WORLD’S LARGEST DOCK

Evening Star, Issue 19004, 28 July 1925, Page 12

WORLD’S LARGEST DOCK

SOUTHAMPTON'S SCHEME Inspired by tbe swan song of Lord Devonport, who, before relinquishing his position ns chairman of the Port of London Authority, disclosed his plans for making the capital of England tbe greatest port in the world, Southampton has under consideration a project which should enable it to become the world’s largest dockyard. It is hoped to complete the plans for London in four years at a cost of £4,000,000. A floating landing stage will bo provided for ocean liners, for which an immense _ dry dock will also bo constructed, while the West India Dock will undergo extensive improvement. The scheme for the expansion of the Southampton docks will involve an expenditure of no less than £13,000,000, and will cover a decade. A mud flat, two miles long and half a, mile wide, will be reclaimed; the river Test will be dredged so as to afford a passage at low water for the world’s biggest vessels; while two dry docks and five jetties will bo constructed, capable of accommodating simultaneously liners of tbe siae of the Bercngaria and the Leviathan. The scheme is in the hands of the Southern Railway, which has recently been the subject of a certain amount of adverse criticism on the score of its service. The inception of the. scheme, is, for the present, delayed by negotiations with the owner of the mud flats. Before these are reclaimed, the main dock extension cannot he undertaken. The developments in prospect are of interest, since Southampton is the port of call for the Aberdeen and occasionally the White Star, Commonwealth, and other liners.

The five jetties, which will run diagonally into the river Test, will each be I,oooft in length by 200 ft wide. They will carry storage sheds, equipped with the most modern loading and unloading machinery. A channel 600 ft wide will be dredged down the Test, at a depth of not less than _4oft at lowmr water. Adjacent to the jetties will bo the tw'o graying docks. A loop railway will he constructed to link np with the present line. Within the loop, which will circle the reclaimed ground, warehouses, factories, and other buildings will be erected.

The ncw T scheme wall do away with the congestion that has for some time prevailed when the port had to handle half-a-dozen liners at a time, and will greatly facilitate the passenger traffic to America. It will also enable a much greater volume of cargo to bo dealt with.