HIGHWAYS OF THE KINGDOM Report from the Select Committee on the Highways of the Kingdom: together with the minutes of evidence taken before them. London, House of Commons, 25 June, 1819
Small folio. 58pp, 2 engraved plates (dampstained). A few leaves browned. Seemly modern cloth, orig. printed blue wrappers bound in. The major step forward in road improvement between 1811, when the last committee on highways had sat, and 1819 lay in new methods of construction brought about by J.L.McAdam, particularly around Bristol, and by Thomas Telford on the Holyhead road. These improvements showed up the dire state of roads elsewhere, notably in London with which much of this report is concerned.Amongst the witnesses was James Walker who had been responsible for a number of major new London roads including the East India Road and the Commercial Road, both described here. They were exceptionally wide for the time (70 feet) and were divided into three parts, the centre of which was paved with granite for heavy traffic with gravelled sections on either side for lighter vehicles. Walker describes the types of granite used and the method of jointing and cementing the blocks and the arrangement of courses. He also recommends the use of granite chips rather than gravel for ordinary roads. Telford shows why so many roads were defective (inadequate foundations, incorrect slope, deficient drainage etc) and describes his own road design philosophy, particularly with regard to London roads, while McAdam gives an absorbing account of his whole career as a road maker. Amongst the other witnesses were John Farey, who described his work with roads on the Bedford estate at Woburn, while Benjamin Farey, surveyor of the Whitechapel Road, paints a graphic picture of why it was impossible to maintain it. The committee was the first to look into the management of the London turnpike trusts, concluding that these should be consolidated under one authority, though very little came of their recommendations.
£350
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