Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Wandsworth, Metropolitan Borough]
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asked for. The ducts for the distributing cables are to be placed
either under the footpaths, or under the tramway margins, or under
the clearway between the two tracks. As nearly the whole of the
footpaths in Defoe Road and Garratt Lane has only recently been
re-paved, the Borough Council hopes that the County Council will
arrange for the ducts to be laid in the carriageway.
93. With regard to the paving, the County Council proposes that
the part of the road between the tramway rails should be paved
with granite setts, as difficulties are likely to arise if wood is used
between the rails owing to the closing of the slot by the expansion of
the wood. Outside public buildings, churches, &c., some form of silent
paving will be employed if the road authority so desires. The County
Council only proposes to pave the margins of the tramways for a width
of 18 inches with wood or granite to correspond with the remainder
of the surface of the roadway. A large part of the thoroughfares is
at present macadamised, and in the opinion of the Borough Council
the whole of the carriageways outside the rails should be paved with
wood and of the footpaths with artificial stone.
94. The new tramways (b) and (c) are to be constructed as double
lines throughout, and the County Council proposes to re-construct the
existing tramways in York Road as double lines, except (1) between
Morie Street and Edgel Street and (2) between Ferrier Street and
Alma Road, where it is intended to arrange the existing single line
portions as interlaced lines. In the case of the first mentioned
exception sufficient width of road could be obtained for a double
line by acquiring the forecourts of the property abutting on the road
in the same way as the County Council proposes to widen the
adjoining sections of the road. In the other instance, if a double
line were adopted, the outer rail of the tramway would for a length of
about 50 yards be less than the statutory distance of 9 ft. 6 ins. from
the kerb, but the necessary consents thereto could, no doubt, be
obtained. Inconvenience and danger are likely to arise if the system
of interlaced lines is adopted, and the Borough Council does not
therefore favour its introduction.
95. The Borough Council decided not to object to the proposed
system of electrical traction upon condition—
(a) That the feeder pillars and point levers be placed in such
positions as the Borough Council may approve so that they may not
obstruct the traffic, that the levers be arranged so that the handles work