ST PAUL'S PERIL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8831, 18 January 1907, Page 2

ST PAUL'S PERIL.

ENGINEER'S [REPORT ON THE | NEW TUNNELLING. Mr /Maurice Fitzmaurice, the chief engineer of the London County Council, has now drawn up a report on the work in connection with the new 6ewer under St Paul's. In. it he says : — " In the year 1904, when investigating the question of the route of this sewer through the City, I found, that almost the only possible course it could take would be past St Paul's Cathedral on the south side. Having regard to the importance of the building, I considered it necessary to consult Mr Somers Clark, the architect of the Dean and Chapter, and, after several verbal discussions on the subject, I arranged at his request to have three trial borings, Bin in diameter, made in the vicinity of the Cathedral, for the purpose of ascertaining the nature of the strata." These borings, the report adds, took place, and on May 15, 1905, Mr Clark wrote saying he was authorised to state that, " advised by their engineers, Messrs Barry, Leslie and Co., the Chapter of St Paul's does not regard with apprehension the proposed lowlevel eewer passing under the south side of St Paul's Churchyard." Mr Fitzmaurice continues: — " So far as the facts jire known, from information derived from plans lent by Mr Somers Clark, it would appear that the foundations of the Cathedral rest on a layer of loamy soil, or potters' earth, which, in its turn, rests en the gravel which overlies the London clay. This gravel contains (according to the borings made in 1904) only from three to five feet of water, whioh is upheld by the clay, but does not penetrate into it. The sewer being sixteen; feet below the clay, it will not drain the water out of the gravel, as it will be made entirely in tunnel, compressed air will be used during construction, and .there will be no shaft or opening of any kind from the surface between Ludgate Circus and Queen Street, at its junction with Cannon Street. The proposed sewer at its nearest point, is from thirty-five to for.ty feet, in a horizontal line, away from the Cathedral. Between the underside of the foundations of the Cathedral (according to the best available information) and the top of the sewer a distance of about forty feet vertically will intervene. There is not the slightest likelihood that any water will drain on to the back of the cast-iron tube forming the sewer. " There is already a 4ft 6in by 2ft Bin local sewer in St Paul's Churchyard between "the proposed eewer and the Cathedral. This local sewer is in the gravel which overlies the clay, and is from twenty to twenty-five feet below the surface of the roadway, and is below the level of the foundations of th© Cathedral. " In conclusion, I have to state that the new sewer has not yet been commenced at any point within two miles of the Cathedral, and no shafts have been sunk,"