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The Barry Docks are a port facility in the town of Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, a few miles southwest of Cardiff on the north shore of the Bristol Channel. They were opened in 1889 by David Davies and John Cory as an alternative to the congested and expensive Cardiff Docks to ship coal carried by rail from the South Wales Coalfield. The principal engineer was John Wolfe Barry, assisted by Thomas Forster Brown and Henry Marc Brunel, son of the famous engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The docks occupy the former sound between Barry Island and the mainland. The contractors built dams to connect each end of the island to the mainland, drained or pumped the water from the site and excavated it. They used the material to level the area round the docks and for the core of breakwaters to protect the entrance. The works included a basin with gates at each end which served as a lock between the sea entrance and the docks, the dock walls and quays, coal loading equipment and railways to deliver coal from the mines to the docks. A second dock and second entrance lock were added in 1898. Barry Dock Offices was built in 1897-1900 by the architect Arthur E. Bell. In 1909, between 8,000 women and 10,000 men were employed in the docks, and by 1913, the docks were the busiest coal port in the world, exporting at peak. Coal exports declined after World War I (1914–18). Strikes and the Great Depression of the 1930s caused further problems. The docks proved useful during World War II (1939–45). They were nationalised soon after the war ended. The Geest company used the docks to import West Indian bananas from 1959 until the 1980s. From 1957, many obsolete railway wagons were scrapped and cut up at the former West Pond site between Barry and Barry Island but many former Great Western steam locomotives were withdrawn from service and stored on sidings beside West Pond sidings area and more than 200 of them were recovered by enthusiasts for conservation or restoration. Parts of the docks have become industrial estates such as the Atlantic Trading Estate, and the area around the first dock, now called The Waterfront, has been redeveloped for residential and commercial use. The second dock is still active and generally handles chemicals and timber. ==Location== Barry in 1871 was a village on the north shore of the Bristol Channel a few miles west of Cardiff with a population of about 100, few of whom had been born there. Most of the people in Barry and the nearby villages of Cadoxton and Merthyr Dyfan earned a living as farmers, craftsmen or tradesmen. Barry Island, just offshore, was popular with day trippers. They could reach it over stepping stones at low tide or by boat at other times. An estimated 12,000 people visited the island in 1876. Barry Sound lay between the island and the mainland, sheltered from storms by the island and by Friar's point. It had been a port in Medieval times. The island was about long and wide, with a height of above mean sea level. The mainland slopes up to the north, so the sound was well sheltered from the wind. No rivers or streams ran into the sound. The Bristol Channel is known for the range of its tides. During normal spring tides there is a range in water level of , and during normal neap tides a range of . At low water during spring tides there is a depth of at a distance of from the site of the dock entrance. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Barry Docks」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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