According to the conditions of the programme, powers of 25, 75, and 120 tons had to be obtained at will, with a proportional output of water, and the load had to be lifted 22 ft. above the quay and carried horizontally from 28 ft. beyond the edge to 16 ft. in the rear, so that the load might be taken from a ship and deposited upon a wagon, and _vice versa_. The shears, then, had to be capable of performing two operations, viz., of lifting the load and of carrying it horizontally. To facilitate the description, we shall first make known the arrangements that assure the second operation. The apparatus is of the type known as oscillating tripod. The tripod consists of two lateral iron plate uprights, A A (Fig. 1), resting upon the wharf wall, and of a beam, B, jointed to them above and connected below with the head of the piston of a hydraulic press. This latter rests upon an iron plate frame, solidly bolted to masonry. The piston pulls the beam, B, toward it when it descends, and carries along in the same motion the shears, A, as well as the load suspended from their point of junction, and the load is thus carried to a distance of 16 ft. from the edge of the wharf in order to be placed upon a wagon. Conversely, if the piston rises, it pushes before it the entire framework, as well as the lifting apparatus, the hook of which travels 28 ft. beyond the edge of the wharf. The lifting apparatus consists likewise of a hydraulic press suspended from the summit of the tripod; but, in order to prevent the joints of the cylinder from working under the action of the load, which would tend to open them and cause leakages, it is not suspended from the very axis of the junction of the shears. The cylinder rests directly upon a huge stirrup 45 ft. in length, the arms alone of which are affixed to the axis, through a Cardan joint. Under such circumstances, the stress of the load carried by the piston rod is exerted solely upon the branches of the stirrup, and the sides of the cylinder work only under the pressure of the motive water. The latter is introduced at the base of the press, through a valve that a special workman, standing upon a platform supported by the stirrup, maneuvers at will.