh by 0 size coal. The design ca-
pacity of the line is 3,600 tons per day.
Technological advancement in the long-
distance transmission of electric energy could
result in more electric generating capacity near
or at mine sites.
RESEARCH
Every country in which extensive deposits of
coal occur is interested in the effective utiliza-
tion of these valuable natural resources and is
therefore conducting a variety of programs
geared towards the realization of this objec-
tive. In each of these countries there are a
variety of government, industrial, university,
and/or private organizations conducting re-
search programs on the properties of coal, its
production and preparation, utilization as a
fuel, and conversion to other forms. The in-
terest, scope and emphasis on particular investi-
gations are primarily influenced by national
conditions, current markets and anticipated
needs, as well as the facilities of each research
organization.
In the United States there are a variety of
laboratories engaged in coal research programs.
The Bureau of Mines is responsible for more
than one-half of the effort in this area. One
of the primary functions of the Bureau of
Mines is to improve the Nation's ability to meet
the energy needs of an expanding economy and
to insure the Nation's security. Within the
framework of this objective, the Bureau's proj-
ects in coal research and development serve to:
(1) increase efficiency and economic develop-
ment of the industry, including new uses, (2)
conserve resources through prevention of waste,
(3) investigate mineral fuels belonging to or
for the use of the United States, and (4)
improve health and safety conditions in the
mineral industries. Efforts to realize these ob-
jectives involve a variety of coal studies,
ranging from fundamental research through
development of processes and products. The135
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United States. Bureau of Mines. Mineral Facts and Problems: 1960 Edition, report, 1960; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc38790/m1/143/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.