The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-24 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EV.CNING, MARCH 24, 1864.

shore. At daylight, or about 6 a.m., all the boats returned
to the ship and took off the master and the remainder of the
crew. When they left, the ship was full of water, and had
heeled over to port, or seawards. Shortly after leaving the
ship the longboat capsized in the rollers, and all hands
were thrown out. Six men succeeded in getting on the
bottom of the boat, and were taken off by the captain in the
pinnace, but the chief mate and carpenter were drowned.
The boats subsequently landed at Rosslaer-house, South
Bay, near the entrance of Wexford River. In commenting
upon the circumstances of this disaster, I find that the
first error of the master consisted in his omission to heave
the lead as he stood off shore, that he might have thereby
verified his distance from the land at midnight before he
wore round and stood back towards the shoals on the Irish
coast. It is obvious that, had he done so, he would have
found that he was not so far off the coast as he supposed ; for
having stood off for 4 hours,and then returned upon a nearly
opposite course in one hour and five minutes, his ship was
wrecked in shore of the Tuskar Light. It is much to be re-
gretted that masters of ships will continue to neglect to use
the lead in passing up and down the Irish Channel, in spite
of frequent warnings, and notwithstanding that well-marked
oharts warn them of their danger. Had the lead been used
in time in this case this large and valuable ship would not
have been sacrificed, even taking into consideration the too
westerley course ho was steering to round the Tuskar after
the tugboat cast her off. In pronouncing sentence upon the
master, I have taken into consideration his age and long
service, and refrained from cancelling his certificate of s,_,r •
vice, and compelling him to go up for a certificate of compe-
tency; but have, with the concurrence of the Nautical
Assessors, suspended the certificate of Mr. William Joseph
Harvey for 12 calendar months from this date.—l have,
&e.,

T. S. ItArrLEs, Police Magistrate,
Liverpool, March 17, 1861,
We concur in this report.
HY. HARRIS 1
-.Nautical Assessors,
JonN Cow,

made a culvert for the pipes. Laying them in a trench is
better, because in my judgment it is a more simple opera-
tion and more secure. In case of accident a culvert would
give readier access for repair, but with much greater liability
to accident. I can hardly tell the pressure of water on the
valve when the reservoir is full; I am not prepared with
the necessary calculations.
11Ir. Itawlinson, after a calculation, said the pressure of
water on each valve would be from four to five tons, when
the reservoir was full.

Mr. Leather's examination resumed—When the water is
flowing freely through the pipes they are not likely to sus-
tain much injury. The opening of the valve would not
have a tendency to wrench the joints of the pipes. The
pressure lessens as the valve is opened.
The Coroner—lt took half an hour to open one of these
valves on the night of the inundation, and there was a
slacking and straining of the pipe during the opening not
felt before or after. That is the reason why I ask the ques-
tion. What I mean is, would there not be a greater pressure
upon the valve when the water was in motion?
Mr. Leather—No. There would be greater disturbancs
in the way of noise in opening the valve, but the pressure
would diminish as the valve opened. The pipes would
run off 10,000 cubic feet of water per minute. Every inch
that the water lowered would diminish the pressure upon the
embankment. At this rate, 190 hours, or about nine days,
would be required to let off the whole of the water, suppos-
ing there was no addition. I have not hitherto thought it
necesssry to have had more complete control over the water.
I did all that I thought necessary to provide against danger.
I know of no means of providing against danger except the
pipes and bye-wash. There is a drain all round the Red-
mires dam, but that is for another purpose altogether.
The Coroner—Ought you net, as a practical engineer, to
minimise the danger as much as possible in making these

large reservoirs ? There has been no attempt to minimise
the danger here, and there is no use in having an engineer
unless he does that. You have had the management of
these dams. You have placed a great embankment there,
and collected an immense bo4 of water behind it. But
even though there was a suspicion that the embankment
might give way, you have taken no means of taking the
water any other direction, so es to avoid its coming down
in one body upon the people of Sheffield. I ask you is it
not desirable in such cases that some means should be taken
of lessening the danger ?
Mr. Leather—l cannot conceive any other way than that
adopted.
The Coroner—There was not the slightest arrangement
made for doing away with the danger; that is what I com-
plain of. Why, it would have taken eight days to have run
off the water in the dam through the pipes, if there had
been no influx. The influx of water was so enormous that
it would have taken three weeks to run off the water by the
pipes. I saw a large cutting near ; could not that have
been made available, Mr. Leather ?
Mr. Leather—No ; a cutting should be at the bottom of
the embankment of a reservoir to relieve it under such cir-
cumstances, and I know of no means of having such a
cutting.
The Coroner—Could you not have drawn away any water
that reached the puddle without the puddle being injured
—drawn away from the outside, I mean ?
Mr. Leather—Yes ; I do not know that anything of that
sort has been done.

The Coroner—lt was no part of your plan to drain the
puddle trench ?--No, except during the working.
I mean afterwards ?—No; I do not suppose any would
get there afterwards.
lam supposing it has. The puddle trench could not be
so drained as to prevent water getting there ?—Any water
that might get there would naturally percolate through the
embankment on the lower side. It would get away with-
out doing any injury.
The Coroner—l am told that water was seen coming
from the bottom of the embankment sometimes; that
might be the reason ?—lt might be said that would be the
natural result if any water did get into the embankment.
Would there not be a greater weight upon the escape pipes
in the centre of the embankment than at the edges of it ?
The pressure would be greater. The embankment was 90ft.
high in the centre. If this weight pressed the pipes down
at the centre through the puddle it would not necessarily
disjoint the pipes.
Mr, Rawlinson called the attention of the witness to a re-
port published by the Society of Civil Engineers, in which
it was stated that pipes laid under an entrenchment occa-
sionally broke from the pressure upon them not being equal ;
and mentioning an instance at Melbourne, where the frac-
ture had to be repaired by inserting a line of boiler plating
inside. The pipes in this ease were excellent castings, and
had borne a very severe pressure, both externally and in-
ternally, but by the weight of the embankment were flat-
tened and distorted, more in the centre than at the sides,
because the pressure was unequal. There was, therefore, a
possibility of pipes subjected to an unequal pressure being
injured.
Mr. Leather replied that the pipes in the case cited by Mr.
Rawlinson were laid in the embankment, not in a trough.
Those of the Bradfield reservoir were, however, laid in a
trench under the embankment. The cases, therefore, were
quite different.
The Coroner—But though the trough was made in the
natural ground, the pipe," themsolves woro laid in an arti-
ficial ground, which might offer more resistance in one part
than another.
Mr. Leather—There were 15in. of puddle round them,
but they would adjust themselves in the puddle.
By the Jury—flow do you determine the strength of the
embankment ? It was 10 times that of the pressure against
it. I cannot tell how much water would run into the reser-
voir in 24 hours on a wet day. The pipes had not been
examined since the flood. But as there was no leakage
ihrough or about the pipes before the accident, and as there
was a full flow of water through the pipes when the valves
were opened, it is fair to presume there was no leakage. I
have seen the valve work under half the full pressure.
Mr. Leather, examined by Mr. Perronet Thompson-1
have been the consulting engineer of the company in respect
of all their reservoirs. I have not previously had an acci-
dent, though some of the reservoirs are of greater extent
than the Bradfield reservoir. The embankment of the upper
dam at Redmires is much larger. The plans and sections
for this and the reservoirs that have stood for years are pre-
cisely the same in principle, and there is a great similarity
in situation and materials of some of them. I used all the
means known to me as a practical engineer in the construc-
tion of these dams for insuring the security of the work. So
far as my observation went, the quality of the work was
good throughout. The fact of the public trench being sunk
to the depth of 60 feet, although the plans required only 10
feet, is an illustration of the care exercised in providing for
the safety of the dam. The specification provided for the
trench being made deeper than 10 feet if necessary. The
weight of the water is incesured by the depth, and not the
quantity of the water on the superfic;al area. One-fourth
the water might have given quite as great a pressure if the
depth had been the same, I have not an instance in my
experience of pipes carried under the embankment having
given way. If the valves of the pipes had in this instance
been unable to sustain the weight of water, the only result
would have been that the water would have run away ; no
damage would have resulted. I have taken all reasonable
means to provide against danger. The object of an em-
bankment is to confine the water, and the business of an
engineer is to make his embaakraent sufficient to resist the
pressure of the water against it, not to provide any other
mean of letting the water off on the supposition that the
embankment is not strong enough. This embankment was
sufficient.
,The puddle wall is the real security of the water.
The only object of the embankment is to support the puddle
wall, not itself to keep out the water. It is not therefore
specially important that the earth of the embankment itself
should be such as will keep out water. This puddle wall
was 60 feet deep. The pressure of water in the pipes at
Sheffield is much greater than in those at Bradfield.
By the Coroner—lf an embankment is to support a pud-
dle wall, and the embankment is sufficiently strong, the
puddle bank will, of course, fall. I have examined the em •
benkment since the flood, aad think it was properly made.
Under the lower side there was a footing of stone, to pre-
vent the embankment slipping.
By the Jury—The pipes would be carried through the
puddle trench if not through the embankment. They
would find that proper precautions had been taken against
any settling there, by which it was not likely that the pipes
they are not worth
would be broken.
By the Coroner--I really do not know the cause of the
embankment bursting. I have very great difficulty, indeed,
in forming any opinion worth relying upon. I can form
conjectures, and so can anybody else, but
much. There is a possibility of a land slip under the seat
of the embankment having produced it. Ido not believe
the embankment itself has slipped, but the tnratification
beneath it may have slipped.
Mr. Rawlinson—You mean that you do not think the
embankment was the first to Flip ?—That is the more cor-
rect way of putting it.
By the Coroner—A fracture of the pipes has been sug-
gested. If the pipes had broken that might have caused
it; but we have no indication of any such breakage, I
hazard the conjecture that there has been a landslip beneath
the embankment, because we know they do take place ; be-
cause a laud slip taken place in this valley below the dam.
I am speaking of a slip under the embankment, not under
the puddle bank. I do not ascribe the bursting of the reser-
voir to unsound principles of engineering or to bad work-

manship.
By Mr. Rawlinsort—A. blow would not cause equal injury
with a crack in the pipe, if such took placa. Ido not know
the maximum volume of water, but it has been carefully
recorded. My view of the way in which a landslip might
take place is that the water that naturally percolates into
the strata would get between the face of the rock and the
bed of clay resting upon it, a .d cause the superincumbent
mass to slip off. The water through the fissures would be
cut off by the puddle drain. I have not exmined the bare
stratification on the by-wash side of the reservoir since the
flood, because I believe if the ruck would allow the water to
percolate such water would be cut off by the puddle trench.
The Coroner—lf the percolating water was not stopped
by the puddle, but went through the rocks at a lower level
than the bottom of the puddle trench, would it not have
had the effect of washing down the embankment on the low
Fide of the puddlebank?.— The probability is that it would
find its way to a spring lower down the valley. I have not
seen the embankment of the Rivington Water Works at
Liverpool, lam not aware that the reservoir bottom there

was quarried the same as ours, and that subsequently a
large quantity of water found its way below the stratifica-
tion of the puddle bank, and leaked out a considerable dis-
tance below the embankment. I am not aware that any

special arrangements were made t 3 prevent the water creep-
ing alongside the two outlet pipes by putting collars around
them, lam not aware that one of the Birmingham reser-
voirs six or seven years ago was destroyed by the water
creeping along the cast-iron pipe and blowing a hole through
the embankment like a tunnel. I should think in any such
case it would be detected by a previous leakage. lam not
aware that a considerable body of water was issuing under
the side wall below the embankment before the bursting of
the embankment. Ido not know how long a pipe such as
the outlet pipes would last. Everything will come to de-
struction sooner or later'. Ido not know how far the two

pipes were placed apart,
John Gunson—l am the acting engineer for the Sheffield
Water Works Company, and have had the construction of
the Bradford Reservoir from the plans of Mr. Leather. The
embankment was made in the Usual way, but it was found
necessary to dig the puddle trench deeper than we origin-
ally intended, the reason being that there was so much
water. We went to a depth of 60 feet. There was a Very
large flow of water, which was ptimped out by two engines,
one of them working a 12-inch pipe and a 13-inch pipe.
The other pumped two 12-inch pipes. Together they would
be about 20-horse power, and they were kept constantly
working for nearly two years. This shoWS that a large body
of water came through the rooks to the puddle. We goerid
of the water by pumping it out. The water originally came
out of the reservoir, about 100 yards north of the embank-
ment. It was caused by a fault or throw of the rock,
and came away from the tops of the hills, perhaps miles
away. When we got the puddle trench in, that was
an effectual barrier, and the water from diet spring
was thrown back into the reservoir. The puddle trench
was cut and worked in the ordinary way. When we got
above the level of the spring the consequence vas of course
that the water had to make its way back again. The trench
laid for the pipes was 9ft. or 10ft. wide, and perhaps the
depth was equal to the width, but ran up considerably
less. The pipes were laid in puddle, at a distance from
each other of 2ft. bin. The depth of the puddle
above and below the pipes was 18iu. It Was the same
kind of puddle as the puddle-wall—the best. The trench
was filled up with the best material, thin layers of
gravel, and very solid. We put in the materials of the
embankment in layers or tips. There were barrows used,
three-wheeled carts, two-wheeled carts, and waggons. We
did not take the material for the embankment indiscri-
minately from the banks of the reservoir, and tip it on the
embankment. First, 24,000 cubic yards entirely of atone
was placed on the outward slope of the bank, the stone form-
ing an embankment itself up to within 50ft of the top of the
embankment. The object was to prevent the embankment
slipping on the surface it was placed on; and to get that
done effectually we paid 3d per yard additional for the work.
The next process was so to lay the material that the finer
sort came up to the puddle wall. The work was somewhat
similar to that which is going on at present at the Agden
reservoir. The material is also generally the same—fit, I
consider, for the work which it had to do. [Plans showing
the course of the pipes were here produced, and handed for
the inspection of the jury.] Great precautions were taken in
laying the pipes in the puddle trench. The puddle trench was
40ft or 50ft below where the pipes went. The pipe trench was
about 9ft below the surface. About a couple of lengths of
pipe went through the puddle trench proper. My fear was
if nothing was provided, the puddle in the puddle trench
being deeper than in the pipe trench, it might sink; and so
we made a special arrangement for the protection of the
pipes, by an extension of the width of the puddle wall. This
was done to the extent of something like 100 ft on either
side. The pipes being socket pipes, they would admit of
some small degree of inflection without breaking. The pipes
were inserted about six inches into each other, lead being
used for from three to four inches. The pipes were laid
in good strong shale, not compressible by pressure. No
water could possibly creep along the pipes. The sockets
of the pipes were cast a little large back than they were in
the front, so that the internal pressure of the water should
not force the lead out, To do so it would have had to act
as against a wedge. There were no collars put upon the
pipes to prevent the water creeping along—the sockets of
the pipes themselves formed collars, and they were very
strong ones. The lines of pipes were 2ft 6in apart. The
sockets were so large that had they been placed opposite it
would have reduced the puddle to that extent—so I ad-
vanced one line of pipes a yard above the other.
The Court at this stage of the inquiry adjourned for half
an hour.
Mr. Gunson recalled and examined by the Coroner—The
Parliamentary plans are not here, only the working ones.
The former can be given to Mr. Rawlinson. The plans car-
ried out were not precisely the same as the Parliamentary
plans. We discovered that the ground where we first in-
tended to put the embankment was faulty; there had been
what we call a landslip. I should say that landslip was
some hundred years old. I did not observe it first. After
I discovered it would not be safe I saw Mr. Leather, and
he gave directions that it should be made where it is.
We had not begun the work at the first embankment,
but the contracts were let. The rainfall of that
district from 1859 was as follows :-1859, 46'055 inches ;
1860, 44.280 ; 1561, 37.910 ; 1562, 40.060 ; 1863, 40-700.
The smallest flow of water in the eummer is half a cubic
foot per second for each thousand acres of the watershed,
and the maximum 150 cubic feet per second per thousand
acres. The gauge was placed in the Rivelin valley before
we went to Parliament, and when we got the Act I had it
reconstructed. It was 181't wide. The heaviest flood we
have had occurred in Auguet, 1855. The overflow was 60
inches, and it took away the gauge. The gauge was kept
at Bedmires, about 1,200 ft above the level of the sea. On
the south side of the dam we have an artificial cutting. That
was to divert the stream during the construction of the re-
servoir, and we used till about a year ago. The embank-
ment was finished before then, with the exception of where
the weiring is at the south end, which is not finished yet.
Some of the materials got out of the cutting might be brought
into the embankment, others washed avtely. In Aug., 18)6,
we had 9 in. of rain—the highest quantity in any month. It
would take 14 or 15 inches to fill the reservoir, so no flood
could materially affect it. When we bared the rock we had
no apprehension that mischief could arise; and I was per-
fectly satisfied that no water coming from the rocks could in-
jure the embankment, because we sunk the puddle trench far
down into the rock below any excavations in the reservoir.
It was put down into measures quite impervious to water.
The water seen coming out of the rocks where the reservoir
has been flows into the river. It is possible it might drain
into the embankment, but it would be stopped by our puddle.
It was not at all a hazardous proceeding to bare those rocks.
We might have got material elsewhere to make the em-
bankment if we had bought 100 acres of land for the pur-
pose. There are about 400,000 cubic yards in the embank-
ment. We should not have required 100 acres if the ma-
terial was anything like. I cannot say how many acres of
the rock we have bared; eight or ten, I should guess. We
did not find all the material for the embankment in the
baring of the rock.
By Mr. Rawlinson—l intended to make an opening 60ft.
long in the by-wash. There was a drop in the by-wash
which would have let all the water of that breadth to go off.
We were not able to make the breach in the by-wash. I
heard the shot go off after the embankment had burst. The
water lowered rapidly in the meantime, though I did not see
how much.
Mr. Gunson explained that he never apprehended danger
until he saw the water dashing over the embankment, and
that he thereupon sent persons to warn the nearest resi-
dents. He had no time to warn anybody lower down.
Before the jury separated, Mr. Rawlinson, Government
Inspector, said some calculations had been prepared with
regard to the flood. The total fall from the dam-head to
0 wlerton was 450:t., or 72ft. per mile. The velocity between
those points of the flood was 18 miles per hour, showing
that the water passed at the rate of 261 ft. per second. The
average area of the cross sections of the flood between the
same points was 3,780 feet, showing that 40,170 cubic feet
of water passed per second. At this rate the reservoir would
empty itself in 47 minutes ; the weight of water was
3,250,000 tons. After the dam broke, a Derl,y horse could
not have carried the warning down the valley in time to be
of service.
The inquest was then adjourned until Thursday.