CHAP. IV. Flfn.M \Y< HISU-1Y TO MANCHESTER. 



either side of the Barton viaduct were.' also considered very 

 formidable works at ihal day. A contemporary writer 

 speaks of the embankment across Stretford Meadows as 

 an ama/ing bank of earth 900 yards long, 112 feet in 

 breadth across the base, 24 feet at top, and 17 feet high. 

 The greatest diflieiilty anticipated, was the holding of so 

 large a body of water within a hollow channel formed of 

 soft materials. It was supposed at first that the water 

 would soak through the bank, which its weight would 

 soon burst, and wash away all before it. But Brindley, 

 in the course of his experience, had learnt something of 

 the powers of clay-puddle to resist the passage of water. 

 He had already succeeded in stopping the breaches of 

 rivers flowing through low grounds by this means ; and 

 the thorough manner in which he finished the bed of 

 this canal, and made it impervious to water, may be 

 cited as not the least remarkable illustration of the 

 engineer's practical skill, taking into account the early 

 period at which this work was executed. Not the least 

 difficult part of the undertaking was the formation of 

 the canal across Trafford Moss, where the weight of the 

 embankment pressed down and "blew up" the soft oozy 

 stuff on either side ; but the difficulty was again overcome 

 by the engineer's specific of clay-puddle, which proved 

 completely successful. Indeed, the execution of these 

 embankments by Brindley was regarded at the time as 

 something quite as extraordinary in their way as the 

 erection of t lie Barton aqueduct itself. 



The rest of the canal between Longford and Man- 

 chester, being mostly on sidelong ground, was cut down 

 on the upper side and embanked up on the other by 

 UK ans of the excavated earth. This was comparatively 

 easy work ; but a matter of greater difficulty was to 

 accommodate the streams which flowed across the course 

 of the canal, and which were provided for in a highly 

 ingenious manner. For instance, a stream called Corn- 

 brook was found too high to pass under the canal at its 



2 A 2 



