Port of Immingham
The Port of Immingham, also known as Immingham Dock, is a major port on the east coast of England, located on the south bank of the Humber Estuary in the town of Immingham, Lincolnshire. In 2019, the Port of Grimsby & Immingham was the largest port in the United Kingdom by tonnage with 54.1 million tonnes of cargo passing through that year.
The port was established by the Humber Commercial Railway and Dock Company in association with the Great Central Railway; the dock company incorporated and the works permitted by the Humber Commercial Railway and Dock Act 1901. Construction of the dock started in 1906 and was completed by 1912. The original main purpose of the dock was export of coal.
In the second half of the 20th century the port was considerably expanded beyond its locked dock, and east and west jetties; with the addition of several deep water jetties for bulk cargos: this included the Immingham Oil Terminal for oil importation to the new Continental Oil and Lindsay Oil refineries; the Immingham Bulk Terminal built as a joint scheme by the National Coal Board and British Steel Corporation for coal export and iron ore import; the Immingham Gas Jetty for LPG import; and the Humber International Terminal for bulk cargos. Roll-on/Roll-off terminals were first operated in 1966, and expanded within the dock in the 1990s, and outside the dock at the Immingham Outer Harbour. There are freight ferries to several European cities.
History
Background
From the mid 19th century onwards the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway developed the Port of Grimsby into a modern outlet for its rail system onto the east coast of England.In 1874 a report was commissioned from Charles Liddell on alternatives to expansion at Grimsby – it recommended a new dock west of Grimsby at South Killingholme, preferable due to low land costs and proximity to the Humber Estuary's navigable channel. Liddel's scheme was not proceeded with at that time.
In 1900 the Humber Commercial Railway and Dock Company was formed with the aim of expanding the Grimsby Docks system – it sought powers from Parliament to build a new dock west adjacent of the Royal Dock, and north of Alexandra Dock, on the banks of the Humber; this development was passed as the '. The Great Central Railway, owner of the Grimsby Docks was willing to back the scheme, but sought the advice of Sir John Wolfe Barry, who reported that the approach channel to the dock would have required extensive dredging; he later reported in favour of a scheme near Immingham, similar in location to that earlier proposed by Liddel. The GCR acquired land near their preferred dock, and informed the promoters of the scheme it was to withdraw its support, unless the scheme was changed to one better positioned on the Humber, near Stallingborough, nearer to a deep water channel;
Plans were submitted to Parliament in 1902 for a dock near Immingham, but the bill was withdrawn due to conditions requiring the GCR to dredge the Humber shipping channels to undo any change thought to have been caused by the dock works. Under pressure from interested parties the Board of Trade commissioned an inspection of the channels, which reported that no serious negative change would be expected from the new dock works. A bill was re-submitted in 1903. Features of the scheme were: a new dock in the parish of Immingham with lock and entrance channel, with jetties on the east and west side; a railway with a junction north of the Great Central Railway's line at Ulceby station to the dock; and rights to dredge, divert streams, to raise funds, to make working arrangements with the Great Central Railway; and rights of compulsory purchase. The scheme was passed as the '. The 1904 act was modified by subsequent acts, the ', the Great Central Railway Act 1909, and the ', which extended the time for construction, allowed raising additional capital, and made minor changes to the original plans. The primary purpose of the dock was export of coal from Derbyshire and Yorkshire coalfields.
Construction and opening, 1906–1912
The dock was designed by the firm of Sir John Wolfe Barry and partners, and contracted to Price, Wills and Reeves, constructed on a site of over, with a river frontage of about. Work was formally initiated on the dock by Lady Henderson, wife of the Great Central chairman Alexander Henderson in July 1906.Three new short railway lines were sanctioned and constructed to connect to the dock from the west, east and south: these were the Humber Commercial Railway with a connection away at Ulceby, on the former Great Grimsby and Sheffield Junction Railway ; the Barton and Immingham Light Railway ran from a junction near Goxhill connecting to the Humber Commercial line at a junction on the west side of the dock estate; and the Grimsby District Light Railway to Grimsby connecting via a junction onto the Humber Commercial line, on the east side of the dock estate. The light railway to Grimsby was connected to the Great Coates branch by 1906; the line was used during the construction of the dock by the contractors, and a passenger service was begun in 1910.
Initial work on the dock included diversion of drains, and dredging of the entrance channel to the Humber. Approximately of excavated material from the dock was used in the construction for levelling. The dock walls were made of concrete, with granite coping; the lock pit was constructed with concrete side walls and a shallow inverted arch of brickwork at the invert. Installation of the lock gates and their machinery was by Head Wrightson.
As built the dock consisted of a main basin square, with two arms to the north-west and south-west of approximately long by wide; a total enclosed area of. The design incorporated space for two further arms on the east side, mirroring the western arms. The entrance lock was split by lock gates into sections of ; the lock had of water depth at ordinary spring tides. At the entrance where two jetties extending into the river, forming a guiding shape for the lock entrance – the eastern jetty was intended to be used for passenger services, whilst the western jetty found initial use as a coal loading point.
The first dry dock was constructed adjacent parallel west of the entrance lock long by wide, operated by Humber Commercial Railway and Dock Co. subsidiary the Humber Graving Dock & Engineering Co. East of the entrance lock was constructed the Dock Offices, built in an Arts and Crafts influenced style, with a Mansard roof encompassing dormer windows.
The south quay of the dock was entirely equipped for coal export, with seven coal hoists, with capacity of 400 tons per hour. Extensive sidings were built mainly to the south of the dock, with inbound storage available for 8,000 coal wagons, and outbound storage for 3,500 wagons. The north-western arm was initially built as a timber pond, with adjacent rail sidings. Coal hoists were hydraulically powered, supplied by gravity sidings carried across sidings by ferro-concrete bridges built by the Yorkshire Hennebique Contracting Company. Six of the hoists were supplied by W.G. Armstrong Whitworth and Company; the seventh, a movable hoist was supplied by Tannet, Walker and Company. The north quay of the south-western arm was used for pig iron handling, and was equipped with ten movable cranes from Armstrong Whitworth of lifting capacity of 5 or 3 tons, and a fixed crane with lifting capacity of up to 50 tons. Further cranes from Cowans, Sheldon & Company were supplied for the transit sheds.
Much of the dock equipment was power via hydraulic power, whilst electrical power transmission was used for lighting, railway signalling, pumping equipment for the graving dock, and other purposes, including conveyor motors in the grain silo. For both purposes a power station, in ground plan was erected on the dock estate west of the main lock entrance. Steam was supplied by eight long by wide Lancashire boilers at – both hydraulic pumping and electrical generator plant was supplied by the same boilers, connected on a ring steam main. Hydraulic power was supplied via four pairs of horizontal condensing steam engines, with cylinder diameters of with stroke, each capable of pumping per minute at to two stroke accumulators. Most of the hydraulic machinery was supplied by W.G. Armstrong Whitworth and Company. Electrical power was provided via Curtis type steam turbines-alternators of ,, and ; supplying 6,000 V which was stepped down to 320 V to drive rotary converters; distribution of power was via a 3-phase 6,600 V supply to substations on the dock estate, containing rotary converters supplying 460 V DC. The electrical network included a substation halfway between Grimsby and Immingham supplying the Grimsby District Light Railway with 530 V DC; as well as a 1,200 kW 460 V supply via overhead electrical cable to the Grimsby Docks. Most of the electrical equipment was supplied by British Thomson-Houston.
The Humber Commercial Railway carried its first goods in July 1910. The Barton and Immingham Light Railway opened May 1911. A distant related work was the Doncaster Avoiding Line sanctioned 1903, and contracted in 1908 – the line allowed trains from west of Doncaster to avoid congestion at Doncaster station. An electrified tram line, the Grimsby and Immingham Electric Railway, parallel to the Grimsby District Light Railway was begun 1909 and opened 1912. On the dock estate a sixty locomotive capacity engine house was constructed.
Due to high demand for coal shipment facilities in the aftermath of a coal strike, the dock was provisionally opened on 15 May 1912. The dock was official opened on 22 July 1912 by the King George V and Queen Mary; at the ceremony permission was given to name the new dock "The King's Dock", a moniker which did not persist; Sam Fay, general manager of the GCR was unexpectedly knighted by the King during the proceedings.
Shortly after opening a large reinforced concrete grain silo was completed, capable of holding 20,000 tons of grain. The silo was built by Stuart's Granolithic Company, and grain handling equipment supplied by Henry Simon.