TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION G. 693 



Marquess of Bute, who, in the year 1830, finding the great mineral wealth of the 

 adjoining district of South Wales locked up hy the want of railway conveyance to 

 the sea-coast, and proper means of shipment, resolved upon the construction of a 

 dock on the foreshore at Cardiff, the only accommodation then existmg for vessels 

 being the Glamorganshire Canal, with a limited capacity available only for vessels 

 up to 200 tons. 



The original design of the engineer, Mi*. Green of Exeter, was to place the 

 ■entrance gates on the foreshore at a point near the end of the present low-water 

 pier, and to construct a ship canal across the foreshore to the intended dock 

 on the mainland. The expense and difficulty of constructing such a work at that 

 time led to a modilication, and it was ultimateh' decided, mider the advice of the 

 late Sir William Cubitt, to cut an open tidal channel across the foreshore to the 

 mainland, and then construct an entrance basin communicating with the dock by 

 means of a lock. 



This dock, now called the 'Bute West Dock,' was, vAth its sea approach, com- 

 pleted in 1839, at a cost of about 400,000/., an expenditure which even then 

 displayed the public spirit of the late Marquess of Bute, when the total import 

 and export trade amounted to less than 7000 tons per amiiun, as compared with 

 5,000,000 tons per annum at the present time, showing an increase of over 700 times. 



The tidal water of this part of the Bristol Chamiel contains a very large quan- 

 tity of mud in suspension, which would have mvolved a heavj' expenditiu'e for 

 dredging the deposit if the tidal water had l^eeu impounded in the dock. This 

 consideration led the engineer to tLx the level of the dock water at several feet 

 above the high-water level of the Ohaimel, and to supply the dock with fresh 

 water from the river Taff. The water is drawn from the river for tliis piu'pose 

 about two miles inland, and the feeder passes through the town, and delivers the 

 fresh water at the north end of the dock. The entrance channel across the fore- 

 shore is three-quarters of a mile long and about 200 feet wide. The basin is 300 

 feet long and 200 feet -wide, with an entrance of 47 feet wide from the sea ; the 

 loclv between the basin and the dock is 152 feet long and 36 feet wide. The dock 

 is 4000 feet long and 200 feet wide, with 19 feet depth of water for a length of 

 about 1500 feet, and 15 feet for the remaining length of about 2500 feet. 



The depth of water on the sill of the entrance gates is 28 ft. 9 in. at high water of 

 ordinary spring tides, and the gates are opened only for one hour before, and about 

 two hours after high water. The gates are constructed of timber. The water area 

 of the dock and basin amounts to 20 acres. 



So gi-eat and rapid was the increase of traffic after the opening of the Bute 

 West Dock, that in 1851 it was decided by the trustees of the Marquess of Bute 

 to construct a new dock of larger capacity, now called the ' Bute East Dock.' This 

 dock has a sea-basin 380 feet long by 250 feet wide, approached from the entrance 

 channel on the foreshore by a lock 220 feet long by 65 feet wide, having a depth of 

 31 feet 9 inches on the siU, or 3 feet more than in the West Dock. The inner lock 

 from the sea basin to the dock is 200 feet long by 50 feet wide. The dock is 

 4300 feet long by 300 feet wide for the first 1000 feet, and 50U feet wide for the 

 remainmg 3300 feet. The uniform depth of water is 25 feet, the water-level in 

 this dock being maintained at the same level as in the West Dock, by water drawn 

 from the river Tafi". The water area of the East Dock and basin amounts to 45 

 acres. The lock gates were originally constructed of German and Enghsh oak ; 

 but having ultimately proved too weak to resist the great pressure of water to 

 which they were subjected, the gates of the outer lock were replaced in 1863 by 

 new gates, constructed of wrought-iron ribs, English oak heel and meeting posts, 

 and Dantzic fir planking. The gates of the inner lock were replaced in 1878 by 

 new gates constructed of wrought-iron ribs, heel and meeting posts with green- 

 heart facings, and Dant/.ic fir planking on both sides of the lower gates ; the upper 

 gates were faced on the dock side with wrought-iron plates, and Dantzic fii' plankmg 

 on the lock side ; both upper and lower gates bemg on the buoyant principle, this 

 construction being rendered necessary by the limited space provided in the masonry 

 for Avooden gates, and has proved perfectly satisfactory. A junction canal connects 

 the East and West Docks with the Glamorganshu-e Canal. 



