Theory versus Practice in Dock Engineering

NOTES AND REFERENCES

• See, for example, A. E. Musson (Ed) Science, Technology and Economic Growth in the Eighteenth Century. (Methuen, London, 1972); D. S. L. Cardwell and R. L. Hills, 'Thermodynamics and Practical Engineering in the Nineteenth Century', History of Technology, Vol. I ( 1976), pp. 1–21; R. A. Buchanan, 'The Promethean Revolution: Science, Technology & History' ibid, pp. 73–83; D. F. Channell, 'The Harmony of Theory and Practice: The Engineering Science of W. J. M. Rankine', Technology & Culture Vol. 23 (1982), pp. 39–52; R. E Bud & G. K. Roberts, Science versus Practice: Chemistry in Victorian Britain. (Manchester UP, Manchester, 1984); M. Fores, 'Transformations and the Myth of "Engineering Science": Magic in a White Coat', Technology & Culture Vol. 29 (1988), pp. 62–81. (See also response to Fores from Chamiell & Layton, immediately following.)
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• For Gothic structures see J. Heyman, 'How to design a cathedral: some fragments of the history of structural engineering' Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers: Civil Engineering, Vol. 92 (1992), pp. 24–29, and also Professor F. Evans' forthcoming Newcomen Society paper 'The Engineer Monks.'
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• A celebrated example is the c.1450 treatise by Henri Arnaut de Zwolle of which a facsimile appears in: G. Le Cerf & E.-R. Labande, Instruments de Musique du XVe Siècle: les Traités d'Henri Arnaut de Zwolle et de diverses anonymes. (Picard, Paris, 1932). It is notable that Arnaut refers to the relative, not absolute, dimensions of pipes, indicating the existence of arithmetical scaling.
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• Smiles' first successful book was his Life of George Stephenson. (Murray, London, 1857). Lives of the Engineers followed from 1862, eventually growing to five volumes by 1874. There were also separate biographies of Nasmyth and Wedgwood and a couple of dozen 'novelette length' treatments of other subjects.
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• On Smiles' views of religious intolerance see A. Jarvis, Samuel Smiles and the Construction of Victorian Values. (Sutton, Stroud, 1997), Chapter 1.
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• The outstanding examples are George Stephenson, and James Brindley, but the background in practical craftsmanship is stressed in other cases, and Smiles specifically remarks on this in Selp-Help. (Murray, London, 1859) e.g. at p. 29.
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• The question of the formula is considered in Jarvis op cit, Chapter 5.
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• Watt's claim to this title is argued in D. S. L. Cardwell, From Watt to Clausius. (2nd Edn., Iowa State UP, Iowa, 1989), Chapter 2.
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• Bud, op cit. (ref. 1).
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• Prior to the introduction of blue-print or sun-print copying, copying a plan cost almost as much as drawing it in the first place. See J. H. Andrew, 'The Copying of Engineering Drawings and Documents.' Transactions of the Newcomen Society, Vol. 53 (1981–82), pp. 1–13. For a general history, see P. J. Booker, A History of Engineering Drawing. (Northgate, London, 1979).
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• These were, admittedly, in the field of locomotive engineering, but the drawings in question were apparently working copies which came to the National Museums & Galleries on Merseyside Archives from the builders (Vulcan Foundry)—thus establishing that they were not copies despatched to the cus-tomer for use for future repair work.
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• For pile-driving, see J. B. Hartley, 'Piles and Pile-driving', Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, (hereafter Min Proc ICE) Vol. III (1844), p. 200. Examples of tightly-controlled specifications may be found in the MD&HB Old Agreements Book and 'formulas' for their compilation appear in the Commonplace Books. Hartley's specifications for mortar are reported by Sir Robert Rawlinson in a contribution to discussion of a paper on the strength of cement at the ICE: Min Proc ICE, Vol. XXV (1865–66), pp. 115–16.
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• An obvious exception is the work of the young Joseph Locke on the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, but he had the slight advantage of being a genius! For an alternative view see J. Newman, Scamping Tricks and odd knowledge occasionally practised upon public works. (London, 1891) in which the unfortunate resident upon whom the various scams are worked is styled `Mr. Pupil'. Important people, by this date, stayed in their nice warm offices: getting cold, wet and muddy was for Mr. Pupil. ( My thanks to Mike Chrimes, Head Librarian, ICE, for drawing my attention to this delightful little book).
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• For example, in MD&HB STW 1/8 we find John Millar, 'Principal Foreman (excluding masonry)', earned £600 pa, with a free house, coal, gas and poor rates thrown in. (These perks were worth about £70 pa).
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• For the development of retaining wall theory, see I. Weir, 'Port of Liverpool Quay Walls', Unpublished MSc Dissertation, University of Liverpool, 1993, Chapter 5.
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• Some engineers would argue that these are opposites: that by spending more on design one can save on execution and vice versa. If, however, there is a recognised 'right way' then (and only then) it is possible to save on both by adopting it.
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• Rawlinson, loc cit, recounts seeing such an occurrence at Cherbourg.
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• Wilfred Boult's Notebook survives in Liverpool RO 680/BOU.
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• Each wrote several works, of which L. F. Vernon-Harcourt, Harbours and Docks: their Physical Features, History, Construction etc. ( Clarendon, Oxford, 1885) and B. Cunningham, Dock Engineering. (Griffin, London, 1906) are the most relevant for present purposes.
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• See, for example, the pages of numbers in A. F. Blandy, 'Dock Gates', Min Proc ICE, Vol. LVIII (1878–79), pp. 154–221.
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• G. F. Lyster, 'Recent Dock Extensions at Liverpool', Min Proc ICE, Vol. C (1889–90), pp. 2–114 at p. 31.
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• MD&HB Engineer's Report, 1869 and 1870. Canada was the northernmost entrance to the system and was thus closest to Liverpool Bay and the sometimes heavy swells thereof. Incredibly, so late as 1903, G. C. Kenyon was able to read a professional paper on 'Temporary Dams' [for dock construction works], Transactions of the Liverpool Engineering Society, Vol. XXIV (1903), pp. 113–41, in which the loads on dams are calculated, with plenty of scientific-looking graphs and equations, on the assumption of still water.
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• This does not imply that contemporary engineers were unaware of these complications-Blandy (op cit) certainly was-merely that their calculations could not fully take account of them.
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• There is extensive consideration of choice of materials in the discussion of Blandy's paper, and also in Brysson Cunningham, op cit.
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• MD&HB UWUP A47.
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• Construction of training walls might be thought to constitute a third, but was chiefly applicable to approach channels rather than to docks or harbours themselves.
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• For details of these failures, see A. Jarvis, 'G. F. Lyster and the Role of the Dock Engineer, 1861-67', The Mariner's Mirror, Vol. 78 (1992), pp. 177–99.
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• See A. Jarvis, 'Beyond the River Wall: The Attack on the Mersey Bar, 1890-1923', in Maritime Engineering around the Irish Sea: Papers presented at a Research Day School, Merseyside Maritime Museum, 19 February 1994. ( NMGM, Liverpool, 1994).
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• The events leading up to the construction, and successful use of the Mersey Models are described in J. A. Cashin, 'Engineering Works for the Improvement of the Estuary of the Mersey', Jnl ICE, Vol. 32 No. 7 (1948–49), pp. 296–367.
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• Which is why the Merseyside Development Corporation supported several historical research programmes by National Museums & Galleries on Merseyside and by the University of Liverpool.
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• W. Preece, 'The Functions of the Engineer', Min Proc ICE, Vol. CXL (1899–1900), p. 226.
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