Plymouth Breakwater is a 1,560 metres (1,710 yd) yard stone breakwater protecting Plymouth Sound and the anchorages therein. It is 13 metres (43 ft) wide at the top and the base is 65 metres (210 ft). It lies in about 10 metres (33 ft) of water. Around 4 million tons of rock were used in its construction in 1812 at the then-colossal cost of £1.5 million (equivalent to £72.2 million today).
In 1806, as the Napoleonic Wars impended, Lord St. Vincen...
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Plymouth Breakwater is a 1,560 metres (1,710 yd) yard stone breakwater protecting Plymouth Sound and the anchorages therein. It is 13 metres (43 ft) wide at the top and the base is 65 metres (210 ft). It lies in about 10 metres (33 ft) of water. Around 4 million tons of rock were used in its construction in 1812 at the then-colossal cost of £1.5 million (equivalent to £72.2 million today).
In 1806, as the Napoleonic Wars impended, Lord St. Vincent commissioned John Rennie and Joseph Whidbey to plan a means of making Plymouth Bay a safe anchorage for the Channel Fleet. In 1811 came the order to begin construction; Whidbey was appointed Acting Superintending Engineer. This task required great engineering, organizational and political skills, as the many strictly technical challenges were complicated by the significant resources devoted to the project, from which various parties evidenced a desire for advantage. Nearly 4,000,000 (four million) tons of stone were quarried and transported,...
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