The 'Scouring Dock' was a stretch of the New Cut Canal of 1839 (nprn 34397), impounded above a railway bridge (nprn 34707) across the canal at the northern end of Carmathenshire Dock (nprn 34193). A 'scouring sluice' gate installed in 1858 on the railway bridge was closed to allow water to build up in the scouring dock and opened when appropriate to release water and scour out any accumulated silt and mud from the Carmarthenshire Dock.
B.A.Malaws, RCAHMW, 16 June 2010.