818 Mr. W. A. Tait [March 4, 



to report on a scheme proposed by the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal 

 Co. There is a tradition that whilst he was engaged on this 

 work he proposed to erect a barrage at Beachley, but no details have 

 been left on record. 



About 1843 Mr. Fuljarues, an architect and county surveyor, 

 took up the matter and prepared a water-colour drawing. He 

 applied to the Admiralty in 1845 for permission to carry a high-level 

 bridge across the estuary, near Beachley, and the Admiralty then 

 appointed Mr. Walker, the well-known engineer, to report. 



(Several slides were exhibited showing the extent of the proposals 

 by Mr. Fuljames.) 



A copy of Mr. Walker's Report is to be found in the Library 

 of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and it is interesting to note 

 what he said regarding the Old or Aust Passage so recently as 

 1850 :— 



" At and near the time of low water, the mail and passengers are 

 landed at a small detached pier on the Aust side, and have to walk 

 or be driven for some distance through the mud. There is a ferry 

 steamer for crossing, but owing to the circumstances of the strong 

 winds and the great currents, and the want of water at the landings, 

 the passage is more frequently made in an open boat. On the whole 

 the mode of crossing is, at the best, inconvenient and unpleasant, 

 always the cause of considerable delay, sometimes of danger, and 

 altogether unworthy of the almost national work which it has to 

 perforin. There is, as far as I know, no great communication in this 

 country so bad, or further where an improvement is so much wanted : 

 and the importance is increased by the fact of there being no bridge 

 below r Gloucester, which is 30 miles above the Old Passage, and no 

 crossing below (except the New Passage, which is inferior to the Old) 

 without going down the Avon from Bristol." 



There is no room for doubt that the present means of cross- 

 channel communication is very limited in extent considering the 

 magnitude of the traffic which has to be dealt with. 



The remedial methods available seem to be, in alphabetical order, 

 as follows : (1) barrage ; (2) bridge ; (3) train ferry ; (4) tunnel. 



A properly designed barrage would — 



(a) Enable tidal power to be developed. 



(b) Be designed to serve both as a roadway and railway to carry 

 all kinds of traffic across the estuary. 



(c) Facilitate navigation and develop ports, thus fostering 

 industries on the upper reaches. 



The advantages to be claimed for a high-level bridge by itself 

 would be, the cross-river traffic would be provided for without 

 interference with present river traffic. 



A low-level bridge with an opening span wxmld, other things 

 being alike, have the same advantages as a high-level bridge. It 

 would also, however, involve only the minimum of expenditure in 



