The Great Western Dry Dock
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Object number1996.004
TitleThe Great Western Dry Dock
DescriptionDry dock situated within the Great Western Dockyard. Large stone structure built in 1838/39 in Bristol for the construction of the steamship ss Great Britain. The dock may have been extended or undergone some structural changes since the 19th century and the current caisson was added in the late 1920s.
There are some wooden timbers in the floor of the dry dock which have been added in the 1840s. Supposedly Brunel recommended putting timbers down in the cobbled floor of the dry dock as the floor had started to buckle under the weight of the ever increasing size of the ss Great Britain.
For more details on the history of the dock see 'Object history' tab.
See 'digital references' in 'Numbers/ Relationships' tab for report on test drilling.
Production date 1837 - 1839
Object namedry dock
Object categorystructure
Techniquebuilt