Document 67, P 3
| 156 | 156 | |||
| so deepened or taken away But this Depont says he does not conceive that such last | ||||
| mentd Difference could occation the Destuction of the sd Bridge which afterwd happd by reason | ||||
| +5that such last mentd Pier is still standing accordg to the best of this Depts knowl & bel but that | ||||
| two of the three Piers which had been founded upon Piles were afterwds thrown Down & demolishd | ||||
| by such Destruction says that in the course of Buildg the sd Bridge some Derangemt happd which | ||||
| occationed This Dept to order Plank & Gauge pile close to the driven as afsd round such Piers as | ||||
| were damaged by such Drangemt & which Derangemt happd in the Summer of ye yr 1778 But | ||||
| altho a Plank & Gauge & pile Case was then driven for guarding the fourth Pier from the | ||||
| South Side of the sd Bridge the season was too far advanced to get the Damage repaird & therefore | ||||
| in or abot the beging of April 1779 the pt of such Pier so damaged was taken up & founded | ||||
| Deeper than it was before & altho such pier had suffered in common with sevl ors of the | ||||
| piers yet this depont does not believe that the cause of the final overthrow of the sd Bridge was | ||||
| owing to the sd last mentd Circumstance & this Dept is the more induced so to bel because this | ||||
| +5Dept says that previous to such overthrow which happd on or abot the 11th March 1782 as hereinafter | ||||
| +5mentd neither the sd last mentd pier or any or pt of the sd Bridge that this Dept ever heard of | ||||
| had ever shewn the least symptom of failure on the contrary this Dept says that the West | ||||
| End of the sd last mentd pier (being founded deeper than it had origly been) ought to have | ||||
| guarded it more effectually ags the west end of the sd Bridge being undermined & which appn | ||||
| to this Dept the case at the time of such overthow And this Dept says that accordg to the | ||||
| best of his Skill & Judgmt & as he verily bels such overthrow was not owing to any deviation | ||||
| or diffce that was made from the sd origl plan in the Building of the sd Bridge But that such | ||||
| origl plan itself (as now apps to this Dept by the Experience he has acquired in the Buildg | ||||
| the sd Bridge & which he could not have acquired in case such Bridge had not been Built) | ||||
| was not suited to so violent & rapid a River upon so loose and weak a Bed or Bottom | ||||
| as the river Tyne was in the place where the sd Bridge was Built | ||||
| 4th | To the fourth Interry this Dept says that on or abot the 11th March 1782 as this dept has been | |||
| infd & bels the sd Bridge was thrown down by a sudden ad violent flood & that some time in | ||||
| +5or abot the month of Sept. 1783 he this Dept reced a Ltre from the sd Complt wherein he desired | ||||
| this Dept to go and Survey the Ruins & foundatns of the sd Bridge as soon as possible But this | ||||
| Dept being then in an indifft state of Health was obliged to postpone the same until on | ||||
| or abot the month of Novr followg when he this Dept went & Surveyed the ruins & foundtns | ||||
| of such Bridge accordly And says that in his Judgmt & opinion the real hue & actual Cause | ||||
| of the sd Bridge being thrown down was the violent & unusual rapidity of the water in the | ||||
| aforesaid River which took a way & removed the Body of the Rubble Stones which had been | ||||
| deposited round the piers for the defence of the Cases of plank & Gauge piles as before | ||||
| mentd & by which means such Cases become exposed to the violence of the water & | ||||
| thereby suffered those Derangemts that the Rubble stones had been intended to defend | ||||
| them from & ultimately occationed the sd Bridge to be thrown down as afsd | ||||
| 4d | 156 | |||
Note: Reports of Witness Examinations 1786 p 3
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Transcribed by KS and CTW