kentledge

plural kentledges

1. countableuncountablenauticalWeights (often scrap or pig iron) used as permanent ballast on ships.

   I have before me the particulars of one of the East India Company's ships that carried four hundred and nineteen tons of general cargo, and required eighty tons of iron kentledge to keep her on her legs. They were nevertheless grand, stately-looking ships, and were well cared for.

   1911, Arthur Hamilton Clark, The Clipper Ship Era 1843-1869, Chapter 2

2. countableuncountableA system of weights (usually concrete or cast-iron blocks) used for load-testing piled foundations.

   A kentledge of scrap chairs was placed in the bottom booms of the girders at the south end to counterbalance the weight of the rail rolling track fixed under the north half, and to increase stability.

   1954 November, “Bridge Removal on the Alnwick to Coldstream Line”, in Railway Magazine, page 797