The Dry Dock at Port Orchard Nears Completion
Surveyors, granite cutters and carpenters are closing in on the main structure at the Port Orchard naval station, with pumps expected next month.
John J. Gilbert, of the United States coast and geodetic survey, with headquarters at Olympia, is now at the Port Orchard naval station making the necessary soundings for the dredging to be done at the entrance of the dry dock, and also making surveys for the location of the various buildings to be erected on the grounds. This work will occupy his time for the next ten days.
The granite cutters, who have been employed for months cutting blocks for the walls of the dock, completed their work last week, and the laying of these in combination with sandstone blocks is progressing nicely, though owing to the nature of the work the results are naturally slow.
The carpenters are putting on the coping for the walls of the dry dock, which work will complete the main part of the dry dock proper.
The officers of the coast survey steamer Hudson gave a breakfast on board the steamer early this week to some of the officers of the station.
The Moran Brothers, who have the contracts for furnishing the pumps, expect to get most of the heavy machinery in place some time this month.
“The granite cutters, who have been employed for months cutting blocks for the walls of the dock, completed their work last week, and the laying of these in combination with sandstone blocks is progressing nicely, though owing to the nature of the work the results are naturally slow.”
That dry dock became the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, a cornerstone of Bremerton's economy for more than a century. The story captures the unglamorous, incremental work—soundings, stone, coping—that built the region's military infrastructure.
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