Victoria Pier
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The 1883 Ordnance Gazeteer of Scotland remarked on the early plans for the Pier: The old harbour consisted merely of a quay called the Victoria Wharf, running eastward for 110 feet with a spur to the N at the seaward end. The depth at the point was, however, only 8 feet at high water, so that the steamers of the North of Scotland and Orkney and Shetland Steam Navigation Company could not got alongside, and goods and passengers had to be landed in boats. An act of parliament for the improvement of the pier was obtained in 1877-78, but, the Treasury having refused a loan to carry out the works, nothing was done till 1883, when a fund of £15,000 having been raised partly by loan and partly by subscription, the harbour trustees contracted for new works to cost £12,700, and the foundation-stone was laid on 2 Aug. with full masonic honours - the first occasion of the sort in Shetland. The new pier, formed of concrete, is to run out 220 feet from the Victoria Wharf, with a width of 55 and a depth of 18 feet at high water at the sea end, and 14 feet at its junction with the present quay, the depths at low water being 4 feet less. Twenty thousand cubic yards of silt are to be removed from the harbour bottom, and an esplanade with a minimum width of 25 feet is to be formed for 120 yards S of Victoria Wharf and 420 to the N of it. At the S end of this a wharf 50 feet long is to be formed for boats and small vessels, and another jetty is to be built to protect the boat harbour. The engineer is Mr Wm. Dyce Kay, and the works are to be carried out in the manner that was employed with such success at Aberdeen harbour works. The present harbour revenue is about £400, but when the improvements are completed it is expected to rise to £1200. Harbour affairs are managed by a board of 12 trustees. [1]
Construction
Mr. Dyce Cay used a drop-bottom skip suspended from a crane (top left photo on this page) to place 9 ton bags of concrete as the foundation of the pier. These pillows were made by filling jute cloth casings inside the skip. The bags were then sewn shut, holding the mass of cement together as it was dropped. The wet cement adopted the shape of the uneven harbour bottom beneath it before it dried.[2]
Victoria Pier of today
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References
- ↑ Francis Hindes Groome, editor, Ordnance Gazeteer of Scotland, Thomas C. Jack, Edinburgh, 1883.
- ↑ Henley's Encyclopedia of Practical Engineering and Allied Trades, Vol 1, Norman Henley Publishing Company, New York, 1906.
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