Tank Hard

A tank hard with apron constructed in June 1944 by Artesian Works Company for the 79th Armoured Division.

MATERIALS: constructed of cast concrete and concrete panels with some iron fittings, iron beams and timber sleepers.

DESCRIPTION: the apron platform of level concrete at the top of the riverbank is parallel to the river (north/south) and forms a hardstanding. It is built of two adjoining sections, one measuring 31m x 3m and the other measuring 31m x 3.1m. There are two 7.3m iron railway beams set in the front edge, 6m apart. Set in the concrete at the south end of each beam are 7 equally spaced iron bars arranged radially to form a quadrant to aid the traction of tank vehicles and prevent damage to the concrete during a turning manoeuvre. To the rear of the hardstanding are two approximately 1.3m square sunken anchor blocks with iron loops and rings for mooring landing craft or hauling of heavy equipment, vehicles.

A second concrete tank hard slopes down to the river from the iron beams at a 15-degree angle. It is understood that it measures 2m from front to back and is 20.5m wide in two sections. Damage to each end indicates that it was originally wider and possibly of 31m to match the sections on land. Below this platform are approximately 175 railways sleepers laid at right angles to it, although several of the sleepers above low water mark are thought to have been lost to decay. The recorded arrangement of sleepers is 43 across the width of the ramp and four or five from top to bottom. The sleepers are bedded on concrete ‘chocolate blocks’, fixed with screws and rods, and are 0.3m wide and 0.15m deep, and a variety of lengths. Below the sleepers is another concrete platform of unknown dimensions.