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The construction of the Gladstone system was sanctioned in 1909 though
there had been fears expressed that it would be too large for the requirements
of the port. Comprising an entrance dock and two branch docks with 58
acres of water space, three miles of quays, single, double and even
triple floor transit sheds, Gladstone brought the port into the 20th
century. It had the largest entrance dock on the river, 1070 feet long,
130 feet wide, and any ship of the time or even in the planning stage
could enter. The Gladstone graving dock, completed in 1913 as the first
part of the system, was only slightly smaller than the lock, and was
to prove invaluable during both world wars. The dock was not named after
Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone, but after his second cousin
Robert Gladstone, a merchant from Liverpool.
(left) The
Gladstone system in 1979. A floating crane is berthed at the east end of
Branch No.2. In the distance is Branch No.3, formerly the Gladstone
Graving Dock, built in 1913. Branch No.1 is shown in the view above left.
(information compiled by James Holmes)