A Treatise On The Principles And Practice Of Dock Engineering

14 DOCK ENGINEERING. European ports. The town is a very ancient one, but the harbour accom- modation has only really been developed within the last fifty years. Prioi to 1852, there was only the Old Harbour, 67 acres in extent, which, with a small canal and basin, made the total water area 72 acres. In this year, the Joliette Basin, which had been commenced in 1844, was opened, and gave an additional area of 54 acres, or, with its outer harbour, 56 acres. In 1863 followed the Lazaret and Arenc Basins adding 51 acres, and the Railway Basin with 41 acres. The National Basin was completed in 1881, and its 105 acres raised the total accommodation of the port to 325 acres. In 1893 the construction of a new basin called the Pinède Basin was authorised, the works for which are not yet completed. It will add 65’ -acres to the sheltered water area. In 1900 the number of vessels which entered and cleared the port was 17,254, and the tonnage 12,178,245. In 1901 the figures were 16,802 and 12,877,731 respectively. The Port of Rotterdam. The port of Rotterdam possessed a small dock at the close of the 16th Century. This, called the Herring Basin, is shown upon a plan dated 1599. For the next twenty-five years there was steady progress. A plan, dated 1623, demonstrates the existence at that time of the Leuve Basin, the Wine Basin, and the Shipbuilder’s Basin. But for the ensuing two hundred years very little appears to have been done in the direction of increasing the amount of enclosed water space. The Salmon Basin was brought into existence at the commencement of the 18th Century. At this date Rotterdam was only accessible to ships drawing less than 11 feet of water. It was not until 1873 that a further impetus was given to the expan- sion of the port, when the King’s Basin and the Railway Basin were constructed. Between 1874 and 1879 the Inner Basin and the Ware- house Basin were opened. These were followed, in 1885, by the Rhine Basin, in 1894 by the Katendrecht Basin, and, in 1898, by the Park Basin. In the last-named year was commenced the construction of the Meuse Basin, which adds 145 acres to the dock accommodation of a port already possessing 147 acres on the right bank of the Meuse and 162 acres on the left bank, making 454 acres in all, exclusive of river berths and moorings. The number of vessels which entered Rotterdam during the year 1900 was 7,268, with a tonnage of 6,483,665. The Port of Cardiff. The staple export of Cardiff is coal, and its position in reference to the great coalfields of South Wales has caused the rise of the town from a