556
HISTORY OF ENGINEERING.
Book I.
Parliament gave to the corporation of London (13 Elizabeth, cap. 18.) the right ofrendering the river Lea navigable from Ware to the Thames .
In the 21st year of James the First , cap. 42., a very important act was passed, which hadfor its object the diminishing the price of fuel and other articles of necessity in the city ofOxford ; to facilitate the conveyance of produce to Oxford, and to prevent the high roadswhich conducted to that city from being broken up during the winter. These works wereconsigned to the superintendence of eight commissioners, four of whom were to be appointedby the city, and four by the university.
Various other acts of parliament have been made to protect the works necessary forwater conveyance, (1 George 2nd, cap. 19. sect. 2. and 8 George 2nd, cap. 20. sect. 1.).
In the reign of Charles I. , Vermuyden, a Dutch engineer , was authorised to drain theland at the mouth of the Trent, which was performed in 5 years, at an expense of i?55,825,and to him may perhaps be attributed the introduction of the first lock in England, whichis on the river Idle, and called Misterton Sas : after the Restoration inland navigation appearsto have received increased attention, which may, in some measure, be attributable to theopportunities afforded the exiles in the Low Countries of seeing the great advantages to bederived from facility of communication; but it was not until the commencement of theeighteenth century that this important object was conducted upon any thing like prin-ciple.
Previous to the commencement of this century, various acts of parliament were passed,relating to the improvement of the navigation of different rivers, either by straightening,widening or deepening their channels, forming banks with towing paths, as well as jettiesand sluices, penning up water, and making flushes to overcome the rapid part of thestreams or the shallows. This was accomplished by pound locks, which were necessarywhere mill-weirs were established, as the boats could not make their ascent or descent with-out, for in all the acts of parliament special care was taken of the mills.
In 1776, in order to overcome all the difficulties attendant upon the use of the naturalstreams, a separate cut with pound locks was made from the Mersey by the proprietors ofthe Sankey navigation, who had previously obtained an act of parliament for the purpose.Soon after (33 George 2nd) the Duke of Bridgewater obtained an act for his celebratedcanal, and since that period upwards of 2400 miles of artificial canal have been made inEngland.
Aberdare Canal is a branch of the Cardiff'canal ; the act was passed 33 George 3 . c. 95. ;it passes the iron-works of Abcrnant, Aberdare, and Ilerwain, and proceeds to the summitof a precipice near the valley of Neath, where an inclined plane unites with the Neathcanal; various railroads now communicate with it.
Aberdeenshire Canal proceeds from Aberdeen to Inverury.
Aire and Colder Navigation was perfected about fifty years before any other act passed formaking canals, and it is important in the history of inland navigation ; 1699 was the yearthe royal assent was given to the first act of parliament. The river Aire rises in MalhamTarn, a few miles from Settle , in the district of Craven, in Yorkshire ; it passes nearly amile underground, and afterwards issues from the base of a lofty rock ; it then bends itscourse through Airedale to Leeds : at Castleford it unites with the Calder, and the tworivers retaining the same appellation join the Ouse, a short distance from Howden. TheAire is navigable at Leeds , and the distance to its junction with the Calder is about1 1 miles, in which distance there is a fall of 43 feet 6 inches, made with 6 locks; from thejunction of the two rivers to Weeland the distance is 18} miles; here there is a fall of34 feet 6 inches, and 4 locks.
The Calder has its rise near Todmoiden, and becomes navigable at "Wakefield; itscourse thence to Castleford is about 12£ miles, with a fall of 28 feet 3 inches, made by fourlocks. The total length of the navigation from Wakefield to Weeland is 3LJ miles, witha fall of nearly 63 feet; numerous railroads communicate with it. The canal fromHaddlesey to Selby was opened in 1788; its length is 5 miles, and the only lock is intothe tide-way of the river Ouse. From Leeds to Selby the distance is 30J miles, on whichthere are ten locks; from Wakefield to Selby is 31.^ miles, with eight locks. The oldlocks, which have been generally removed, were about 60 feet in length, and 15 feet inwidth ; those now in use are increased 3 feet in width, so that vessels of 100 tons navigatethese rivers and canals.
Another canal, uniting Knottingley to Goole, was opened in the year 1826, after surveysand designs made by Mr. Rennie. The length of this canal from Ferrybridge to Goole is18£ miles, and the fall to low water mark at the latter place 28 feet 9 inches; its widthat the surface is 60 feet, and at the bottom 40 feet; the depth is 7 feet. The locks are inlength 70 feet, and in width 19 feet, and vessels of 100 tons can now proceed to the townsof Leeds and Wakefield in 8 hours, and from Castleford to Goole there are steam-packetsfor passengers.
Alford Canal , in Lincolnshire , runs into the German Ocean at Anderby, where it has asea lock, which maintains the water 14 feet 8 inches above the low water of spring tides,