PORT ECONOMICS 
obviously not very durable); and slicework, in which 
moderately-sized concrete blocks are inclined at an angle 
to the horizontal so as to permit of settlement without 
disturbance of adjacent parts. 
Although an essential feature of harbour construction 
and an undoubted necessity in the case of ports situated 
on an exposed coastline, the subject of breakwaters cannot 
now be discussed at any length. In its engineering aspect, 
it will be found treated in other works by the writer, to 
which reference is made in the Preface. 
ACCOMMODATION 
We have so far dealt with the physical conditions 
affecting ports. We have now to consider the commercial 
side of the matter and discuss the various features which 
are associated with what we have termed Accommodation, 
in other words, facilities and opportunities for carrying 
on trading operations. A harbour by itself or in the 
undeveloped condition, does not suffice for all the require- 
ments of a port, which, as already indicated, must include 
convenient and continuous accessibility, and means for the 
landing and loading of goods and for the embarkation and 
disembarkation of passengers. Quays, alongside which 
ships can berth ;: sheds and warehouses, in which goods 
may be temporarily deposited; cranes and appliances 
for handling the goods between ship and shore; service 
roads and railway tracks, with vehicles appropriate to 
each system of transport; repairing depots—these and 
many other features are essential appanages of ports from 
the trading side, and it is at this point that it will be well 
to consider the port in its relation to commercial operations. 
PORT SERVICES 
A port, we have explained, is a connecting link between 
land and sea traffic; its shipping and land services will 
accordingly be co-ordinated to this end, and will radiate 
1 Chiefly, The Principles and Practice of Harbour Engineering. 
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