Messrs. L. Murray and W. C. Mylne recommended the dockisation of the River Wear in 1846, but this was not carried out.
The Czar of Russia has recently approved a great dockisation project, consisting of a dam with locks and sluices across the Straits of Kertch, in the Black Sea, to raise the level of the Sea of Azov for the purpose of facilitating navigation to the port of Taganrog and the River Don. The Sea of Azov will then become a fresh-water lake, with an increased depth of water (14½ ft.) and an area of 10,000 square miles. The dam will be nine miles long, and is estimated to cost £5,000,000.
There is, however, no actual instance of the dockisation of a tidal river from which any data can be obtained.
Fig. 1. The Upper Thames.
Shewing Existing Dams and Locks Between London and Oxford
The Thames, moreover, differs entirely from any of the foregoing rivers, and must be considered on its own merits. The map ([Fig. 1]) shows that it is already dammed and provided with locks at thirty-four places between London and Oxford, the object of these dams being the maintenance of a uniform level of water for navigation and boating purposes, and to prevent the river running dry in the dry season and exposing the muddy foreshores.
But from Teddington Weir to its estuary the Thames is tidal, and there is no obstruction to the tidal flow except the bridges and the half-tide weir at Richmond, which merely holds up sufficient water to cover the foreshores for the advantage of the riparian owners and of boating.