“THOS. TELFORD. ROBT. STEVENSON. ALEXANDER NIMMO.
“FURTHER REPORT respecting the proposed two new Ports, etc., on the Rivers Dee and Mersey, adjacent to Liverpool.
“In the foregoing report we have shown the form and expense of this establishment when completed upon an extensive and perfect plan. At the commencement, however, of so great an undertaking it is not to be expected that all the conveniences we have proposed can be immediately required; a considerable portion may therefore be deferred until the wants and increasing demands of trade shall show them to be necessary. In the meantime the essential parts of the improvement may be effected, with a smaller expenditure of capital, so as to obtain all that safety and facility of access which we have shown to be leading features of this plan.
“We have proposed to make the canal from Wallasey to Helbre wide enough for three great ships, so as to admit of part of it being used as a floating harbour, still leaving room for navigation; but for navigation alone it will be quite enough to adopt the dimensions of the Caledonian Canal, viz., 120 feet at surface, and if the trade should increase so as to require it, instead of widening it, a parallel canal may hereafter be made, with a bank and two towing-paths between, leaving the whole of the opposite banks applicable to berthage and commercial establishments. The same locks will serve at either end, and the transporting of ships be greatly facilitated; and the construction of this canal, or repair of the other, may be effected without any interruption to the navigation by such an arrangement. Again, the double locks at the Wallasey end of the canal, intended for the greater dispatch of business, may very well be deferred for the present, and the entrance basin made of smaller dimensions. The ship dock there may at first be made as a part of the canal, and quayed on one side only, and afterwards widened and completed when wanted. The half tide dock may be dispensed with by enlarging the barge tide dock so as to serve also for ships, and the quay walling of the pool and of the first mile of the canal may also be deferred. The warehouses at Wallasey dock may be dispensed with at first, or left to individual capital; but it will be highly proper to secure a sufficient quantity of land to enable all these improvements to be undertaken at some future period. We do not deem it advisable to give up the enlargement and deepening of the entrance of Wallasey Pool, as on that depends much of the utility of the plan in giving access to vessels at low tides; and for a similar reason we would preserve all the works proposed for the harbour at Helbre Island. Upon this modified plan the expense, as below, will be £734,163.