PORT OF LONDON AUTHORITY

Evening Post, Volume XCIX, Issue 92, 19 April 1920, Page 8

PORT OF LONDON AUTHORITY

THE NEW DEEP WATER DOCK,

(7ROM OCR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

LONDON, 23rd February. Relative to the new South Albert Dock, which will shortly .bo opened to shipping, the Port of London Authority '^mentions that it covers an Urea of 65 acres. Delays in the delivery of the lock "gates and bridges will prevent the use for some little time of tho" lock, 800 ft long by 100 ft wide and 45ft deep below Trinity high water, which will directly link up the dock with the River Thames. Access will in the meantime bo afforded by a passage-way, 100 ft wido, connecting with the Royal Albert Dock at a. point conveniently near the entrance basin. The necessary demolition of a portion of tho Royal Albert Dock wall has already been effected. A valuable addition to London's accommodationfor large vessels is thus promised for the spring. The new dock, will have a depth of 38ft, and will offer about 10,000 lineal feet of quayage, fringed by capacioua transit sheds, and .intersected by railway lines and roads for passenger and goods traffic. A special feature- is the provision on the south side of the dock of seven jetties of reinforced concrete, which will provide bertha-go .for seven large vessels, _ and special facilities for the transmission of goods i direct from chip to barge.

An incidental result of the filling of the new deep-water dock will be that it will immediately render available for ship repairing purposes the new dry-dock forming by no means an unimportant part of the extension programme. This dry-dock, which is 750 ft long and 100 ft wide, with a depth of 35ft on the blocks, will bo tho largest of its kind in the Port of London. Docks. Ho went into this question with the completion of the whole scheme "are Sjing carried out under the direct administration of the Port Authority's Engineering Division.

Sir Thomas Mackenzie stated that he had been long familiar with the cold storage and meat trade- of London, especially in connection with tho docks. Shortly after his arrival in this country tho Authority's proposed works were suspended, owing- to .a Section of New Zealand farmore favouring the West India Dock site, whilst the Authority and others believed that the best, site was the Royal Albert Docks. He went into this question with Lord Devonport, and tho Authority was good enough to submit to him tho proposals it purposed putting.into execution, adding that certain guarantees would be required from Now Zealand farmers bo-, fore it would undertake construction at tho West India Docks, and explaining that that site, if favoured, would bo much more awkward for handling ships. As the Authority's proposal involved more than he (Sir Thomas Mackenzie) felt the New Zealand farmers would fall in with, and as the Authority stated that, in the event of the Albert 'Dorks site being decided on, the work would be put in hand at once and finished, in eighteen months, ho took tho responsibility of approving the plane, and. Lhe work was commenced.