Documen 66, p 16
| 146 (16) | ||||
| must have been at least at the rate of one Thousand Feet in a Minute; | ||||
| but that Mr Donkin was so far from then apprehending any danger | ||||
| to the Bridge itself, that he had just sent his Son with some Masons | ||||
| over it from the North to the South End to examine the State of the | ||||
| detached Land Arches, which had also been erected there for the | ||||
| safety of the Bridge in time of violent Floods; which they reported | ||||
| to be, (and still remain) safe, but that very soon after, the main | ||||
| Body of the Bridge began to shew Symptoms of Failure, and in | ||||
| half an Hour the greatest part of it was brought into that |
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| State of Ruin in which it now nearly remains. | ||||
| In Answer to that part of the Interrogatory whether the failure | ||||
| above mentioned was caused by any real defect in the Bridge, or | ||||
| the Construction thereof, or by the unusual Violence of the Flood accord | ||||
| -ing to this Deponent's Knowledge and Belief: He this Deponent further | ||||
| answering says, that he is clearly of Opinion that the failure of the | ||||
| Bridge was not caused by any defect therein, or the Construction thereof, | ||||
| according to the Principles whereon it was built, or intended to be | ||||
| built; but that the same was entirely owing to the unusual Suddenness | ||||
| and Violence of the Flood at the time mentioned. And in this Opinion | ||||
| this Deponent is the more clearly confirmed, because in the Year 1779 | ||||
| when all the Piers of the late Bridge were laid in the River, but the | ||||
| upper Works not completed, there then happened a Flood so remarkably | ||||
| violent, that according to the Observations of J Pickernell, which he | ||||
| soon after reported to this Deponent, the difference of the level of the | ||||
| Water, between the Upper and the lower or downstream Side of the | ||||
| 16 Bridge | ||||
Note: Mr Smeaton's Replies to Interrogatories p16
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Transcribed by CTW and RMS