562 REPORT—1896. 
applied to the Brunswick-George’s group, and, afterwards, also adopted 
at Birkenhead, where the area to be deepened was about 150 acres, and 
the difference between the outer and inner sills three feet. 
In the case of each of these installations it is necessary to do the 
pumping in a short time at and about high water, therefore the machinery 
is of a very powerful character. At the Sandon there are four pumps, 
each having suction pipes 36 inches diameter, and the Coburg and 
Birkenhead installations each consist of three pumps having 54-inch suc- 
tion pipes. Some idea of the work done may be formed when it is noted 
that the discharge of each of the two last-named sets is about equal to 
that of the River Thames at Teddington. They have now been at work 
for many years without hitch of any kind. In referring to these schemes, 
only bare facts are given, details heing purposely omitted as unnecessarily 
encumbering a Paper of this general character. 
The works carried out under the Act of 1873 added about 44 per 
cent. to the dock accommodation previously existing on the Liverpool 
side of the River, and this of a class much better suited than the older 
docks for modern requirements ; but, notwithstanding this fact, and that 
the pumping schemes above mentioned provided much additional accom-- 
modation for deep-draught vessels, the necessities of the largest class of 
steamers in the Port are ever pressing, and the Author is now, and has been 
for some time past, carrying out a design for very important alterations 
and additions to the group of docks immediately south of the Langton- 
Alexandra system. ‘The works comprised in the complete scheme are as 
follows : the alteration by deepening and lengthening of the entrance 
from the Canada Basin into Canada Dock ; straightening of the walls of 
Canada Dock and deepening of berths there ; the construction of a new 
Branch dock out of Canada Dock as altered ; a new Half-tide dock to 
serve as a vestibule to the improved system and having deep-water river 
entrances ; and the construction of a new large and wide graving dock. 
The work of altering Canada Lock, though apparently trifling, has in 
reality been of considerable magnitude and exceedingly difficult of execu- 
tion. It meant the cutting out of the masonry at the bottom of a lock 
600 feet long by 100 feet broad, and providing a new floor at a level of 
6 feet 3 inches lower than before, without disturbing or letting in the 
side walls, which had to be underpinned for a depth of about 10 feet. 
The excellence of the granite masonry of which it had been con- 
structed made it doubly difficult and costly, as it was the late Mr. Jesse 
Hartley’s last work, and indeed his chef d’euvre, and the Author, com- 
pelled to interfere with such a substantial model of excellent workmanship, 
did so regretfully. The work, however, has been substantially completed 
without accident, and ships are now daily passing to and fro through it. 
Considerable and costly alterations have also been carried out within 
the Canada Dock, in taking down and rebuilding in straight and con- 
tinuous form the old walls of contorted shape, originally built so as to 
allow of the construction of Huskisson Battery, and quite unsuited for the 
berthage of modern ships. The large Transatlantic steamers of the 
Cunard Line now berth at the straightened west wall. 
This work was rendered more difficult and expensive in consequence 
of its being necessary to keep the water within the docks so as not to 
allow trade to be interfered with. 
The new branch out of the Canada, giving a large amount of extra 
accommodation to the Port, has also been completed. This dock is 1,085 
