Page:Walker (1888) The Severn Tunnel.djvu/164

Rh When the heading is driven, and a number of break-ups commenced along it, the great difficulty will be to take out the requisite number of skips of rock or other material filled from the lengths and the heading-face, and to take in the empty skips to be loaded, and to carry to the bricklayers the bricks and cement which they require; while at the same time there will constantly be timbers to be taken in to the miners.

Where the length to be travelled was short, this presented no great difficulty; but under the river about a mile of the work was done eastward from the shaft at Sudbrook, and about 1¼ miles westward from the shaft at Sea-Wall.

For the length done from Sudbrook, the gradient falling towards the shaft, there was laid up the 9-ft. barrel, throughout the whole of its length, a double road of 1-ft. 9-in. gauge, so that the skips could travel on the up or down road; but beyond the end of the 9-ft barrel, where the break-ups were commenced, the road had to be arranged in a series of single roads and turn-outs or sidings, to allow the skips to pass each other. The roads being thus arranged, the hauling was done by stout ponies from 13 to 13½ hands high, and these ponies became most intelligent at their work, and knew exactly what to do, even as well as the men themselves.

On the other side of the river, however, where all the material had to be taken out up a gradient of 1 in 100, it was much more difficult to take out the