440 



TELFORD'S ROADS JN WALES. 



PART VIII. 



steep rocks and rugged precipices : there the way was 

 widened and flattened by blasting, and thus reduced to 



BOAT) ABOVE NANT FFBANCON, NORTH WALES 

 [By Percival Skelton, after bis original Drawing ] 



the general level ; and so on eastward to Llangolleii 

 and Chirk, where the main Shrewsbury road to London 

 was joined. 1 



1 The Select Committee of the 

 House of Commons, in reporting as to 

 the manner in which these works 

 were carried out, stated as follows : 

 "The professional execution of the 

 new works upon this road greatly sur- 

 passes anything of the same kind in 

 these countries. The science which 

 has been displayed in giving the 

 general line of the road a proper in- 

 clination through a country whose 

 whole surface consists of a succession 

 of rocks, bogs, ravines, rivers, and 

 precipices, reflects the greatest credit 

 upon the engineer who has planned 

 them ; but perhaps a still greater de- 

 gree of professional skill has been 

 shown in the construction, or rather 

 the building, of the road itself. The 



great attention which Mr. Telford 

 has bestowed to give to the surface of 

 the road one uniform and moderately 

 convex shape, free from the smallest 

 inequality throughout its whole 

 breadth; the numerous land drains, 

 and, when necessary, shores and tun- 

 nels of substantial masonry, with 

 which all the water arising from 

 springs or falling in rain is instantly 

 carried off; the great care with which 

 a sufficient foundation is established 

 for the road, and the quality, solidity, 

 and disposition of the materials that 

 are put upon it, are matters quite new 

 in the system of roadmaking in these 

 countries." 'Report from the Select 

 Committee on the Road from London 

 to Holyhcad in the year 1819.' 



