Dry dock no.1 in Toulon (1774-1778)

In the second half of the 18th century, despite numerous attempts to rectify the situation, Toulon was still waiting for its dry dock (under repair). The absence of strong tides and existence of springs made open-air construction impossible. In 1774, the naval engineer and constructor Antoine Groignard (1727-1799) came up with a dry-dock project that was commended by the Academy of Sciences.

Groignard designed a huge oak box, 100 metres long, 30 metres wide and 10 metres high, which could be submerged, ballasted and supported on the bottom by pilings. All that remained to be done was pump out the water, a job carried out by convicts 24 hours a day throughout the construction period in order to keep the enclosure dry, and finally build the dock’s walls using dressed Cassis stone. For the first time in Toulon, the completed facility enabled ships to be maintained and repaired without having to beach and careen them. In 1778, after four years of work, the Mediterranean coast’s first dry dock was commissioned, the present-day “Bassin Vauban no.1”. It is still in operation more than two centuries after its inauguration.