View report page

4
retained until the efficiency of the new works had been tested by a
high tide, thereby endorsing and confirming the views of this
Board, who thereupon declined to remove them. The necessity for
their retention was afterwards abundantly shown on the occurrence
of high tides on the 27th and 28th October, 1882, on both of
which days the tide rose to a height of about 4 feet 9 inches above
Trinity high water mark, and but for the protection afforded by
the inner dams the district would have been flooded to a serious
extent. At each recurring tide the water forced its way through
the new dams, the river wall, and the roadway of Bankside, in
considerable quantities, more than two feet in depth being lodged
opposite Emerson Street. It was, however, effectually kept in
check by the inner dams, and no damage was done. Erected in
the first instance at the suggestion of Mr. Arnold Goodwin, in the
year 1876, these dams have been the means of averting inundations
on no less than twenty-three occasions. In February, 1883,
additional flood-works were, in compliance with notices received
from the Metropolitan Board, executed by this Board at St. Mary
Overy's Dock, Bankend, Rose Alley, Emerson Street, and Moss
Alley, where, on the occasion of the high tides referred to, the
chief imperfections had been found to exist. The Metropolitan
Board also put down gullies in Bankside in direct communication
with their main sewers, hoping thereby to carry off any slight
overflow or leakage. Whether the means which they have
adopted will eventually prove to be efficacious remains to be seen.
This Board, as before stated, has no desire to retain the inner
barriers longer than may be necessary; but, having regard to the
experimental nature of the new works, the uncertainty of the
shifting dams which have been sanctioned for the convenience of
wharfingers, and the very serious consequences which would ensue
in the event of failure, it does not feel justified in discontinuing
them for the present.
South
Eastern
Railway
(New Lines
and Wideninga)
Bill.
The South Eastern Railway (New Lines and Widenings) Bill,
mentioned in this Board's last Annual Report, has become Law,
having received the Royal Assent on the 18th August, 1882. The
clauses which, at the instance of this Board and the Vestries
affected by the Bill, had, for the protection of the local interests,