Ports and Harbours

The paper deals, in general outline, with the development of the layout of the water areas, quays, and so forth of ports and harbours, since the making of the first wet-docks in the early years of the eighteenth century. The great and increasing importance of the rapid and economical handling of ships with their inward and outward cargoes has directed the trends both of the design and equipment of present-day ports and harbours and of the modification of older ones.

Reference is made to the importance of power-operated machinery for the many items of mechanical equipment and plant essential at a modern port. From 1846, hydraulic power, as did steam, played a leading part in the development of such machinery. In recent years, the large-scale adoption of electric power has been brought about by its many advantages. This form of power is, today, vital to the many types of cargo-handling machinery so necessary for dealing rapidly and, therefore, economically with the many and varied types of cargo.