66

From 1807 till the end of 1835, when Mr. Walker was appointed Engineer, deepening, widening, and straightening seem to have been continuously carried on; and in his first report to the Clyde Trustees, dated February, 1836, he states that :-" there is now at the Broomielaw from 7 ft. to 8 ft. at low water, while the lift of a neap tide at Glasgow Bridge-which was only sensible in 1755— is 4 ft., and of a spring tide, 7 ft. or 8 ft., making 12 ft. depth at high water of a neap, and 15 ft. of a spring tide; so that the river which, by artificial means, was to be rendered capable of taking craft of about 30 tons or 40 tons to Glasgow, has, by what Golborne calls assisting nature,' been rendered capable of floating vessels nearly ten times the burthen."

In 1837, Mr. J. Scott Russell, M. Inst. C.E., at the instance of Sir Thomas Brisbane, Bart.-then President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and formerly President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science-and with the co-operation of the Clyde Trustees, spent several weeks in carrying out a most minute and elaborate series of observations on the tides of the Firth of Clyde, and furnished the latter body with a valuable report, not only giving a table of tides, but also his opinion on the future improvement of the river. At that date spring tides rose and fell about 11 ft. at Port Glasgow, and about 7 ft. at Glasgow. The tides now rise about the same at Port Glasgow, but at Glasgow, springs rise 10 ft., and neaps rise 9 ft. Then the time of high water was 1 hr. 23 mins. later at Glasgow than at Port Glasgow, now it is only 1 hr. 5 mins. In the beginning of the present century it was 3 hrs. later at Glasgow than at Port Glasgow. In his report, Mr. Scott Russell predicted that if the depth of the river was increased sufficiently, high water would be obtained at Glasgow within an hour after it reached Port Glasgow; and his prediction has at length all but been fulfilled. The time of low water at Glasgow is at present 1 hr. 40 mins. later than at Port Glasgow. In the harbour of Glasgow the tide flows for about 5 hrs. 40 mins., and ebbs for about 6 hrs. 50 mins. At Port Glasgow it flows for about 6 hrs. 15 mins., and ebbs for about 6 hrs. 2 mins. In the Appendix are given tables of the readings of the tide-gauges, at seven different stations between Glasgow and Port Glasgow, of the spring tide of the 11th of April, 1872.1 Plates 22 and 23 have been compiled from these readings.

1 Vide Appendix, 1, p. 154.

In November, 1839, parliamentary plans, prepared by Mr. Walker, were deposited, which dealt with the whole river under the jurisdiction of the Trustees, and on which defining lines for both sides of the river were laid down. These lines were approved of, and an Act to carry out the work in accordance therewith was passed by Parliament in 1840; and upon them-with very slight modifications at one or two places, to meet the wishes of riparian proprietors the improvements of the river have since been carried out. Notwithstanding the great improvements effected previously to the passing of that Act, the parliamentary plans of 1839 show that, even so recently as then, the width of the river above Napier's Dock, in the harbour of Glasgow, was only 168 ft. It is now 410 ft., and vessels of 3,000 tons burthen can float where, at that time, stood one of the largest cotton-mills then in the city.

Plate 21 shows the harbour of Glasgow in 1800, in 1840, and in 1872. The straightening and widening have been effected gradually. In the harbour in 1755, the depth at low water was only 1 ft. 6 in. In 1830, vessels of 15 ft. draught; in 1839, of 17 ft. draught; in 1854, of 19 ft. draught; in 1861, of 20 ft. draught; in 1862, of 21 ft. draught; and in 1870, of 22 ft. draught were safely navigated to and from Glasgow. Until within the last few years vessels of 15 ft. draught and upwards were two, and often three, tides in the river in their passages up and down, being from the shallow state of the channel-afloat for only an hour or so before, and after, high water; now vessels drawing 22 ft. leave Glasgow 2 hours to 3 hours before high water, and get to sea in one tide.

The improvements carried out on the river, since 1758, have resulted in the gradual lowering of the level of low water in the harbour of Glasgow to the somewhat remarkable extent of 8 ft. Since 1853, the depression of the level has been fully 13 in. This recent depression is, in the Author's opinion, chiefly due to the great extent to which deepening, widening, and straightening have been carried on in recent years in the lower reaches of the river, thereby enabling the ebb tides to get out to sea with much

greater facility than formerly. The level of high water of ordinary spring tides is now about 10 in. higher than in 1853.

From the irregular and tortuous character of the river, and the shoals existing in its bed, the low-lying portion of the city, along both sides, periodically suffered severely in former years from the river overflowing its banks. Rennie reported very fully on the subject in 1799, and in 1807, and Walker in 1836. The straightening of the river, and the enlarging of its sectional area, have put an end to all inundations; the last time the river was over the quays in the harbour of Glasgow being in 1856.

The consequences of the acceleration of the ebbing of the tides are, however, not entirely beneficial. The levels of the foundations of the quay walls built even as late as 15 years to 20 years ago, are now in most cases much too high to suit the altered level of low water, and the continuous demand for increased depth of water to suit the class of large vessels now built. It will readily be understood, therefore, that these walls have evinced a tendency to slip into the river; and that, to counteract this, the attention of the Engineers who have in recent years had charge of the works has been much directed. It would occupy too much of this Paper to describe the character of the quay walls of the harbour of Glasgow, and the nature of the works carried out to strengthen such as showed signs of giving way; but the Author hopes he may yet have the privilege of submitting to the Institution a Paper on the subject.

The improvement of the Clyde, while it has been of great national importance, and has conferred immense benefits, not only on the district through which it runs, but on the world at large, has destroyed one industry which once flourished on its bankssalmon-fishing, as a trade, above Dumbarton Castle, is extinct. The rights of salmon-fishing in the river were carefully protected in the earlier Acts of Parliament; and fishing stations were numerous, and of much value-one station, with its hut, being within the precincts of the harbour-but the 'whir' of the paddle, the 'churn' of the screw, and, above all, the sewage from the vast population in the area which the river drains, together with the deleterious liquid refuse from numerous manufactories of all kinds, have driven away that much-prized fish.

Even at the present time the Clyde Trustees pay upwards of £200 annually to the burgh of Renfrew for damage to their salmonfishings. The fishing rights of this royal burgh, from which His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales takes his title of Baron Renfrew, were very extensive, extending on the south side of the

river from Marlin Ford, 4 miles below Glasgow Bridge, to the Cloch Stane, about 6 miles below Greenock, and 27 miles below Glasgow.

DOCKS, QUAYAGE, &c.

Although docks were, at the instance of the Magistrates, reported on and recommended by Telford in 1806, and in 1819; by Rennie in 1806, and in 1807; by Clark in 1824; by Hartley in 1834; by Logan in 1835; by Walker in 1836, in 1849, in 1853, and in 1855; by Bremner in 1849; and by Ure in 1854, and in 1855; and although Acts of Parliament were obtained for their construction in 1840, and in 1846, the sides of the river afforded, until a recent date, sufficient scope for quay extension; and it was not until 1867, that the only dock yet constructed at Glasgow was opened. It is a tidal dock, having 5 acres of water space, and is surrounded with a timber wharf giving 830 lineal yards of quayage.

The unoccupied ground for quayage along the banks of the river, within the limits of the harbour of Glasgow, being now well nigh exhausted, the Trustees, in 1870, obtained an Act of Parliament to construct docks at Stobcross on a much larger scale than those authorised in 1846, and the work has been begun. These docks will have a water area of nearly 30 acres, upwards of 30 acres of quayage, 3,100 lineal yards of quays, and they will accommodate 1,000,000 tons of shipping per annum; the estimated cost, including land, is £1,163,000.

There is as yet no public graving dock on the river Clyde above Port Glasgow, but the Clyde Trustees are constructing one at Glasgow for which they obtained an Act in 1868. It will be 560 ft. in length within caisson, 72 ft. in width of entrance, and it will have 22 ft. depth of water at ordinary spring tides.

In 1856, Messrs. Tod and McGregor, engineers and ship-builders, had the enterprise to construct a graving dock—in connection with their extensive works-500 ft. in length, with an entrance 56 ft. wide. At Dumbarton, there is another private dock 300 ft. long, with an entrance 41 ft. wide. A graving dock has existed at Port Glasgow since 1762, and it is now being lengthened to 310 ft. It was constructed from the designs of James Watt. Greenock possesses five graving docks, Ardrossan has one graving dock, and at Troon there are two graving docks. Details regarding these various graving docks are given in the Appendix.'

1 Vide Appendix, II., p. 155.

In the Appendix will also be found a table, showing the progressive lengths of quays, areas of harbour, depths of water in harbour, maximum draft of vessels, total registered tonnage, registered tonnage worked per lineal yard of quay wall, registered tonnage worked per acre of water space, total tonnage of goods, tonnage worked per lineal yard of quay wall, total revenue, total receipts per lineal yard of quay wall, customs' revenue collected at Glasgow, and population of the city.1

The length of the quayage in the harbour of Glasgow at the present time is 5,604 lineal yards; 2,782 lineal yards are on the north side, and 2,822 lineal yards on the south side, of the river; 400 yards on each side of the river are also under contract, and nearly ready for use. The area of the existing quayage, including quays under construction, is 193,000 square yards, or about 40 acres, of which 68,800 square yards, or nearly 14 acres, are covered with sheds. The water space of that portion of the river surrounded by quays or wharves is about 70 acres.

There is one 60-ton crane, one 40-ton crane, one 30-ton crane, and numerous smaller steam and other cranes. The gross revenue from cranes last year was £4,752, from weighing-machines, £1,319, and for the use of gangway planks, £1,309.

The Clyde Trustees have six ferries across the river within the precincts of the harbour of Glasgow; one across the mouth of the river Kelvin, at Govan, and one at Whiteinch, about a mile below the western boundary of the harbour of Glasgow. The gross revenue from the eight ferries was, in 1872, upwards of £10,000. Four of the six ferries in the harbour of Glasgow are wrought by steam, and two by row-boats; five are for passengers only, and the steam ferry at Govan is for carriages, carts, horses, and passengers, and is wrought by a chain extended across the river. The ferry across the mouth of the river Kelvin, and the ferry at Whiteinch, are rowboat ferries. Exclusive of Clyde Trust officials, customs officials, police constables, pilots, and others who are carried free, 7,604,942 passengers crossed the various ferries during the year 1872, or at the rate of 20,835 per day.

The principal passenger ferry is Clyde Street Ferry. It is open day and night; from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. the service is by steamboat, and from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. by row-boat. The steam-boat, which is licensed by the Board of Trade to carry 60 passengers, is worked in two shifts by a crew of three men in each shift--an

1 Vide Appendix, III, p. 156.