1830.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



i^ 



It is in consequence of the neglect of this apparently very subordi- 

 nate, not to say trilling, branch of design, that there is so much 

 poverty — or, if not absolute poverty, common-place mannerism, and 

 obvious want of study with regard to finish, in the majority of our 

 buildings. The greater the stock of ideas any one has laid in by 

 accumulating studies, from which he may learn the diversities of any 

 one or more styles, all the greater will his resources be; and instead 

 of merely following certain copies or patterns, he will be able to 

 imitate his models freely, selecting their beauties and rejecting their 

 blemishes, adapting and recombining as the particular purpose may 

 best suggest. xXmong the subjects here represented, some consist of 

 strictly architectural details, such as capitals, corbels, &c., but the 

 greater number are entirely pieces of ornament from various build- 

 ings ; carvings in stone or wood, enriched panels of doors, or similar 

 compartments on walls, stained glass, painted tiles, inlaid metal 

 work, drapery and hangings, jewellery and goldsmiths' work, and 

 even patterns of lace-work ; which last-mentioned, being composed of 

 geometrical figures and devices, will, with more or less alteration, be 

 found exceedingly applicable to floors, whether adapted for pave- 

 ments or carpets. The same may be observed wi th respect to some 

 of tlie patterns of stained glass ; and even the specimen of drapery 

 from a picture by Cima da Conegliano, which, with very little, if 

 any alteration, will be found to supply both patterns and colours for 

 carpeting, paper-hangings, floor-cloths, and similar purposes of 

 decoration ; while those for buhl and inlaid work may be derived 

 from the plate of ornaments by Hans Holbein. Hardly can too high 

 praise be bestowed on tliis work of Mr. Shaw's, which ought to find 

 numerous purchasers, as it recommends itself not only for the library 

 of the antiquary and the studio of the artist, but likewise for the 

 table of the drawing-room and the boudoir. 



Report on the Improvement of the River Dee, and Port and Harbou^' 

 of Chester. By Sir John Rennie, Chester. Evans : 1837- 

 liepli/ to Mr. John Scott Russell's Letter. By Mercator. 

 Chester: 1839. 



In* our last we gave a general outline of the plan proposed by Sir 

 John Rennie, for the improvement of the Dee ; and although we 

 consider it susceptible of some alterations, we feel bound to declare 

 its unequivocal superiority over the dredging plan suggested by Mr. 

 Russell. On the relative merits of these two propositions, a long 

 paper-war has been going on at Cliester ; and the two pamphlets, the 

 titles of which are at the liead of this article, form but a small j)ortion 

 of the mass of pajiers devoted to the subject. 



One prominent feature strikes the most unobservant spectator of 

 the position of Chester, and that is the large area now occupied by the 

 tidal waters of the Dee. That this area is the cause of the mis- 

 chief, and that its proportions are too large, it needs but a small por- 

 tion of the faculties of reasoning and comparison to assure us ; and 

 it does strike us as extraordinary, thatboth Sir John Rennie and Mr. 

 Russell should entertain such erroneous views as to its necessity. 

 Sir John, instead of recommending the reduction of this waste, on the 

 contrary, says, that " as the preservation of the sectional area of all 

 channels depends on the quality of the water passing through them, it 

 may reasonably be inferred that the chamiels below Flint and Park- 

 gate have suffered, to a certain extent, in consequence of the abstrac- 

 tion of the large quantity of tidal water by the embankment of 4000 

 acres above-mentioned from the estuary, and over which the tide 

 used formerly to flow, although the new channel between Flint 

 and Chester may be said to have been improved." Now the 

 cause of this deficiency of depth does not arise so much from the 

 previous embankment, as it does from the embankment not having 

 been carried out. 



Mr. Russell, however, who has exhibited so much research on 

 tidal action, mistakes the position still more wrongly; for, with all 

 his knowledge of the operations of the sea, he actually proposes 

 dredging. The plain explanation of dredging is this, that, like 

 paying oil" an aecunuilatcd and annual debt, you must first get rid of 

 all the arrears, and then maintain such a force as will counteract the 

 annual operation. The same cause which produced the silt is ever 

 in activity, and unless a constant force be maintained to resist its 

 invasions, it necessarily follows that it will again accumulate. It is 

 very true that this can be done, and so can tunnels be run through 

 (piicksands, or a breakwater be erected from Dover to Calais. Every 

 thing is practicable when the means exist; but it is certainly a serious 

 question, whether a merely palliative measure should be adopted, or 

 whether the difliculty should not be at once removed. Temporising 

 on Mr. Russell's plan is out of the question, as for all useful pur. 



poses it is a practical impossibility. The dredging on the Clyde, 



his strongest case, has occupied eighty-three years, and cost 

 £S00,000. The position of the Dee, however, is "totally dilfcrent; 

 and even ;idniitting that the works be executed in a much shorter 

 time, it must still be remembered that there is an accumulation of 

 interest, so as practically to increase the cost ; and that every year 

 that Chester waits, she is insuring the superiority of her rivals over 

 her. Two measures only remain, one of which is to alter the course 

 of the river, and the other is to make an independent channel. The 

 former of these two is the cheaper, and the more profitable, from the 

 quantity of land recovered ; but it is an operation little understood, 

 and which involves an expenditure of time — the most valuable consi- 

 deration to the inhabitants of Chester. Under these circumstances, 

 one only method remains — that of Sir John Rennie to form a ship- 

 canal, the expenses of which can be calculated, and the ])eriod of its 

 formation ascertained, and which will have the additional advantagi; 

 of leaving the river free, as the scene of future operations. If, as 

 suggested in the " Chester Courant," a railway be placed on the 

 banks for towing vessels, Chester will have advantages such as are 

 possessed by no port on the coast, and enjoy at once the benefits of 

 an inland position, and a ready access to the sea. AVe should fur- 

 ther recommend, that in case of a junction with the River Dee Com- 

 pany, that the plan of recovering the estuary from the sea should be 

 kept in sight, and on the completion of the canal, looked on as a 

 means of reimbursing the expenses. 



Sir John thus describes the River Dee Company's operations : — 



At length the plan was brought to a considerable degree of utility, and a 

 fine canal formed and guarded by vast banks, in which the river is confined 

 fertile space of ten miles, along which ships of 350 tons burthen may be 

 safely brought up to the quays. 



The last work of any importance was the extension of tiie Rubble Em- 

 bankment from near Connah's Quay to about half a mile lower down, whicli 

 took place about fifteen years ago. Since then, I understand, little has 

 been done, except placing a few jetties here and there between Chester and 

 Flint, in order to confine the current and increase the scour. 'I'he Dee 

 Companv, I believe, originally agreed or rather engaged to maintain 16 feel 

 always at high water of ordinary spring tides, at Wilcox Point, Chester. It 

 appears, however, that tliey have not been able to maintain above 14 feet or 

 It feet 6 inches. The total quantify of land embanked from the estnary ia 

 upwards of 4000 acres (besides a large tract of unenclosed salt grass), which 

 is now under tillage, and is very valuable. 



The etJect of the works above mentioned, has, I am informed, been to 

 increase the depth of water between Flint and Chester, and to enable larg'er 

 vessels to come to Chester than previously. From thence, however, down- 

 wards towards the Point of Ayr, it does not appear that any particular im- 

 provement has taken place ; on the contrary, the great Hats oil' Bagillt and 

 Parkgate have materially increased, and tlie low-water channels at these 

 places have sufl'ered in proportion, particularly at the latter place ; for where 

 there used to bo 18 feet at low water, there is now an extensive shoal, ex- 

 tending almost across the estuary at low water, so that it is unfit for vessels 

 or boats of the smallest class, whereas formerly it used to he one of the prin- 

 cipal stations for the packets between England and Ireland. One of the 

 chief causes of this was, no doubt, the diversion of the channel from its 

 natural course on the Cheshire to the Flint shore. Had the channel been 

 continued there, and proper means been taken, the depth at I'arkgate would 

 have been increased rather than have diminished. It is ipiite clear, however, 

 that as far as the river is concerned, the measure wasnot ijuite so complete as it 

 mi"ht have been ; for not only is the course lengthened nearly five miles, but 

 four most inconvenient angles or bends are produced, which added materially 

 to the friction and consequent impediment of tin; scour of the waters, both 

 tidal and fresh. But, inasmuch as the main set of the flood tide coming from 

 the Irish Channel naturallv sets on the Cheshire shore, and on the ebl) takes 

 the same channel, although in an opposite fdirection, and under present 

 circumstances each of them must bend back again almost at right angles be- 

 fore it can enter or leave the new channel, which is on the opposite or Welsh 

 shore : thus, a further most serious obstruction to the tidal and fresh waters 

 is created. 



From the above descrii>fion of the river it is evident that the navigation is in 

 a very defective state, and, \\ itii the exception of a very short period at the 

 lieight of spring tides, vessels drawing above six or seven feet of water 

 cannot reach Chester. 



But as the tide only rises from three to four feet during neaps as far as 

 Chester, and there is only four feet at low water in the channel, the naviga- 

 tion is not practicable for vessels drawing above seven feet ; and, with tlm 

 exception of four or tivo vessels of 2o0 tons burthen, belonging to iho 

 cheese company, who have a steam-boat to tow lliein u]) and down the river 

 during spring tides, all the trade of Chester is transported iii small crafts of 

 about'70 tons burthen, so thai in fact it has dwindled away to conqiaratively 

 of little importance. 



As to dredging, it is only applicable in confined positions, where 

 it is of imperative importance to preserve a certain depth of water 

 against the inroads of the sea, and where a largo expense can be 

 afforded for such an object. But as to applying it as a means of 

 engineering construction, we might juijt as well sop up the sea, ov 



