1 68 History of Inland Transport 



" ochilor servey " for ocular survey, and so on. But he made 

 up for his lack of education by being a perfect genius in all 

 matters calling for mechanical skill, combining therewith 

 a quickness of observation, a fertility of resource, and a 

 power of adaptability which led to no problem being too 

 great for him to solve, and no difficulty too great for him to 

 overcome. Arthur Young, who had opportunities of judging 

 of his work and character, speaks of his " bold and decisive 

 strokes of genius," and tells of his " penetration, which sees 

 into futurity, and prevents obstructions unthought of by 

 the vulgar mind merely by foreseeing them." 



Under Brindley's direction the canal from Worsley to 

 Manchester was duly constructed, and, though a professional 

 engineer had derided, as " a castle in the air," Brindley's 

 design of carrying the canal on a viaduct over the Irwell at 

 Barton (in order to maintain the waterway at the same 

 level, and so avoid the use of locks down one side of the river 

 valley and up the other), the result showed that the new 

 plan (sanctioned by a further Act obtained in 1760) was 

 perfectly feasible, and had been carried out with complete 

 success. To coal consumers in Manchester the new water- 

 way meant that they could obtain their fuel at half the price 

 they had previously paid, while to the Duke it meant that he 

 now had a market for all the coal his collieries could produce. 



The canal from Worsley to Manchester was opened for 

 traffic in July, 1761 ; but before the financial results of the 

 one scheme had been established the Duke had projected 

 another and still more ambitious scheme that of a canal 

 between Manchester and Liverpool, on the surveys for which 

 Brindley started in September of the same year. 



The need for a further improvement in the transport con- 

 ditions between Manchester and Liverpool was undeniable. 

 The opening of the Mersey and Irwell navigation, under the 

 Act of 1720, had been of advantage when bad roads were the 

 only means of communication ; but there were disadvantages 

 in river transport which were now felt all the more because 

 in forty years both Manchester and Liverpool had made 

 much progress, and the necessity for efficient and economical 

 transport between the two places was greater than ever. 



The Mersey and Irwell navigation followed, in the first 

 place, a very winding course, the bends and turns being such 



