Page 36 - KBHA BULLETIN 6

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The 1912 plan is remarkable for its detail and completeness and depicts the conditions just

before harbour construction began in 1913. Some of the functional and social divisions on the
Point at that time can be inferred from this plan. For instance, the few larger houses occupy

prime sites close to the sea; a bungalow and shed (both galvanised iron) are situated nearer
the rail line; a row of brick cottages 50m long by 5m wide, possibly accommodating 10

families (about 60 people) occupy land along the rail boundary; the power house, the fish
store connected by trolleys running on rails down to the beach where the fish were off-

loaded, the fish-cleaning slab, and a formal concrete walk running out eastwards onto the

rocks, are located along the north shore. What the plan does not show is that most of this land
was at this time owned by the Kalk Bay Fish and Land Co. who controlled it from 1905 – 16.

Harbour construction, which began in 1913, introduced permanent alterations to the north
shore of the Point. In Fig. 2.4 are shown the three possible positions for the new breakwater.

The original 1902 plan is by Cathcart V. Methven, one of the leading harbour engineers of
the time. The position of Mr. G. T. Nicholson's proposed breakwater, which is the one that

was commenced in 1913, is shown between Methven's (left) and Mr. W. Westhofen's (right).
Of interest, too, is the course of the rail spur across the Point. This was integral to the process

of harbour construction and, together with the associated construction yard, would introduce

considerable disturbance to the Point itself.

Era 4: Harbour Construction 1913 - 1919, and up to 1935

The Railways and Harbours Administration leased 2½ acres (effectively the whole of the
Point) from the Kalk Bay Fish and Land Co. (in liquidation) for the duration of the con-

struction period. The first shovel of sand was turned on 6 March 1913 to prepare the site to

receive the necessary equipment. On Figure 2.5 (dated 1913) a large fenced-off construct-ion
yard is shown on either side of the rail spur. More details are shown in the plan and cross-

section on Figure 2.6 (dated 1914). There is a cement and general storage shed 60ft x 30ft,
coco-pans for moving cement, a concrete mixing area, a stacking area for the 10½ ton blocks

manufactured at Table Bay and railed to Kalk Bay, the 12 ton crane for moving them into

place, and the divers’ hut.

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