Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

THE MANCHESTER SHIP CANAL. 157 those who had brought the canal into existence. At Barton, Mr. Brindley suggested that the new waterway should be carried over the river Irwell by means of an aqueduct. Parliamentary Committees looked upon this proposal as novel, and some of those who considered the were afraid it would impossible leakage of aqueduct. But the to prevent water from Bill be the the illiterate engi- neer requested dredweight of MR. J. K. BYTHELL, Chairman of the M.S.C.Co. (Photo, Lafayette.) MR. W. HENRY HUNTER, Chief Engineer. (Photo, Lafayette.) A Practical Demon- stration. that a hun- clay should be sent into the Commit- tee Room, so that he might demonstrate the ab- sence of any ground for uneasiness on this score. There and then he modelled a short section intended to represent the canal, and of the water which he poured inside not a drop had dis- appeared when the Com- mittee reassembled on the following day. The experi- ment was convincing, and Parliament gave the duke all the powers he requested. The main contract for the Ship Canal was entrusted MR. E. LATIMER, General Superintendent. (Photo, Arthur Reston.) MR. HERBERT M. GIBSON, Chief Traffic Superintendent. (Photo, Lafayette.) Ship Canal Main Contract. to Mr. T. A. Walker, the con- tractor who had driven the Severn Tunnel, for £5,750,000, and on November 11, 1887, the first sods were cut at Eastham. To expedite construction, the work was di- vided into nine sections, each having its own staff of resident and contractor’s engineers. Two years afterwards, when all the sections were in hand, Mr. Walker died; and as his executors were unable to complete the contract, the Ship Canal Company resolved to undertake the task themselves. By this time it was manifest, however, that the