In 1887 a consultative committee decided that the efficiency of the two 80-ton guns in the Dover Turret was diminished by the exposed position of the magazine. It was proposed to make a new shell store below the water line and to increase the thickness of the foundation of the turret with a mass of concrete. In 1891 the Dover Harbour Board wished to extend the pier-head to the seaward and to give it a more rounded shape due to the rip tide wearing it away. In 1893 the committee reported that the works for strengthening the magazines of Admiralty Pier Fort were nearing completion.