I'lIAP. XIII. 



ST. KATHEPJNE DOCKS. 



463 



ground, presented an unusual amount of quay room. The 

 necessary Act was obtained in 1825 ; the works were 

 begun in the following year ; arid on the 25th of October, 

 1828, the new docks were completed and opened for 

 business. 



The St. Katherine Docks communicate with the river 

 by means of an entrance tide-lock, 180 feet long and 

 45 feet wide, with three pair of gates, admitting either 

 one very large or two smaller vessels at a time. The 

 lock-entrance and the sills under the two middle lock- 

 gates are fixed at the depth of ten feet under the level of 

 low water of ordinary spring tides. The formation of 

 these dock-entrances was a work of much difficulty, 

 demanding great skill on the part of the engineer. It 

 was necessary to excavate the ground to a great depth 

 below low water for the purpose of getting in the founda- 

 tions, and the cofferdams were therefore of great strength, 

 to enable them, when pumped out by the steam-engine, 

 to resist the lateral pressure of forty feet of water at 

 high tide. The difficulty was, however, effectually over- 

 come, and the wharf walls, locks, sills, and bridges of the 

 St. Katherine Docks are generally regarded as a master- 

 piece of harbour construction. 1 



1 In the arrangement of the wharves 

 and warehouses every improvement 

 was introduced and adopted which 

 was calculated to facilitate the trans- 

 action of business at the least labour 

 and expense. Alluding to the rapidity 

 with which these works were con- 

 structed, Mr. Telford says : " Sel- 

 dom, indeed never within my know- 

 ledge, has there been an instance of 

 an undertaking of this magnitude, in 

 a very confined situation, having been 

 perfected in so short a time; nor 

 could it have been accomplished in 

 any other place than London, where 

 materials and labour to any extent 

 are always to be procured, as also the 

 command of capital in the power of 

 intelligent directors accustomed to 

 transactions on a large scale. The 



extreme rapidity with which every 

 operation was forced on was doubtless 

 defensible, as useful and desirable in a 

 mercantile speculation, with the view 

 of having a speedy return for the ad- 

 vance of large sums, and for encou- 

 raging future advances, also for meet- 

 ing the urgent demands of increasing 

 commerce; but, as a practical en- 

 gineer, responsible for the success of 

 difficult operations, I must be al- 

 lowed to protest against such haste, 

 pregnant as it was, and ever will be, 

 with risks, which, in more instances 

 than one, severely taxed all my expe- 

 rience and skill, and dangerously in- 

 volved the reputation of the directors 

 as well as their engineer." ' Telford 's 

 Life,' p. 155. 



