The Sun.
London, England, 1847-04-28 00:00:00

GROUP VI.

SALISBURY AND YEOVIL, AND EXETER,
YEOVIL, AND DORCHESTER.
(Continued from our Afternoon Edition.)
Mr. Ford, carrier, gave evidence in favour of the advan-
tages to be derived from a through competing line to Exeter.
The Committee then adjourned till tlNelve o'clock to-
morrow.

GROUP XVI.
STOUR VALLEY (NO. XI.)
(Continued from our Afternoon Edition.)

Other evidence of a general nature was given in favour 01
this line, and the Committee adjourned till twelve o'clock to-
morrow.

GROUP XVIII.
CHELTENHAM AND OXFORD.
(Continued from our Afternoon Edition.)

To Mr. ALEXANDER'S cross-examination, Mr. Hawkeshaw
replied that he had made his examination of the strata at
Cheltenham on Saturday and Sunday last, examining the
plans and sections on Saturday, and going Over the ground
next day, in which he was occupied for four hours. Several
pits had been dug, both by the order of Mr. Stephenson and
Mr. Brunel. From the levels of the water in these pits he
had ascertained the tendency of the water in the strata, and
he was satisfied that the works of the railway would not at
all exhaust the water in the wells on either side of the course,
although to the extent of a hundred and fifty, or, as Mr.
Milne conceived, to the extent of two hundred yards on
each side. There were two modes of obviating the difficulty,
one—the longer—by inserting the culverts, whick would oc
casion some little inconvenience ; and the other, by building
the walls lint, which would be a shorter plan so far as the wells
are concerned, but which would draw the water from theni
to a mach larger extent. The time, however, occupied would
❑ot be longer, even on the more protracted system, than six
weeks; for he had himself executed a much larger work in
that period. There was a canal which had proved from its
depth and width inconvenient for the traffic which came
upon it, and it was conceived necessary to use boats of twelve
feet beam, and drawing four feet and a half of water. In
order to adapt the canal for such vessels it required
to be both deepened and widened for a length of
sixteen miles. The canal was closed for five weeks,
and during that time the water was all drawn off, the puddle
taken out, the canal widened to the requisite extent, the
locks taken down and rebuilt, and walling of stone to the
length of several mile=, erected to protect the banks, the
water was again let on, and the canal was in use. A portion
of this cutting only passed through the wet clay, where there
was the flow of water, and he did not conceive that any
difficulty would arise on that account, or that the
substantiality of the works would in any way be affected
by that circumstance, for he had himself about a year and a
half ago built a chimney a hundred and fifty feet high, of
brick, near Bolton-le-Moors, on a quick sand. In fact it
would be considered a matter of no difficulty whatever.
The Earl of LINCOLN observed that the Great Victoria
Tower, at the Houses of Parliament, was built on the wettest
sand lie ever saw.

To Sir WALTER JAMES, the witness replied that the work
was of such a nature as to enable the contractor to put a
great number of men on at once, so that he believed the
work would be half executed in the time that was taken in
talking about it.
To Mr. licnicE, on re-examination, Mr. liawkeshaw re-
plied that the inverted tiles were not likely to choke,
although they WE re laid upon wet sand, and if such a cir-
cumstance did occur it was easy to make a drain to relieve
them. With respect to the wells, they might be affected to
some extent, and a compensation could easily be made, and
even during the construction of the works a supply of water
for the inhabitants might readily be obtained.
Mr. Simpson, a civil engineer, chiefly connected with
waterworks, and who has much to do with the waterworks
in London, stated that he had examined the strata of
the sand bed of Cheltenham personally, and bad not the
slightest doubt as to the facility with which the water
would be directed into its usual course even during the
construction of the works. There was certainly some
running sand, but the wet sand was agglutinated to some
extent by clay and other surreptitious matters.
To Mr. ALEXANDER, the witness replied that he had
known Cheltenham for some years, but had only examined
the strata particularly during his professional visits, and be-
lieved that no permanent inconvenience would arise, although
the wells might be affected during the construction of the
works, but they would regain their original level within
a month after they were finished. The inverts he should lay
upon a flat tile; deemed that quite a sufficient foundation for
the purpose. The retaining walls are to be of 34 brickwork,
laid in cement and hydraulic mortar, a substance which had
of late years been much used by civil engineers in th,.
formation of waterworks. The prices for the several
portions of the work were, in his opinion, very hand-
some; they were to be Is. 6d. per cubic yard
for excavation, 255. for brickwork, and 35a. a yard for
brickwork in cement. In the event of the water coming
in, he would keep it down by sheet-piling; and
even should the water percolate underneath, the evil might
easily be repressed by a sewer. But he had had very great
experience in the construction of waterworks—he should
think to the extent of 1,250,0001.—and had made a great
extent of perfectly water-tight brickwork; indeed he could
take the Learned Gentleman at the present time to places
forty yards below the Thames, where he would be as dry as
he was then.
Mr. ALEXANDER expressed his sense of the kindness, but
begged to decline the invitation.
Mr. Cubitt stated that he had had forty years' experience
as a civil engineer. He could confirm the previous testi-
mony as to the goodness of the prices proposed for the work
of this excavation, and also that which had been stated with
regard to the facility with which the work could be executed.
In order to show the nature of the strata, Mr. Cubitt pro-
duced two specimens of the sand taken from two streets in
Cheltenham, one a remarkably fine dry sand, and the other
a coarser sand, mixed with small pieces of stony clay. lle
believed the work could not be done in one month, but it
might be completed, he believed, in two; and, in his opinion,
the draught of the water from the wells would only.be a
temporary inconvenience, lasting fora short time.
Several engineers from Cheltenham, who are intimately
acquainted with the district, confirmed the previous testi-
mony.
Mr. Ball, a land valuer, stated that he estimated the value
of property to be taken at IG-I,69A—that in Cheltenham
alone being 85,0001. The quantity of land required is 144
acres.

Mr. Saunders was recalled to state the difference of the
fares in favour of the Great Western Company.
This closed the case for the promoters, and it was agreed
that Mr. Alexander should open the case of the landowners,
for whom he appeared, to-morrow.
The Committee then adjourned.

GROUP IXXI.

EASTERN COUNTIES EXTENSION (HERT-
FORD AND HITCHIN).
(Continued from our Atornoon Edition.)
Evidence was given on the part of some Mr. Smith, and
other landowners, in opposition to this line.
The Committee aim adjourned till twelve to-morrow.