The life of George Stephenson, railway engineer - Lighthouse ...

CHAP. XXV.] THE KILSBY TUNNEL. 301
" The tunnel, thirty feet high by thirty feet broad, arched at
the top as well as the bottom, was formed of bricks laid in ce-
ment, and the bricklayers were progressing in ' lengths ' averag-
ing twelv« feet, when those who were nearest the quicksand, on
driving into the roof, were suddenly almost overwhelmed by a
deluge of water which burst in upon them. As it was evident
that no time was to be lost, a gang of workmen, protected by the
extreme power of the engines, were, with their materials, placed
on a raft ; and while, with the utmost celerity, they were com-
pleting the walls of that short length, the water, in spite of every
effort to keep it down, rose with such rapidity that, at the conclu-
sion of the work, the men were so near being jammed against the
roof, that the assistant engineer, Mr. Charles Lean, in charge of
the party, jumped overboard, and then, swimming with a rope in
his mouth, he towed the raft to the foot of the nearest working
shaft, through which he and his men were safely lifted up into
daylight, or, as it is termed by miners, ' to grass.'
" The water now rose in the shaft, and, as it is called ' drowned
out ' the works. For a considerable time all the pumping ap-
paratus appeared to be insufficient. Indeed, the effort threatened
to be so hopeless, that the directors of the company almost deter-
mined to abandon it ; but the engineer-in-chief, relying on the
power of his engines, prayed for one fortnight more. Before
that period expired, science triumphed over her subterranean
foe, and—thanks to the inventors of the steam-engine—the
water gradually lowered.
" By the main strength of 1250 men, 200 horses, and thirteen
steam-engines, not only was the work gradually completed, but
daring night and day, for eight months, the astonishing and almost
incredible quantity of 1800 gallons per minute from the quick-
sand alone was raised by Mr. Robert Stephenson, and conducted
away!
" The time occupied, from the laying of the first brick to the
completion of the work, was thirty months. The number of
bricks used was 36,000,000—sufficient to make a good footpath
from London to Aberdeen (missing the Forth) a yard broad !
The cost of executing the Kilsby Tunnel was, in consequence
of these formidable and unforeseen difficulties, increased from
90,000/. (the amount of the original estimate) to about 350,000/.
"