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#434530 28th Sep 2010 12:09am
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Following on from a (much) earlier thread about the Tranmere / Borough Road overflow tunnels, I have typed out the following from a primary source. They are proceedings from a sub-committee from 1930. This first part is the Town Clerk's memo; I'll post the Borough Engineer's report shortly.

I have checked the content for typos etc but any remaining are down to me smile

-----------------------------------------------------

1930

Probable future commitments of the Corporation in connection with Sewerage and certain other matters.

Memorandum of the Town Clerk

The accompanying information has been compiled upon the instructions of the Council, and will be considered by a Special Committee on the 12th December 1930.
It is understood that particulars are required not only of the sewerage schemes which give rise to the matter, but also of any other important developments for which the Council should be prepared.

Sewerage.

The following brief description of the sewerage system of the Borough should be borne in mind in considering the matter:
The Borough is sewered on the combined system and the carriage is by gravitation to the River Mersey. There are no pumping or screening arrangements such as are often necessary in other Towns. The following are the outlets into the River Mersey:-

(a) Outfall No. 1. The Great Culvert which is laid under Corporation Road and drains about 1,570 acres of the Borough and also receives (1) the discharge of the Fender Valley sewer, (2) the waters of the River Birkett, and (3) the water discharged from Graving Docks on the Dock Estate.
(b) Outfall No. 2. adjoining the Woodside Ferry and serving an area of about 30 acres near the Ferry Approach.
(c) Outfall No. 3. The Grange Vale Sewer which drains an area of about 714 acres.
(d) Outfall No. 4. The Green Lane Sewer which drains an area of about 562 acres.
(e) Outfall No. 5. The St. Paul’s Road Sewer which drains about 30 acres and acts at times for the relief of the Green Lane Sewer.
(f) Outfall No. 6. adjoining Rock Park and draining an area of about 149 acres.
(g) Outfall No. 7. The “Dell” Sewer which drains an area of about 73 acres.

It is inevitable that each year should show an increased demand upon the sewers. Not only building operations but the greater use of water for baths &c. contribute to the demand.
In November 1913, the Corporation in their Memorial to the Local Government Board for an extension of boundaries stated “Owing to building developments within the Borough and certain of the districts immediately adjoining further provision will shortly have to be made to deal with the storm water from certain districts.”
The Report of the Borough Engineer (sent herewith) sets out particulars of the scheme for dealing with the sewerage of the southern portions of the Borough.

The Mersey Docks & Harbour Board have gradually adopted the view that they should endeavour to prevent the discharge of crude sewage into the River Mersey. In 1921 they succeeded in requiring the Bromborough Urban District Council to separate and remove solids before discharge into a new outfall, and since then they have endeavoured to place the same condition upon other Local Authorities.
As a result of the Dock Board’s opposition to the Birkenhead Extension Bill 1927 the following section was inserted by Parliament in the Act :- “65(1) The Corporation shall not after the passing of this Act, unless authorised by Act of Parliament or Provisional Order confirmed by Parliament, construct any new sewage outfall into the River Mersey so as to discharge sewage (other than surface or storm water) into the said River, unless such sewage shall prior to such discharge have been screened so as to remove therefrom all solid matter”.

The Local Authorities in the Merseysides area have also agreed to an Inquiry into the Dock Board’s contentions as to the effect of crude sewage upon the River. The Dock Board have engaged seven well-known experts to investigate the matter and a print of their report has been placed at the disposal of each Local Authority. The recommendation of these experts is that the sewage should be purified before discharge. This report is now being examined by experts on behalf of the Local Authorities.
If by any means the Corporation are placed under the necessity of separating solids before discharging sewage into the River, a considerable outlay of money will be involved.

River Birkett Drainage. The Great Culvert (referred to above) was constructed under an act of 1844 by the Birkenhead Dock Commissioners under a statutory obligation “for the purpose of carrying off the drainage waters which now usually flow through the said Pool (i.e. Wallasey Pool) from above Warrington’s Bridge”. The water which flowed into the Pool at that time was discharged by the River Birkett and its tributaries the Arrowe and Fender.
Previous to the construction of the Great Culvert the Town sewers discharged into Wallasey Pool; but, on the construction of the Docks, the sewage from Birkenhead was discharged into the Great Culvert as soon as it was completed and this has continued ever since.
It would appear that the Corporation of Wallasey are desirous of dealing with the surface water drainage of the Moreton area by discharging it into the River Birkett. Counsel have expressed the opinion that under the interpretation of the Act of 1844 the Great Culvert should be used only for receiving the waters of the River Birkett.

-------------------------------------------

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MrG65 #434533 28th Sep 2010 12:19am
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Nice one dude. V. Interesting read.

RUDEBOX #434535 28th Sep 2010 12:25am
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I've been trying to find out more about the great culvert, I haven't managed to chase down "Warrington's Bridge".

The culvert is huge - something like 12 ft diameter and 3 miles long.


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Stop messing about and give us the next installment laugh is that the old Penny Farthing bridge.

davew3 #434622 28th Sep 2010 3:33pm
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Thanks, MrG65; I look forward to the Borough Engineer's report in the hope that it may throw some light on the Borough Rd. overflow sewer.


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Originally Posted by diggingdeeper
I've been trying to find out more about the great culvert, I haven't managed to chase down "Warrington's Bridge".

The culvert is huge - something like 12 ft diameter and 3 miles long.


As it happens, I've got an old report from 1954 on the Great Culvert. I'll copy it up in due course. I did notice on a plan attached to the report that the location of "Warrington's Bridge" was shown.

MrG65 #434677 28th Sep 2010 7:12pm
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Ok here's the Borough Engineer's main report - all the thinking behind the Borough Road overflow sewer revealed!

There is a further section to the Report, dealing with the 5 year forward programme of works and listing about 60 schemes (buildings, roads, sewers etc), together with cost estimates, that the Corporation intended to implement during that period. It's not really relevant to this thread, though, but I might copy it up for completeness at some point.

Report follows.........................


To The Chairman & Members
of the Special Sub-Committee.

Gentlemen,

SEWERAGE – SOUTHERN PORTION OF BOROUGH

In accordance with instructions I beg to report with respect to the main drainage of the southern portion of the area tributary to Borough Road sewer, and in particular in regard to the portion of the Orred Estate bounded by Borough Road, Storeton Road, Prenton Road West and the Borough boundary, which forms the greater part of the undeveloped land in this part of this drainage area.

It will, I think, make the matter under consideration more clear if I first describe what has already been done in regard to the lower portion of this drainage area.

The total area tributary to the Borough Road, and Grange Vale outfall sewer comprises about 707 acres and in 1899 Mr. Brownridge submitted to the Road and Improvement Committee a scheme for dealing with the main drainage of this area by enlarging the Grange Vale sewer and constructing a second sewer as a supplementary to the existing sewer in the lower or more northern portion of Borough Road, and at that time indicated that the future drainage of the southern portion of the area should be diverted through Tranmere Hill in an easterly direction to the River. The late Mr. John T. Wood, an eminent Consulting Engineer, then practising in Liverpool, was called in to report upon Mr. Brownridge’s scheme, which he approved and supported.

The supplementary sewer and other works then suggested were in 1904 and 1905 constructed from the Tranmere Pool to Whetstone Lane by the Corporation, and at the same time the Grange Vale sewer was extended by the Dock Board under the ship yard to the river wall.

In 1907 Mr. Brownridge submitted a further scheme for dealing with the remaining portion of this drainage area, and divided his suggested works into two sections, the first section provided for the construction of a supplementary sewer along Borough Road from Whetstone Lane to Glover Street and the second section provided for the construction of a sewer commencing in Borough Road opposite Temple Road, passing thence in a southerly direction along Borough Road to a point about 227 yards to the south of Prenton Road East (near what is now Everest Road) thence across the fields and under the junction of Church Road and Bebington Road, Victoria Park, down a short length of Albany Road, Well Lane and St. Paul’s Road to the river; thus diverting an area of about 240 acres from the Borough Road drainage area, as had also been provided for when designing the work carried out in 1905.

In laying out the Tranmere Hall Estate, Everest Road has been made sufficiently wide to admit of the more economical construction of this suggested sewer in that road.

At this time the existing sewer in St. Paul’s Road had been found insufficient to carry off the sewage and storm water from the area tributary to it, and the new outfall then proposed was designed to provide for the drainage of the local area as well as the area to be diverted from Borough Road.

The first section of this scheme comprising the supplementary sewer from Whetstone Lane to Glover Street was completed in 1926, and the supplementary sewers and other works which have been constructed up to date between the river and Glover Street are found to be sufficient to carry off throughout this length all except the most extraordinary rainfalls.

It should be noted in passing that in dealing with the main drainage of large areas, it is usually possible to arrange for a portion of the sewage and storm water when the ordinary sewers become surcharged during periods of exceptional rainfall, and when the sewage has become very much diluted, to be run off by means of storm water overflows into adjacent brooks or streams; but in Borough Road where there is no such stream, the sewer has to deal with the sewage and the whole of the rainfall, and as it would not be a justifiable expenditure to make the sewer large enough to carry off the sewage and the extraordinary amount of rainfall which may occur on rare occasions, the present sewers are not guaranteed to eliminate every possibility of flooding on these exceptional occasions.

At the present time there are a few occasions each summer when during exceptionally heavy rainfall, when the existing sewer in the portion of Borough Road between Glover Street and Singleton Avenue becomes surcharged and overflows onto the carriageway, but no advantage would now be obtained from the extension of the supplementary sewer beyond Glover Street as it would only transfer the flooding now experienced to the lower portion of Borough Road where the existing sewers are not of sufficient capacity to carry off the large amount of water draining from the southern portion of the tributary area.

In considering the drainage of the southern portion of the area, I have had levels taken and sections prepared from which I find it is possible to drain 44½ acres out of the 53¼ acres comprising the Corporation’s Orred Estate on the westerly side of Borough Road, by the construction of a sewer along Mount Road and Bedford Drive to the existing sewer at the top of Albany Road, and this sewer would carry off the drainage of 520 houses out of the 632 houses which can be erected on this portion of the Estate. The cost of this sewer would be about £7,000, and owing to the configuration of the land the main sewers on the Estate connecting with it would have to be laid deeper than would be required if the Estate were drained into the existing sewer in Borough Road, and this would involve a further extra expenditure of approximately £1,000 over the cost of ordinary sewering for Estate purposes into the existing Borough Road Sewer. This scheme which has recently been advocated would also leave a large area to be drained into the Borough Road sewer, for which provision has not been made, and would – when the whole of the land in the area is fully developed – lead to an increased amount of flooding in Borough Road and consequently I cannot recommend the proposal.

With a view to ascertaining how far it is possible to avoid having to construct a sewer through Tranmere Hill, I have had levels taken and sections prepared for the construction of a sewer commencing at the junction of Storeton Road and Prenton Road West by tapping the existing sewer in Storeton Road at this point, and then being continued in a southerly direction along Storeton Road until it reaches the nearest point of the Orred Estate, thence passing in a south-easterly direction through the Estate to Borough Road at its junction with Mount Road, thence continuing along Mount Road and Bedford Drive to the existing in Albany Road.

I find that this sewer in a portion of Storeton Road would have to be constructed at a depth of 31 ft. and where it passes under the junction of Mount Road and Bedford Drive at a depth of 20 ft. and it would cost approximately £25,000.

This would still leave a residue of the southerly portion of the Borough Road drainage area tributary to the existing Borough Road sewer, which, when fully developed, would have the effect of causing flooding of a not less serious character than that which takes place in the portion of Borough Road between Singleton Avenue and Glover Street at the present time, consequently, I am driven to the conclusion that the Corporation would not now be justified in departing from the original proposal to construct a sewer through Tranmere Hill for efficiently and satisfactorily dealing with the drainage of this southern portion of the tributary area.

As previously mentioned, a considerable amount of flooding takes place in Well Lane and St. Paul’s Road at the present time owing to the existing sewer being of insufficient capacity to carry off the drainage tributary to it, and with the development which is now taking place on the Albany Road and Dacre Hill Housing Sites, the Bedford Park Estate, and on small portions of previously undeveloped lands adjacent thereto, the flooding already taking place in St. Paul’s Road and Well Lane will be greatly intensified, during periods of heavy rainfall, and apart altogether from the addition of any drainage which may be brought into this outfall sewer from the Borough Road area, it is now necessary to construct a new and larger outfall sewer in place of the existing sewer.

In fact, I am of opinion that the existing flooding will in this way be so intensified that I must advise the Estates and Development Committee not to erect any houses on the Orred Estate on the westerly side of Borough Road until a sufficient outfall sewer has been provided to carry off the drainage from such development.

The new outfall sewer which I now advise should be constructed for carrying off the main drainage of the portion of the Borough Road drainage area to the south of Temple Road, should commence in Borough Road at the bottom of Temple Road and, as previously described, pass along Borough Road in a southerly direction to Everest Road, then turning in an easterly direction, pass under Everest Road and Victoria Park and the intervening land to a point in the lower portion of Albany Road, then along Albany Road, Well Lane and St. Paul’s Road to the river, where it would have to be carried to a point below low-water mark. The necessity for this scheme of work has been admitted by Mr. Midgeley Taylor and Mr. Brownridge in connection with the Corporation’s applications to Parliament for Borough Extensions in 1920 and 1927.

It is estimated that the cost of this work at the present time will be about £85,000 for the section of sewer on foreshore in St. Paul’s Road, Well Lane and a short length of Albany Road, but exclusive of any settling tanks or other works which may be insisted on at the instance of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, and which may cost a very large amount, but in respect of which no approximate estimate can be prepared until some agreement has been arrived at between the Ministry of Health, the Dock Board and the Riparian Authorities, and £40,000 for the second portion through Victoria Park, Everest Road and Borough Road to Temple Road, but until detailed drawings have been prepared it is not possible to give a close estimate of these costs, and I would remind the Committee that within the last few years the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board have been making a determined effort to induce the Ministry of Health to require all sewage flowing into the River Mersey to be clarified by the removal of solids or other treatment, and that the sewage should be stored so that it would only be discharged into the river on the ebb tide, and the extent to which the enforcement of these requirements may be sanctioned by the Ministry of Health will have a very material bearing on the cost of the work.

.........................................................


MrG65 #434679 28th Sep 2010 7:11pm
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thumbsup that explains why there are no major access covers at the bottom of Everest - they will be at the bottom of temple road.

Thanks mate happy


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Well done MrG65 !! Quite some task to have copied that lot out. A most comprehensive report. It answers some questions a few of us have been chewing over for a couple of years.

Many thanks !!

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Thank you very much for your efforts, MrG65. The engineer's report raises a couple of interesting points.
Remembering that it is from 1930, at that time, the Tranmere Hall Estate, including Everest Rd. had been built, but there are references to "the Corporation's Orred estate" which essentially was bounded by Prenton Rd. West, Borough Rd., Storeton Rd. & somewhere about Cheviot Rd. The report refers to "632 houses which can be erected on this portion of the estate", which must be what is now the Mount Estate. This was not actually built until 1946/47, so it's interesting to know that it was planned much earlier.
It is interesting to see that the idea of the overflow tunnel through Tranmere hill had been considered as early as 1899.
The real puzzle is; why start the overflow tunnel at Temple Rd. & then backtrack to Everest Rd. Why not just start at Everest Rd.?
The report ties in nicely with the research I did on the overflow tunnel (Wirral History, page 5. Borough Rd. Overflow Tunnel).
Maybe someone local could have a look at the manholes on Borough Rd. at Temple Rd. & see if there are any of the distinct pattern of the ones used in Everest Rd. & Victoria Park. (over to you, DD)
Thanks again, MrG65.


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[quote=MrG65][quote=diggingdeeper]I've been trying to find out more about the great culvert, I haven't managed to chase down "Warrington's Bridge".


Attached Images
warringtons bridge.jpg (291.05 KB, 288 downloads)
off a map that was on wiki
derekdwc #434769 28th Sep 2010 11:15pm
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Because of the apostrophe, I suspect that there was a firm called Warrington's that the bridge was named after.


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me and d.d. had a quick look at the manhole covers tonight on our way somewhere else! sure he will post up soon!


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Beat you to it Chris, I took these pictures before you asked. I'll do this in 5 separate posts so they don't get too mixed up.

On Borough Road at bottom of Temple Road - 2 manholes and a fat stench pipe!

Junction of Borough Road and Prenton Road West/East - 3 manholes

On Borough Road on pavement outside Tranmere Rovers - 2 manholes (probably Gas)

On Borough Road at bottom of Mallory Road - 1 manhole

On Borough Road at bottom of Everest Road - 3 manholes and a fat stench pipe!



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On Borough Road at bottom of Temple Road - 2 manholes and a fat stench pipe!

Attached Images
t-DSCF1231-s.jpg (128.61 KB, 257 downloads)
t-DSCF1232-s.jpg (119.05 KB, 273 downloads)
t-DSCF1233-s.jpg (100.21 KB, 276 downloads)
t-DSCF1247-s.jpg (79.07 KB, 278 downloads)

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