398 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[November, 



pelled ever}' year to make application to the Bank of Scotlaud for advances 

 necessary to complete repairs iioperatively called for ; neither has the tratGc 

 upon the canal been such as to encourage the idea of its ever being, at least 

 as at present constituted, a very successful undertaking. 



In the mean time, the works of the undertaking seem to have been gradu- 

 ally deteriorated until the latter end of the year 1S37, when a serious acci- 

 dent occurred to the lock at Fort Augustus, and this being followed by other 

 extensive damage, information was forwarded of the stale of things to the 

 Lords of the Treasury, and their attention was drawn to the bad state of the 

 canal generally, and to the danger to be apprehended to the large district of 

 the neighbouring country from the defective condition of many portions of 

 the works, more especially the Gairlochy lock. 



Accordingly Mr. Walker, the engineer, was directed by the Treasury to 

 proceed to the spot, and to ascertain the nature and extent of the damage 

 sustained, with which directions he complied, and further gave instructions 

 for doing what was then immediately necessary. 



In the year following a committee of the House of Commons was consti- 

 tuted for the purpose of hearing evidence on the subject of the canal, and 

 Mr. Walker and Mr. May, the resident engineer, attended and testified to 

 the state of the works. 



From this evidence, it appeared that much danger was to be apprehended 

 to the works themselves, and also to the country adjacent, as well as to the 

 lives and property of individual inhabitants resident in the neighbourhood of 

 Gairlochy. It was stated that at this lock the waters of Loch Lochie, which 

 extend over a surface of 6,000 acres, had been dammed many feet above 

 their natural level, and that they were supported at that height by only one 

 pair of gates, on the breaking of which the outpouring water on the adjoin- 

 ing country would occasion such a loss of life and property that no time 

 ought to be lost in guarding against such an occurrence. It further' ap- 

 peared, that other parts of the works were in an exceedingly bad state, and 

 ■were hourly becoming worse. 



Upon being questioned as to the reason of the canal not being used by 

 shipping, these gentlemen stated that the objection to the canal on the part 

 of the masters and owners of craft arose from the uncertainty of water, and 

 from the want of steam-tugs, as it would be impossible to form towing paths 

 on the borders of the lake. 



Upon being pressed to state what sum would be required to put the canal 

 in a proper and efficient working state, inclusive of everything, he estimated 

 the amount to be required for that purpose to be ^£200,000 more, and advised 

 that course to be adopted in preference to abandoning the canal altogether, 

 as he stated, that in the event of that course being adopted, the expence of 

 fence works, &c., necessary to prevent the country from being overflowed, 

 ■would be as great as the expense of repairing, and this without the possibiUty 

 of a return, not to mention the claims of parties for compensation, &c. 



After hearing other evidence to the same effect from other parties, the 

 committee became of opinion that the proposition for abandoning the canal 

 altogether was one that ought not to be entertained, and after making nume- 

 rous inquiries with the object of ascertaining whether any increase of busi- 

 ness would be likely to accrue if a certain passage through the canal could 

 be obtained, and having ascertained that point, and that thus the dangerous 

 and tedious navigation of Pentland Frith might be avoided, they resolved, 

 that the navigation of the canal was insecure ; that the state of the canal 

 should be immediately attended to, not only as regarded the preservation of 

 the work, but also as relating to the security of hfe and property in the dis- 

 tricts through which the canal passed ; that they could not recommend the 

 abandonment or shutting up the canal, and that the insufficiency of water, 

 the imperfect execution of the works, and the absence of steam tugs, had 

 prevented the development of the benefits to commerce which might be ex- 

 pected ; tliat much benefit would arise to the trade and commerce on the 

 canal, if the works were placed in a sufficient state of repair, if the depth of 

 water were increased, and the assistance of steam tngs were afforded, as re. 

 commended by Mr. Walker j and for these purposes they recommended that a 

 further sum of £200,000 should be advanced by Government. 



The following are some observations upon the Report by the Times : — 



Subsequently to this report it appears that certain propositions had been 

 made to carry the recommendations of the committee into effect by private 

 enterprise, by which means the necessity of application to Parliament for 

 more money would be obviated, and this great national work rendered more 

 available to the interests of the country without the further expenditure of 

 public money. 



In conscquence.of this proposition the committee re-assembled and resolved 

 that such arrangement would be desirable under certain conditions, which 

 were, that the Treasury should grant a lease of the canal and its appurte- 

 nances to the adventurers for a term of 99 years, gratis; that the company, 

 before the execution of this lease and the application to Parliament, in lieu 

 of the 10 per cent, deposit, should pay £45,000, to be applied in liquidation 

 of the debts now owing on account of the canal ; that the works recom- 

 mended by Walker should be executed, and should afterwards be kept in 

 repair, and that the company should relieve the Treasury and the commis- 

 sioners of the canal from all responsibility from accidents and damage, and 

 should, at the exjnry of the time, leave it in good repair. 



In the event of these terms not being acceded to, the committee recom- 

 mended the matter to be again left in the hands of the commissioners as 

 before. 



It would appear, by the report now under consideration, that Government 



were imable to effect a transfer of the Caledonian Canal upon the terms sug- 

 gested by the select committee of the House of Commons, and, consequently, 

 the navigation has remained under the charge of the commissioners during 

 the past year. 



Notwithstanding the severity of the winter of 1810-1, no further serious 

 damage was sustained by the works, nor is any material deterioration of the 

 general condition of the works apparent ; still it cannot but be felt, espe- 

 cially with respect to the very important locks of Gairlochy and Fort Augus- 

 tus, that the lapse of every additional year renders their situation more pre- 

 carious. 



Little further of any interest appears upon the face of this report beyond 

 the unpleasant fact that the receipts to the 1st of May for dues received to 

 that day amounted to £2,728 9s. %d. exclusive of afurther sum of £173 0.v. 'd. 

 for rents, whilst, on the other hand, the expenditure amounted to £6,420 1«. 6d. 

 and the total debt to the Bank of Scotlaud up to the same time amouuted 

 £23,i92 9i. \d. 



It further appears that during this time 1,283 vessels had made use of the 

 canal, paying in respect of tonnage rates £2,723 9s. 8<f. 



Little else can be gleaned from this report than what has been hereinbe- 

 fore stated, nor does it appear that anything has since been done towards 

 carrying out the recommendations of the select committee of the House of 

 Commons. 



Upon the whole, a perusal of the report affords no ground for forming any 

 judgment on the propriety or good policy of adopting the advice of the com- 

 mittee to repair the canal ; yet it is difficult to imagine what other course 

 could be adopted under the circumstances of the case, as it is evident that by 

 abandoning the undertaking the commissioners would save nothing in the 

 way of expense, and that the amount which would be required to make the 

 ground safe after them would be sufficient to repair the caual, and to provide 

 that description of steam power which seems all that is required to make the 

 passage through the canal preferable to the round sea voyage, presuming the 

 canal to be in that perfect state of repair as to obviate the chance of danger 

 to those travelling on it. At any rate, if we can believe the evidence adduced 

 before the House of Commons on the subject, there can be little doubt that 

 the steps recommended would greatly increase the traffic, and would render 

 it, presuming the canal to be in such a state of solid repair as to be lasting, 

 capable of paying its own annual expenses, and, perhaps, lay by enough to 

 provide for future unforeseen contingencies. We confess we are adverse to 

 seeing the enormous sum of money already expended absolutely sunk and 

 sacrificed without making some further effort to make the canal useful, and 

 we should greatly regret to see the gigantic conception of Telford's mind 

 sink into neglect and oblivion without an effort to save it from such a fate. 



REVIE^VS. 



^n Experimental Inquiry concerning the relative Power of, and Use/iil 

 Effect produced by, fhe Cornish, and Boidivn and Watt Pumping En- 

 gines, and Cylindrical and Wagon-head Boilers. By Thomas 

 WiCKSTEED, M. Inst. C. E. and Engineer to the East London Water 

 Works. London: John Weale, 1841. 



This highly interesting paper, as many of our readers may be aware, 

 was presented to the Institution of Civil Engineers during the last 

 session, but as there was not sufficient time left to allow of its being 

 read the same session, the :iuthor obtained permission of the Council 

 to W'ithdraw it, for the purpose of publication in the present form. 



Its nature and object are clearly and concisely defined in the first 

 and last paragraphs of the preface, which we here subjoin. 



" Those who take up the following paper in the expectation of 

 meeting with a theory of the Cornish Engine will be disappointed, as 

 it is little more than a plain narrative of the result of experiments 

 made with a view to establish the commercial value of two classes of 

 Pumping Engines." 



"With respect to the calculations introduced into this paper, it is 

 to be observed that the mode in which they have been worked is given, 

 as well as the results recorded. If, therefore, the calculations are ob- 

 jected to, an opportunity is afforded of adopting a different method. 

 The facts will remain the same, and it is hoped they cannot fail to be 

 useful." 



The work is divided into two parts ; the first relating to the boilers 

 and fuel, the second to the engines. 



In the first part, the author describes the mode in which fhe experi- 

 ments upon cylindrical and wagon-head boilers were made, which can- 

 not fail to inspire confidence in the accuracy of the/acts observed, 

 although we think the deductions therefrom will bear some little 

 modification. It is, how ever, satisfactorily shown that not the slightest 

 reliance can be placed in an experiment of short duration to ascertain 

 the duty of an engine. The author gives a statement of " the duty 

 done each 12 Lours (excepting in one instance, that of the highest 



