His plans to use bilge and keel blocks to operate in conjunction with the current marine railway to haul ships in and out of the water was genius.
The Marine Railway specialized in refitting hulls that were badly damaged because of the heavy sea swells in the Northern Atlantic.
The slip was ideally sized to quickly repair Flower-class corvettes, the workhorse ships of the Royal Canadian Navy.
John Chappell and Alexander Lyle were notable shipbuilders during this time period, and now both are honored with streets being named after them in Dartmouth.
The plans aimed at residential and commercial properties; however, due to complications, little progress was made at first with construction finally beginning in 2009.