Aqueduct crowned world 'wonder'

[Hairy-Neil]

If you do read the blurb attributed to Telford - the agent and so the man who was then in charge of publicity and spin when the aqueduct open you find the one thing he was good at was self promotion.

 

Yes, he was a master of blowing his own trumpet, he also founded the Institute of Civil Engineers as they wouldn't have him in the Royal Society.....

[magpie patrick]

Not really. Pontcysyllte was just a chain of similar aqueducts supported on stone pillars.

 

 

Which marks one of the fundamental differences. The Derby Aqueduct sat with both ends on the ground, it was in effect a ground level structure with the stream going under it.

 

Jessops track record with Cast Iron was not good, either by quantity or quality. From about 1793 onwards he didn't make much use of it except for tram rails. In 1806 he built a bridge over Bristol Dock using cast iron, which promptly collapsed. He blamed superintendent errors, but then changed the design for the rebuild. He had Wolverton Aqueduct built of Cast Iron, at the insistence of Banks, the GJC resident engineer, This was because Jessops first attempt at a masonry aqueduct had collapsed. In fact, Jessops track record with masonry structures wasn't great, as one of his aqueducts on the Cromford Canal also collapsed.

 

While Jessop was doing this, Telford had built Buildwas Bridge and Longden on Tern Aqueduct (both cast iron) without any involvement from Jessop. Going back to the fundamental difference between Pontcysyllte and Derby, those piers, up to 120 feet high, made of masonry, to reduce the weight, they are hollow at the top, allowing them to be more slender at the base, and they support those cast iron spans. Two men were undoubtedly involved, Telford and Jessop, but isn't it more likely the real driving force was the man who had succesfuly built significant cast iron bridges and aqueducts in the preceding few years, and was county surveyor to Shropshire since 1790 with many succesful masonry structures to his name, or the one who had two masonry aqueducts and a cast iron bridge collapse on him at about the same time?

 

I wouldn't go as far as to say that Jessop lacked probity, he was a good engineer at ground level (even Hadfield concedes he preferred locks to cuttings or tunnels) but he was a bit of an also ran, and rather laid back in his supervisory duties. He signed off Bank's plans for the Grand Junction with barely any alteration, and was later severely criticised by Milne for the problems of water supply on the canal, particularly the Wendover Arm: Milne claimed it to be a "consumer by absorption and evaporation rather than a feeder". He was shown to be very right indeed on that one.

 

And that's just the failures of Jessops engineering, he was badly disorganised as well: overpaying contractors on the Cromford by over £1000, and being unable to recover the money when they did a moonlight flit to the Glamorgan Canal, and taking water to feed the GJ without authorisation.

 

As for taking the rap as well as the credit, when the Cromford Aqueduct collapsed Jessop did concede "I blame no one but myself", but when the dock wall at Limehouse collapsed he sacked his resident engineer and laid the blame at his door, similarly for that cast iron bridge in Bristol.

 

Hadfield bases his conclusion partly by blinding himself to Jessops obvious failings but also by assuming that the chief or principal engineer should take all the credit for every aspect, yet then, as now, the CE does not get his hands dirty with the scheme, is seldom the innovator or designer, but is more a consultant. casting his eye over what is happening. Jessop wasn't even very good at that.

 

 

 

Yes, he was a master of blowing his own trumpet, he also founded the Institute of Civil Engineers as they wouldn't have him in the Royal Society.....

 

He founded the ICE because it's predecessor, the Society of Engineers, was in disarray. The main reason for this was that Jessop had been a member or it...

[Pluto]

I wouldn't go as far as to say that Jessop lacked probity, he was a good engineer at ground level (even Hadfield concedes he preferred locks to cuttings or tunnels) but he was a bit of an also ran, and rather laid back in his supervisory duties. He signed off Bank's plans for the Grand Junction with barely any alteration, and was later severely criticised by Milne for the problems of water supply on the canal, particularly the Wendover Arm: Milne claimed it to be a "consumer by absorption and evaporation rather than a feeder". He was shown to be very right indeed on that one.

Water supply is where you can really tell who is a good canal engineer. Keeping the summit level low by using tunnels and cuttings often produced a much better result than additional locks, as it allowed the canal to be supplied with water from a much larger area. It was the ability to estimate the level of the summit, balancing cost of construction against available water which was the canal engineer's real skill. Given that, the best canals carried much greater tonnages than originally proposed, and it was this which resulted in many of their water supply problems.

 

Even today, people underestimate the importance of water supply. I was always amazed that the Rochdale Canal was restored with so little thought to water. Most of its reservoirs had been sold off in the 1920s, resulting in the current limitations on using the canal.

[mayalld]

Even today, people underestimate the importance of water supply. I was always amazed that the Rochdale Canal was restored with so little thought to water. Most of its reservoirs had been sold off in the 1920s, resulting in the current limitations on using the canal.

 

It is all part of the game!

 

The restoration would be far too expensive if you actually fixed the water supply.

 

So you ignore it, to get the money invested.

 

Then a couple of years down the line, you try for more money to sort out the supply, playing the "well, if we don't all that first lot of money will have been wasted" card.

[CanalWalker]

I prefer John Rennie

[Josher]

It has taken a little while ...

 

WAG project aims to boost Flintshire and North Wales tourism

 

Feb 3 2011 Flintshire Chronicle Flintshire Chronicle

 

AN ARMY of ambassadors is being recruited to boost tourism in Flintshire and across North Wales. The impetus to train new tour guides came from the designation of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal as a World Heritage Site. It means the region is now ranked alongside the likes of The Pyramids in Egypt, the Great Barrier Reef and North Wales castles such as Caernarfon and Conwy. After they’re trained, the tour guides will be able to operate in Wrexham, Denbighshire and Flintshire. Training is being provided by Coleg Llandrillo Cymru and Tourism Partnership North Wales, the organisation responsible for the strategic development of the region’s visitor economy.

 

According to Dewi Davies, the regional strategy director of Tourism Partnership North Wales, it is vital the area capitalized on the aqueduct and canal being designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. “We are looking for local people who are committed to North East Wales so that they can champion their own communities,” he said. “The visitor economy is even more important when times are tough. The volume and the value of the sector has been holding up whilst the contribution of many other sectors has been going down in value. “These days more people are staying at home for their main holidays and taking day trips from the conurbations of Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham. “North Wales is very familiar to those communities and it is important that our customers get a fresh and more meaningful look and tour guides can provide that greater insight. “They can bring the whole experience to life for visitors.” He added: “Our objective is to provide a brilliant experience that stands out when our visitors go back home, so they tell their friends and persuade them to follow in their footsteps.”

 

The idea came from Heritage Minister Alun Ffred Jones and the £17,000 funding for the programme is coming from the Welsh Assembly Government. The course starts at the end of March, and those who complete all three levels will attend one day a week for 25 weeks. Nia Jones, the head of travel and tourism at Coleg Llandrillo Cymru, said: “We want to create an army of ambassadors who are passionate about promoting the area. “Our aim is to enhance tour guiding skills, and at the end of the course, these people can market themselves and work as freelance tour guides.”

 

For more information, contact Nia Jones on 01492 546666 or email n.jones@llandrillo.ac.uk.

[Josher]

Latest ...

 

Guides look to keep tourists flocking in.The leader Published date: 17 February 2011 |

 

RISING from the mist some 130ft above the Dee Valley, Telford’s majestic arches are a breathtaking sight on this winter morning. The incredible feat of engineering that is Pontcysyllte Aqueduct forms the centrepiece of an 11-mile stretch of canal designated a World Heritage Site in 2009. From the Horseshoe Falls in Llangollen to Gledrid in Chirk, the route takes in some of the region’s most breathtaking scenery and is surrounded by some of its most important historical sites.

 

Tourism chiefs are keen to make the most of the additional visitors World Heritage Status is sure to attract and a new course aims to create knowledgeable guides to help these sightseers make the most of their visit. Bryn Hughes, from Glyn Ceiriog, is a Green Badge tourist guide. He will be lending his experience to the course, developed by Coleg Llandrillo Cymru with Tourism Partnership North Wales and funded by the Welsh Assembly Government. “You can train to work on a specific area, such as Llangollen and Pontcysyllte,” said Bryn. “Or train to full Green Badge level, which enables you to cover the whole of North Wales. “There is already a group of us (Green Badge guides) – about 12 in all – working full and part-time and this is an effort to train up more people to work in this area and especially with the World Heritage Site. “If students choose to, they can go on to study other aspects of local history – Wrexham industry, the Marches, Valle Crucis, castles, Welsh princes, Owain Glyndwr.”

 

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct was designated a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) in 2009. The structure, built by Thomas Telford and William Jessop, is a huge feat of engineering and is the longest and highest aqueduct in Britain. Other World Heritage Sites including Stonehenge, the Great Wall of China and the Taj Mahal.

 

Bryn continued: “World Heritage Status has certainly brought people in. “Wrexham, in particular, is hoping to draw people in from other areas and that is when the tour guides will come in. “We are looking at providing tours along the 11-mile stretch. We tried a couple during heritage week last year, which went very well, and we will be doing more as part of Wrexham’s Year of Culture.” There are a number of ongoing plans to boost tourism in the region. “There’s so much going on in the area,” said Bryn. “The Dragon Tower in Chirk, which you’d hope will bring people into the area; the marina plan for Cefn Mawr and the plans for the Glyn Valley Tramway. “The World Heritage Status is still pretty new and we are hoping to develop ideas along the route.”

 

There has been an excellent response to the tour guide course and organisers at Llandrillo College have been inundated with applications. Nia Jones, head of travel and tourism at the college, said: “We’ve been inundated with initial inquiries from across the board – Wrexham, Flintshire and Denbighshire – which was exactly what we were looking for. “The applicants are from a range of backgrounds and there’s an age range from 30 to 76.”

[Tiny]

I see they have all but erased Jessop from the history as Telford built it with his bare hands. Persons advertizing the structure regularly dress as Telford but not one as Jessop. Shades of the film 'Who shot Liberty Valence?'

 

Incidentally for self publicity Telfords report on his new Harecastle tunnel takes some beating.

Edited February 17, 2011 by Tiny