A: Containers being unloaded, 1975.
B: Straddle carrier placing container on a lorry, 1975.
The Closure of the Docks
Changes in cargo-handling
Although the docks had become increasingly mechanised, it was still the case twenty years after the war that many goods were handled in much the same way as they had been a century earlier.
Cargoes would be unloaded into lighters or on to the quayside where they would be moved by men to sheds ready for distribution. This was slow, inefficient and expensive.
By the 1960s new methods of handling cargoes were forcing the docks to change.
Containerisation
A container is a large metal box 2.4 metres high, 2.4 metres wide and up to 12 metres long. It can be stuffed with cargo like putting clothes into a suitcase. It revolutionised dockwork.
There is no need for sheds and warehouses since the container provides its own protection. All that is needed is a great deal of space to stack the containers ready for collection.
Containers are mowed entirely by mechanical means from ship to shore and, by straddle carriers, to container parks or on to vehicles. They can then be taken by road or rail to their destination or to special depots outside the docks to be unpacked.
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A: Containers being unloaded, 1975.
B: Straddle carrier placing container on a lorry, 1975.
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Introduction |
Glossary |
The Origins |
Building the Docks |
In Operations |
On the Waterfront |
The Dockers|
The Strikes of 1889 |
In the 20c |
In the WW2 |
The Closure |
Contact
Nigel Sagar
Design and Technology
London Borough of Barking
and Dagenham
Email: nigel.sagar@lbbd.gov.uk
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