[ZEEBRUGGE.]
At Zeebrugge-Plage (Beach), near the Pilots' House, turn to the left alongside the railway, to the mole which bounds the Port of Zeebrugge on the west (photo below, and sketch-map on page [77]).
The port is situated about ten kilometers from Bruges, with which it is connected by a ship canal running straight across the littoral plain.
This canal, which is about 230 feet wide and 26 feet deep, is accessible to large ships. It cost forty-two million francs to construct. Communication with the roadstead is obtained by means of an inner-harbour which is provided with locks and sluice-gates.
Entrance to the Mole at Zeebrugge (See sketch, p. [77].)
At the entrance to mole: 6in. guns on concrete platforms. To the right, at the end of the Mole: German Destroyer sunk by the British during the blockading operations (photo, p. [78].)
The port is protected by a semi-circular jetty or mole which stretches out into the sea for a distance of about two kilometres; an elevated side-walk leads to the end of the jetty. The latter, built of blocks of concrete each weighing three thousand tons, is divided into four parts: the first, which spans the beach, is solid; the second is of open-work, to prevent the port becoming choked with sand; the third comprises the wharves proper, and forms the terminus of a special railway siding; it is solid and has an elevated walk running along the left hand side; the fourth, or Lighthouse Jetty, is also solid and acts as a break-water. This immense undertaking, begun in 1893, was completed ten years later, and the new port, on which great hopes were set, was solemnly opened, amid popular rejoicings, by King Leopold.
