Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

154 ENGINEERING WONDERS OF THE WORLD. PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF THE CANAL, SHOWING THE POSITION OF THE EMBANKMENTS, WORKS, RAILWAYS (BLACK LINES), AND CANALS (WHITE LINES) IN CONNECTION. Mr. James Abernethy, a shrewd Scot, whose services as a consulting engineer had been re- tained, did not hesitate to report in favour of the scheme outlined by Sir E. Leader Williams, and the latter was unanimously approved by the committee. An enthusiastic town’s meeting endorsed their action, and within a short time £63,000 was subscribed to defray the cost of an application for Par- liamentary powers. When launched, in the presence of the writer, before a Select Com- mittee of the House of Commons, in the session of 1883, the project Great . , Opposition aroused extraordi- met nary interest, and with, the promoters were at once made aware of the fierce antagonism which they might ex- pect on the part not merely of the port of Liverpool, but of every railway company in Lancashire, as also of a host of other bodies, who thought that their interests would suffer permanently if Manchester ever secured its much - coveted through the First Defeat. water outlet. Power was sought to make a semi-tidal waterway between Run- corn and Manchester, and to dredge a channel shallower portion of the Mersey es- tuary. Witnesses came forward to declare that this latter work was calculated to cause a silting up which would ulti- mately render impossible uninter- rupted navigation to the port of Liverpool. But the Committee reported in favour of the meas- ure. In the House of Lords, on the same evidence, the decision was reversed. Steps were forthwith taken for a further application to Parliament in the following ses- sion. This time success attended the ap- pearance of the promoters before a Select