ENORMOUS WORK

Taranaki Daily News, 31 August 1933, Page 11

ENORMOUS WORK

DOCK AT SOUTHAMPTON , • PART OF GREAT SCHEME. RECORD ACHIEVEMENT. The new graving dock at Southamp- x: ■ ton, which the King has opened, is uf itself a notable engineering accomplishment. But it forms only a part of the stupendous - scheme of extension on which the' Southern Railway emba. -d some years ago, writes John Everard :n the'London Daily Telegraph. . ’ In pursuance of the company’s detc~mination to keep the premier passenger port of Great Britain not merely abreast of, but in advance of the times, j marvels have been accomplished. .A couple of years ago the new dock—the largest of its kind in the world—was a tidal mudland, useless, and un<, sightly. . A gigantic quay wall a mile and a half in length has been built in a bay of the River Test. In the process incredible quantities of mud, sand, and gravel have been dredged, and an immense sheet of water has been driven away by the engineers. The very topography of Southampton has undergone a change. Among many evidences of this is the ; fact that the corporation' > station, originally built on the fore- 7 shore, is now well inland. 1 THRILLING SIGHT. ' ’ ’ . ,- /i; To the Briton with the sea-' in his blood the world has no more inspiring spectacle to offer than that furnished by the numerous big liners which embark or disembark more than 500,000 passengers annually at Southampton. The total of these great ships is being constantly increased by the decision of foreign shipping companies to berth <n the docks instead of remaining in the Cowes Roads. These and other passenger developments demand more and still more dock accommodation. The constant progress 'of cargo traffic, too, calls for further warehouse space. In this fashioning of Southampton into one of the great world ports, man has been conspicuously assisted by nature. The fifteen miles of approach to the docks along the Solent and Southampton Water are sheltered from every quarter, and for the most part the waterway is wide and deep. The crowning gift to the much-favoured port is its double tides, resulting in what is practically high tide for close on three hours.

The site of the extensions to all the existing docks and quays was, as stated, a bay on the River Test. This mudland—covered at high tide, but bare at low tide—extended for two miles in length and half a mile in width from the Royal Pier upstream to Millbrook Point. , On the south side of the new quay wall a deep-water channel is being dredged to provide berths for eight great liners. On the north side of the wall the reclamation and raising of 400 acres of mudland will give accommodation not only for sheds, warehouses,' and rail sidings, but for new factories, which it is confidently hoped will grow up around such a great water dock. BIG FIGURES. Many staggering : figures ' present themselves in the details of the new graving dock and of the various extensions as a whole. For instance, the creation of the deep-watet channel involves the removal of 20,000,000 tons of earth, sand, and gravel. The dredging alone, it will be seen, is a herculean task. Alongside the quay the berths are dredged to 40ft and 45ft below water, so that ships drawing more than 35ft will be able to lie afloat at all states of the tide. A fascinating story could be told in explaining how, by the formation of four separate “basins,” the tide is being excluded from an area of 400 acres, and of how eventually the whole of the raised area will be enclosed by one long walk The pumping necessitated is on a scale rarely 'undertaken. To describe the quay wall as a Stupendous work is no exaggeration. On the reclaimed land there has been formed a bank, consisting chiefly of dredged gravel, with a top width of 167 feet. Through this is sunk a long line of concrete monoliths, each 45 feet square. Each monolith weighs about 5000 tons, and to force it to its depth of from 70ft to 100 ft below quay level, it is necessary, as a rule, to add 3000 or 4000 tons of cast-iron blocks. The entire work is still far from com* pletion, but the progress that is being made is indicated in. the fact that already cargo sheds for two of . the berths, along the quay have been erected. These sheds have been built as one continuous structure, 1650 ft in length arid 150 ft wide

The graving dock which his Majestyopened is essentially a section, though an enormously important section, of the whole scheme of dock extensions. By a sad irony of events, the giant Cunarder, for whose accommodation the construction was begun a couple'. of years ago, remains on her stocks, though there seems to be ground for hoping that work on her may one day be. resumed. j FUTURE LEVIATHANS, x . .., The long view has been taken in the design, of the dock, for it is big enough to hold not merely a vessel of 72,000 tons like the new Cunarder, but vessels of 100,000 tons—if leviathans of • such dimensions should ever be brought into commission in the British mercantile, fleets. The dock is 1200 ft long arid d 135 ft wide at its entrance, and the distance from cope to floor is 60ft. Here again one is brought up against figures so starting as to make a real grasp of their significance improbable. The work has involved the excavation of 1,258,000 cubic yards, and in its construction has called for 456,000 cubic yards of concrete. And its execution is probably a record achievement; the work was all carried ; out between June, 1931, and April of this year. Essentially utilitarian as such a structure is, some of its details are, nevertheless, of imposing beauty. Fixing tha. eye on the eight flights of steps by Id which the floor is reached, one finds it difficult to believe that so delightful and impressive an architectural touch belongs to so prosaic a thing as a graving -q dock. The marvel of the dock itself is sustained in its sliding caisson, a product of Tees-side. It is 140 ft long, 59ft high, and no less than 30ft wide. It is y designed to be double acting; that is to say, in addition to keeping water out of the dock, it can hold up the level’ of the water inside the dock while the tide is falling outside. Made up ut , more than 1300 tons of steel, this mammoth gate must resist at high tide a wall of water with a pressure of 6000 tons. Extraordinary pumping equipment has been installed, for provision has had to be made for both emptying and impounding not only water filling thus graving dock, but also another dock J which is to be built alongside at some future date. Laudable visions arc entertained of , a substantial advance on present facilities, which will make possible an 'an-J nual entry of 17,000,000 tons of shipping.