Dredging the Tyne: an institutional perspective on process management

The increase in the size of steam vessels, and consequent need for the considerable enlargement of navigation channels, meant the years at the turn of the 19]20th centuries were of pivotal importance in harbour construction. This paper draws on the surviving archives for the Tyne estuary in north-east England in illustrating the inter-relatedness of both the physical and political processes, by which such adaptation and improvement were achieved.