Southport Pier

Original Pier:

• Length, 3600ft.;
• Length across head, 100ft. :
• Breadth of head, 30ft.;
• Breadth of body. 16ft. ;
• Distance from end of head to line of low-water springs, 500ft.:
• Total cost, £9,000;
• Price per foot super, 3s. 7d;
• Price per foot forward, £2 10s.
• This pier had only 7in. columns, was constructed entirely on dry ground, and only one small entrance house 9ft. square, and two flights of steps at pier head.
• Contractors price for cast iron fixed complete was £8; wrought iron, £14; and the contractor's loss was £2000.

See also 1860 account below.

Pier present in 1875: Outer portion of structure.

• Length, 805ft.;
• Greatest breadth of head 190ft.;
• Lesser breadth of head, 40ft.;
• Total length to head, 135ft.;
• Length of body, 640ft.;
• Breadth of body, 29ft.;
• Length across enlargement, 100ft.;
• Breadth across enlargement, 30ft.;
• Greatest depth of water at low spring tides, 13ft.;
• Total cost, £16,OOO;
• Price per foot super, 11s. l 1/2d;
• Price per foot forward, £19 17s. 6 1/2d·
• The body of this pier is supported upon Dixon's cast iron driven piles;
• The head is of timber construction piles, 2in. by 12in.
• The enlargement shown at the commencement of this pier formed the head of the original pier.
• The Old body being enlarged to 29ft. in breadth.
• Total cost of pier, not including tramway, £34,642;
• Price per foot super, 5s. 8 3/4d.;
• Price per foot forward, £7 18s. 4 3/4d.

An 1860 Account

'The most extensive improvement Southport, and one which must prove of great advantage to the town in financial point of view, is the construction of a large and substantial, but at the same time light and elegant, pier. The want of something of this kind has long been felt, but we believe the idea of developing the work on anything like a useful and adequate scale, originated with Mr. John Galloway, of the firm of W. and J. Galloway, of the Knott Mill Iron Works, Manchester. When the subject was first laid before the inhabitants, differences of opinion arose as to the character of the structure. Some were in favour of a wooden erection, on the score of economy, but gradually it came to be thought that a pier somewhat resembling the iron railway viaduct over the Ulverstone sands, erected by Mesars Galloway, would in the end be most reliable. A company was formed, under the Limited Liability Act, with a capital of £10,000. Designs were prepared by Mr. J. Brunlees, engineer, London, who designed the Morecambe Bay viaduct and the erection was entrusted to Messrs. Galloway. To avoid the transport from the works in Manchester of such a large quantity of iron as would be requisite for the girders, it was determined to have the iron sent direct to Southport from Staffordshire, and a long shed was erected in Neville-street, near the beach, in order to make the girders on the spot. A punching machine and other tools, with a steam-engine, were fitted up for the purpose. The first pile for the pier was sunk into the sand in the middle of last August, but works have been much delayed by the wet and stormy weather. After some length of the pier had been erected, doubts began to be entertained whether the girders were of sufficient strength. As this was a matter upon which no risks must be run, Dr. Fairbairn was requested to make an examination, and it was decided, on his recommendation, that as large crowds persons would gather upon the pier, the girders should be stronger. The engineer (Mr. Brunlees) accordingly altered his plans, and the light girders have been substituted by others which have ample margin for any strain to which the structure can subjected. This, although involving some cost, was the most prudent course to adopt.
The total length of the pier is 1,200 yeards, or nearly three-quarters of mile. It commences at the level of the promenade, just on the south side of Neville-street, and runs out directly towards the sea. Its height above the sands varies from about 13 feet at the promenade end, to 22 feet the sea end, reckoning the under side the girders, but three feet additional to the flooring. The pier itself is constructed on a level from end to end. Its width is 15 feet, but is provided at the further end with large platform, for promenade. This portion is placed in a transverse direction, parallel with the coast, and is 120 feet long, by upwards of 20 feet wide. It is furnished with two sets of stairs, by means of which the promenaders may, at low water, descend upon the sand whence they can gain access to the boats that lie in the channel a little beyond the extremity of the pier. In the whole length there are 72 bays, each 50 feet span, supported by a triple row of 72 iron pillars ; with 20 under the platform, making a total of 236, but in three places the pier is stiffened by doubling the number of columns (six instead of three), and at those points there are projections on the side, with seats for visitors. The 50 feet of flooring between each triplet of columns is supported by wrought iron lattice girders, three feet deep, the top and bottom flanges of which are formed of double angle iron, 3 inches by 3 1/2 inches and 1/2 inch thick. The centre girder in each bay is also strengthened by flanges on the top and bottom. The lattice bars are made of 2 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch iron, and the whole are firmly stayed by wrought iron cross ties. The entire series are bolted together on the pillars, so as to form one continuous length of girder, but with provision intended to allow for expansion and contraction, which in an iron structure of this extent, even with the moderate variation of temperature in our climate, is absolutely necessary. In order to give additional firmness to the fabric the two outside rows of columns are more apart at the base than at the top, the inclination being an inch to the foot; and the same object is further subserved by diagonal tie-rods from the top of one outside pillar to the bottom of the opposite one, each pair of rods being fixed to the central pillar at their point of intersection.
The whole of the piles are seven inches diameter, made from toughened cast iron, five-eighths of an inch thick metal, and they are in pieces of varied length, to suit the different elevation or depression of the sands. The pile proper — that portion of the pillar which has to be sunk into the sand — has a widened socket the upper end, into which the column will fit easily ; and to the bottom of the pile is cast a disc, 1 foot 6 inches in diameter, constituting its foundation for supporting the weight above. But how are piles with a broad surface instead of a sharp point to be got their intended places? Sand is a very curious material to deal with. It is like not a few specimens of frail humanity - may be led, but cannot be driven; and Messrs. Galloway have discovered the means of humouring it in such a way as to coax the piles down to any necessary depth by their own weight. The method is both novel and interesting, and was first adopted by Messrs. Galloway when erecting the railway viaduct over the sands at Morecambe Bay. Down the middle of each pile a piece of 2 inch gas tubing is fixed, which passes through a hole of that size in the disc, below which it projects about four inches. The pile is then raised on the end of a travelling crane, and a stream of water forced through the small pipe. At Morecambe Bay a force pump had to be used; but as there are water-works at Southport, with a pressure equal to about 50 lbs. to the square inch, which was amply sufficient for the purpose required, they availed themselves of this power, simply running a pipe along the pier as they advanced. The water thus forced down the tube issues out under the disc. There are small flanges or scrapers cast into the disc's under surface, and by giving the pile a semi-rotary motion, with levers, the sand is loosened. The gushing water sluices the sand sway, and the pile gradually descends. Whan low enough, the tap is turned off; and the operation ceases. In a few minutes the sand closes so firmly round the foot of the pile that it will bear a dead weight of 10 tons placed on the upper end, without subsiding. No amount of battering with a ram could accomplish this; but by the method employed, a dozen piles have been sunk in a day, and in one favourable week 450 feet of the pier was erected. The depth to which the piles are sunk varies. At the shore end they descend seven eight feet into the sand, but deepen towards the other extremity, where they penetrate 13 feet. When the pillars are placed in the sockets of the piles, and the girders adjusted, iron wedges are driven into the sockets, thus firmly uniting the piles with the pillars.
The flooring is of 7 inch planks, 3 inches thick, placed about an inch apart, so to prevent water lodging upon it. The sides are protected by iron hand-railing, 3 feet 6 inches high, with a wood coping. The height the pier was a matter duly considered, and it is such that the lower side of the girders will be four feet above the level of the high tide which occurred in December, 1852, and about eleven above ordinary high-water level. The cost of the erection has been between £9,000 and £10,000; and from the travelling facilities afforded by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company, and the additional attraction which this pier will prove to the town, there appears to no reason for doubting a profitable return upon the outlay, especially under liberal management. ......'

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