BRITISH ENGINEERING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 130, 5 June 1933, Page 6

BRITISH ENGINEERING.

Tangible evidence of the British civil engineer's ability is to be found everywhere, and the part he has played in the maintenance of British prestige abroad cannot be exaggerated (says "The Times" in an article 011 the new Southampton Docks). Though it is true that the physical features and contours of this country provide him with less opportunity for spectacular achievements 011 the grand scale, his work here is none the less impressive to those capable of appreciating its significance. The present extension of the Southampton Docks is a splendid illustration alike of the genius of British engineers and of the spirit of enterprise that has enabled this country to take full advantage of its insular position. Southampton is naturally well served by the tide, but the rapid extension of its passenger traffic necessitated the provision of additional quayage, and how the Southern Railway has reclaimed a vast area of mud and constructed a deep-water quay and graving dock is told in detail in the Supplement. Here it is sufficient to say that the work has entailed such operations as sinking over a mile of square concrete pillars each as high as many a church steeple and superficially large enough to contain a house and garden, the provision of berths for eight of the largest ships afloat, and the construction of a graving dock capable of taking a vessel of 100/000 tons. JOqually impressive have been some of the other works—the laying of culverts almost as largo in diameter as a tunnel of London's underground railways, the driving of steel piling into the ground to great depths for a distance of more than a mile, and tho installation of a huge and complex pumping system controlled by one man from a desk in a distant room. ,