LOUISBOURG QUAY:
A STUDY OF ITS CONSTRUCTION, UTILIZATION AND HISTORY
FROM 1716 TO 1760

BY

RODRIGUE LAVOIE

(Under the Direction of: W. Stevenson, B. Pothier)

(Maps and Plans drawn by Rodrigue Lavoie and Angela Brown)

(Assembled by Lynda Smith)

November, 1965

(Fortress of Louisbourg Report H B 5 E)

Presently, the illustrations are not included here.
For these, please consult the original report in the archives of the Fortress of Louisbourg

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APPENDIX I

DESCRIPTION AND DIMENSIONS OF THE QUAY

General Description:

Considered as a fortified front, the quay consists of two faces, two flanks and a curtain. It is the longest front in the place extending 285 toises, 5 feet, 8 inches from the Dauphin Gate buttress to the Shore Battery.

The Curtain

This is parallel to the east-west alignment of the houses and streets. The streets crossing the place are at right angles to the curtain. It is 125_toises long and it pierced by three wharves:

- Toulouze Wharf opposite rue Toulouze and surmounted by Frédéric Gate is 46 toises [1] from the left flank, measured from the center of the quay;
- the Intendant's Wharf installed opposite rue Saint-Louis some 36 toises from Toulouze Wharf, measured from one centre to another;
- and the Market Wharf which is located opposite rue de 1'Etang, some 31 toises from the Intendant's Wharf and 12 toises from the right flank.

The Flanks

The flanks are at right angles to the curtain and are about 12 toises long. There are three embrasures in each flank.

The Faces

The faces are in the form of wings leading along the coast from the flanks to the two ends of the quay, i.e. the Pièce de la Grave and the Dauphin Eperon. They form an angle of about 45^o with the flanks.

The right face is about 75 toises in length. It is interrupted about 20 toises from the right flank by the Coal Wharf. 22 toises from the center of this wharf, this face is pierced by the sluice into the large cove. There are two embrasures at the end where it joins the Pièce de la Grave.

The left face is onlv 55, toises long from the flank on this side to the buttress of Dauphin Gate. Its only facility is Dauphin Wharf located some 15 toises from the flank.

Thus, the military and civil facilities offered by this part of the fortress of Louisbourg consists of 8 embrasures and 5 wharves for trading purposes.

The Revetment Wall

This consists of a retaining wall sloping 2' 8" from the angle of the right flank to the entrance in the buttress of Dauphin Crate to the angle flanked by the right face. Since the setback of its foundation is level, it follows that at the first point the revetment is only 13' 4" high while at the other its height is 16'. It is situated at half-tide, so at low tide the shore, especially in the recesses where pebbles accumulate. is uncovered for several toises.

The wall is of stone and is founded on a lattice of squared timbers embedded some 4 feet into the ground -- this figure varies from place to place. The wall is 6' thick at its base with 1:6 sloped embankment behind it which is 10' high. It is surmounted by a parapet 4' 2" high and 3' 4" thick.

All the stonework, including the parapet, is covered with 2" planking.

At the external top of the revetment there is a stake palisade 6' high which is bolted to the planking 2' below the ton of the wall.

The Banquette

This is 18' long and raises the terreplein 3', i.e. to the full height of the wall itself. It ends in a slope 6' long and was to have been protected by a wooden fence which was not in in fact built. [2]

The Terreplein

The terreplein is about 11 toises wide. It is levelled and comes to 3 feet below the top of the wall. It is pierced by sloping channels opposite the wharves which serve to drain the streets leading on to it.

The wall has five openings for the passage of the wharves, and another for the sluice into the large cove.

The Sluice

The sluice into the large cove is 22 toises from the center of the Coal Wharf and cuts through the revetment wall of the quay. A passage of 3'6' high and 2' wide was cut through the wall to permit the evacuation of the water in the large cove at low tide. A fifteen foot wide channel bordered by planking fixed to the side of piles leads the water to a narrow passage through the Banquette and the revetment wall. See map MAC-73 (1745-11) and map 19 of the series Gérie/14/Louisbourg "tablette"/no 5.

The Wharves

To complete the indications given in Figs. 111, 1V and V, here are a few details on the construction of the wharves: they are supported (?) every 8 feet; their plank paving is supported by 1' x 1' oak timbers and covered by iron sheeting "as was done with the drawbridges of town gates". In addition, the sides of the wharves and the parts where they join the quay must be of dressed stone placed two bond-stones to one stretcher. (See Larousse du XX^e siècle).

The wharves vary in length. Ideally, their should be long enough to provide between 5 and 6 feet of water at their extremity at low tide. In 1751, however, we know that only the Intendant's House Wharf met this requirement and that this was due to the work of the English. The English also made this wharf into a T-shaped structure, and Franquet proposed it as a model for all the others.

The measurements of the wharves are as follows:-

The Intendant's Wharf is about 100' long and 3 toises wide. Its cross-piece is 10 toises long and 3 1/2 toises wide.

The Coal Wharf originally measured 11 toises 3 feet 4 inches. It was rebuilt in 1757, extended by 4 toises 5 feet, and fitted with a cross-piece similar to the previous one.

Frédéric Wharf was completely rebuilt in 1756. An extension of 12 toises including the cross-piece brought its length up to 22 toises.

Dauphin Wharf which was already 20 toises long, and which was very well built, was left as it was. Franquet wished to extend it by 16 toises so that it would have a more ideal depth of water at its extremity, but Rouillé thought it better to leave it intact even though the depth of water at its end I was only 18 inches. [4] No cross-piece was added. Its width was only 2 toises 4 feet 2 inches.

The gradient of the wharves was also very variable. According to the instructions of Franquet, the end of the wharf should be 6 feet above the water at low tide irrespective of the gradient. This is why the Intendant's House Wharf had a slope of 1:60.

Frédéric Gate

Frédéric Gate formed the entrance to the town on the harbor side. It was situated at the entrance to Toulouze Wharf, opposite the street of the same name. It was an arch and not a real gate. [5] It is completely wooden structure supported on each side by the revetment wall of the quay which is cut at this point to permit access from the wharf to the terreplein. No description of it is given in the documents, so we had to be content with the sketch of it which appears on a very small plan. It is nevertheless possible to deduce its various measurements and to see how it was built.

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