The opening of the James Watt Dock, Greenock, August 5th, 1886. Source.
The "James Watt" Dock at Greenock. This dock, which has been constructed on the old Garvel Park Estate at the east end of Greenock, was formally opened on the 5th inst. The first sod of the dock was cut on the 1st of August, 1878, and the foundation stone was laid on August 6th, 1881. The construction has thus occupied eight years. The works comprise two tidal harbours, one wet dock, and one graving dock, with an extensive quayage area. The dimensions of these various docks are as follows:---James Watt wet dock,---width of entrance, 75 ft.; depth of water on cill at high water, 32 ft.; length, 2,000 ft.; width, 300 ft. to 350 ft.; length of jetty, 800 ft.; length of quays, 3,600 ft. Great harbour (tidal), :---Length, 3,230 ft.; width, 600 ft.; area, 45 acres; depth at high water when completed, 38 ft. Garvel basin (tidal):---Width of entrance, 175 ft.; depth at high water when completed, 35 ft.; length of quays, 2,480 ft. Garvel graving dock:---Length, 635 ft.; width, 80 ft.; and depth on cill at high water, 20 ft. The total water space provided by those docks and tidal harbours is ninety acres; the total quay area about 100 acres; and the total length of quays is over three miles. The James Watt Dock, which is considered the greatest and most costly of these extensive harbours, is one of the finest harbourages for steamers in the United Kingdom. It has cost over 250,000l., and the outlay on the entire scheme, which has been designed, by Mr. Kinipple, C.E., is fully half a million of money. An extensive range of warehouses and sheds, capable of storing 20,000 tons of general merchandise, has been constructed at a cost of about 40,000l. Lines of railways (Caledonian and Glasgow and South-Western) run along the sides of the Watt Dock, and lines of railways have also been laid through the centre of the warehouses and sheds; and hydraulic cranes of great power commanding those rails have been erected, so that goods can be loaded into or discharged from railway wagons under cover. On the jetty at the Watt Dock two 30-ton steam coaling cranes have been provided, each crane being capable of loading about 150 tons of coal per hour. According to the Scotsman, the James Watt Wet Dock has this enormous and essential advantage, that it is the only dock on the Clyde in which vessels of huge tonnage can be constantly kept afloat. At all other docks or harbours the large class of steamers ground during a part of each tide.
The Builder, August 14, 1886, p. 256. Source.
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