British Imperialism and its Legacies: Models of Harbour and Extraction Dredgers

Comments

Glasgow Museums has 18 models of dredgers used in harbour and canal construction and maintenance and mineral extraction within the British Empire, in the wider ship model collection. Efficient movement of goods, emigrants and troops by sea around the Empire, and successful exploitation of natural resources, required well-maintained harbours, roads, railways and inland waterways.

Clyde-based shipbuilders benefitted from the British Empire’s need for silt, sand, gravel and rock-breaking dredgers. The spoil from dredging could be dumped, used for land reclamation, or was the primary purpose of dredging in the first place, if deposits of mineral ore or gold had been identified.

Dredgers built on the Clyde, such as Melbourne were used to develop and maintain harbours from India and Bengal (Bangladesh) to South Africa and Australia. Major civil engineering projects in which Clyde-built dredgers were involved included the Suez Canal in Egypt (where the in-named long shoot dredger was used) and the Sewri reclamation scheme in Bombay (Mumbai), which created a new dock and harbour area.

Mineral dredging was undertaken in colonised areas where deposits of gold, tin or other valuable ores were found. Sometimes these deposits were in river or coastal areas, but frequently were found far inland and were more closely allied to excavation.

Broader term

British Imperialism and its Legacies: Exploitation of nature