^ REPORT — 1856. 



off the southern portion of docks, especially King's, Queen's, and Brunswick 

 "Docks, becomes so weakened as to permit the sand held in solution to deposit 

 thereat, besides being too weak to bear away the silt driven forth from the 

 several dock sluices. The first effect of this diversion manifests itself in 

 the formation of a shelf of sand varying from three to ten feet under water, 

 that springs from abreast of the rocks under Mr. Lawrence's wall one-third 

 of a mile southward of the Potteries, trending obliquely towards Birkenhead 

 .until abreast of the southern extremity of the Dock Estate, where it forms an 

 elbow one-third of a mile towards the centre of the river, and then trends 

 to St. George's Dock. This shelf, therefore, narrows the river capacity at 

 low water to nearly one-half what it appears to be at Rock Ferry and 

 Brunswick Dock, and then the visible Pluckington springing obliquely from 

 the southern extremity of the Dock Estate, and forming an entrance off 

 Brunswick off-tide entrance at an offset of 270 yards into the river, whence 

 it trends into St. George's Dock, lateral to and within thirty yards of the 

 margin of the shelf. 



This bank outlays King's Dock Basin also 270 yards, varying from six 

 feet to one foot in height above low-water level. Its highest part is off 

 Duke's Dock, where it outlays fifty yards less, but drives up ten feet ; off 

 Canning Dock it outlays above 120 yards, and drives up to six feet four 

 inches, then gradually narrows at an elevation of two feet, until uniting with 

 the base of George's Pier-head. 



Taking the progress of this bank since 1828, which is marked by a green 

 shade on Plan, we have a horizontal increase of 210 yards abreast of Bruns- 

 wick Basin, abreast of King's Dock 123 yards, and abreast of Duke's Dock 

 only 40 yards. Its respective elevations I cannot quote between those dates, 

 but since 1834, I find it grown up one foot off Brunswick Dock, two feet 

 off Brunswick Basin, three feet off King's Dock, three feet off Duke's Dock, 

 and one foot off Canning Dock, during which its low-water margin has 

 yielded fifty yards directly off Brunswick Basin. Simultaneous with this 

 two years' fluctuation, I find the Devil's Bank to have warped 143 yards 

 towards the eastern shore, lowered in altitude four feet, but elongated 

 towards Pluckington Shelf 250 yards, so that the spit of Devil's Bank and 

 Pluckington Shelf are within a quarter of a mile of uniting with each other, — 

 an event to be feared, seeing that the Devil's Spit has elongated two-thirds of 

 a mile in eight years, but which should be averted with all anxiety ; for on 

 the space between them being shoaled up to a bar of six feet instead of 

 fifteen, the Garston branch of the Mersey will scour its way through the 

 Swatchway just above Otterspool, dividing the Devil's Bank from Eastham 

 Sands, and join the main column of ebb stream down the Cheshire side of 

 the river. I therefore earnestly propose, that, with reference to the curvi- 

 lineal boundary set forth for the future projections between the Dock Estate 

 and Dingle Point, a river-wall should be extended in connexion from forty 

 yards within the low-water edge of the Knott's Hole rocks, scraping the 

 edge of those rocks, and preserving a gentle concave along the low-water 

 margin of the shore. This wall would produce a most sensible effect on 

 the first 400 yards' advance, by presenting a cutwater edge to the down 

 stream, instead of allowing the whole body of water to drive against the 

 north cliffs and rocks of Dingle Point, and then jerked off with an impo- 

 verished impetus at nearly right angles to its wonted and natural course. 



Its further extension might be subject of convenience of funds, &c., under- 

 standing that as it progressed south-eastward, more decided guidance and 

 impetus on the ebb stream would be afforded, the destructive undermining 

 of the cliffs and consequent dissemination thereof on the banks obviated, 



