LINERS AT TILBURY

New Zealand Times, Volume XLII, Issue 9614, 21 March 1917, Page 2

LINERS AT TILBURY

DOCK EXTENSION OPENED. ' ■ ■ LONDON, January 25,

An important extension of the accommodation for the largest class of liners frequenting the Port of London has lust been completed. By the enlargement of the main dock at Tilbury berthage has been provided-for three additional ocean steamers of six or seven hundred feet in length, together , with the necessary equipment in the shape of railway lines, transit sheds, and electric cranes. The new berths are being allotted by the Port of London Authority to the White Star Line, the Cunard Company, and the ■ British India Company respectively. Vessels up to about 25,000 tons ,cari be, conveniently dealt with »t this main dock extension, where there is a depth alongside the south quay of 42 feet 6 inches below Trinity high water. The water area added to the dock ’is about 20 acres and the available berthage is' increased' by nearly 20 per cent. For years past the average size of the steamers entering Tilbury Dock hasxbeen steadily increasing.- As originally constructed the dock was intended to accommodate 28 Vessels at the berths, and transit sheds 300 feet in length by 120 feet in width were considered of sufficient size. At the present time the accommodation designed for 26 steamers of a former age is sufficient for only 16 modern liners. By the present extension the number of berths for steamersof modern dimensions is increased to 19, with the advantage that the three recently completed are provided with transit sheds respectively 550, 600, and 650 feet in length and 120 feet in width. Such figures perhaps hardly convey an adequate impression of the hugeness oi these well-constructed corrugated iron buildings, the largest of which would be capable of holding nearly 40,000 persons standing closely together. Tilbury is chiefly a transit dock, for most of the goods landed there either go up the river by lighter or are put on rail. These sheds give an idea of the immense space required for purely transit purposes in connection with the arrival of modern liners. Railway lines in the rear of the sheds give connection for passenger and goods traffic With London and all parts of the Kingdom. Pending the erection of the contemplated landing stage on the adjoining river front, these new- berths and their convenient railway platforms will be used by passengers to and from the colonies. For the discharge of cargo the new quayage is equipped _ with ten electric cranes capable of lifting three tons each, and two more are under construction. This new development at Tilbury, which is regarded ns of great importance by the liner interest in London, is part of a much larger scheme of dock extension which the Port Authority has in view when the war is over.