Volume Two - The Era of Optimism, Investment & Development - Growth of coal exports . . .

They are steel structures, with four upright columns standing on two base girders resting on the quay wall, and there is a top deck, eight diagonal decks and two intermediate decks.

As in the case with the basin tips just described, each of these newer tips is provided on the top with an 8-ton and a 4-ton crane, and the point of the shute, which is suspended on wire ropes, is raised by two hydraulic engines placed on the top deck. The wagons are brought to the fixed tips on a high-level road, and with a dock water-depth of 32 feet they can be tipped at a height of 57 feet above the water level. The speed of the cradle is 180 feet per minute on the up and down stroke.

The two movable tips, which are of identical design, are carried on eight wheels 3 feet in diameter, and can be moved 200 feet along the quay. The arrangement for bringing the wagons to these tips is similar to that adopted for the basin tips."

"ANTI-BREAKAGE COAL BOXES: The anti-breakage coal-box in use at the Penarth Docks is one patented by Mr. Samuel Thomas, and has a holding capacity up to 2 1/2 tons. Its mode of operation is that a trip-wire is attached to one side of the box and to the jib of the crane. When the box is lowered into the hold of the ship and the wire becomes taut, the box opens and allows the coal to drop out. As the box is raised and the wire becomes slack, the box closes automatically, and remains closed when the coal is tipped into it.

The high-pressure valves used in the regulation of the hydraulic pressure in working the tips at the Penarth Docks were invented by Mr. T. Hurry Riches and Mr. H. F. Golding, and the success which attended their adoption led to the installation of operating valves of the same design on the tips erected by Messrs. Tannett, Walker & Co.

The pumping plant for the coal-tipping appliances consists of four pairs of compound surface-condensing engines, built by Messrs. Tannett, Walker & Co. Steam at 130 Ibs. pressure is provided by six Lancashire boilers, and the engines are capable of delivering 1,950 gallons of water per minute at a pressure of 750 Ibs. per square inch."