Building Name

Entrance gateway to Manchester Docks Trafford Road Salford

Date
1925
Street
Trafford Road
District/Town
Ordsall, Manchester
County/Country
GMCA, England
Work
New Build
Listed
Grade II

 

A further work in ferro-concrete which is to be done on an adjoining plot, is the building of the new dock gates. These also will be simple in manner and impressive rather in the solidity and simplicity of their design than in any very familiar architectural manner. Two square towers, in elevation like truncated cones, will be joined by a flattened arch with flat top. The 60 feet (wide) gateway below will hold four iron gates, barred above and sheeted in steel below, which will roll into alcoves within the thickness of the towers. The gateway will be 18 feet from the ground to the springing of the arch. The building of this gateway should be completed within the first quarter of next year. [Manchester Guardian 23 December 1926 page 9]

 

The dock gates too, are a very interesting piece of steel and concrete construction. Only in this material could so long a span have been obtained with any appearance of solidity. This long lintel and the piers hold the sliding doors, which shut back one behind the other into the piers. By this means the architect has been able to give an unimpeded opening to a broad roadway when the gates are pushed back, and yet close it entirely when desired. It is a clever piece of construction. One only wishes it had been a little farther away from the building, as its great scale takes a little from the dignity of the latter. [Manchester Guardian 16 August 1928]

Reference        Manchester Guardian 23 December 1926 page 9
Reference        C H Reilly: Manchester Guardian 16 August 1928 page 11 with illustration