Hydraulic Power in the Port of London

Abstract

Hydraulic power was used extensively in the Port of London for over a hundred years. This survey attempts to explain the surviving remains in terms of the complications of the growth of hydraulic networks and the use of hydraulic machinery. Pumping station buildings and accumulator towers are considered in detail following a general historical outline. The reasons for the adoption of hydraulic power, in spite of the high capital cost, are discussed as is the rationalisation of the networks. The final section deals with cranes, capstans, swing bridges and other machinery.     

Monitoring of soil moisture in backfilled soil for conservation of an Ancestral Pueblo an great house in Chaco Canyon

Abstract

An automated monitoring station, with climate sensors and a three-dimensional array of soil moisture sensors, was installed to document moisture-content changes in backfilled soil covering an Ancestral Pueblo an ‘great house’ at Chaco Culture National Historic Park, New Mexico, USA. The objective was to evaluate the performance of a geomembrane installation in the soil. Prior to its installation of the geomembrane, we observed that precipitation in winter and spring penetrated only 60–90cm into the fill during the first year after backfilling. A significant amount of moisture evaporated from the surface during the summer months, consequently the driest region was at the surface. In the following twenty-four months we observed continued dissipation of the trapped moisture towards the surface. The installation of the geomembrane system during the second year maintained a stable and dry soil environment, indicating effective surface removal of precipitation and preventing moisture penetration deeper into the soil.     

Historic Scientific Relic Hidden in the Palazzo Vecchio

Abstract

In November 1667, the great clock in the tower of the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, began to strike the hours. It incorporated the horary inventions of Galileo Galilei, the pinwheel type of escapement and the pendulum regulator. The origin of this historic clock, its installation and subsequent history are here described and illustrated.     

Design and evaluation of hydraulic lime grouts for the reattachment of lime plasters on earthen walls

Abstract

A laboratory and field testing programme for the formulation and evaluation of hydraulic grouts was developed for the reattachment of lime plasters on earthen (adobe) walls. Formulations utilizing kaolin, hydraulic lime, ceramic microspheres, and fine silica sand, with and without the addition of an acrylic emulsion, were prepared and evaluated in a three-stage testing programme. Standard tests were employed to measure injectability, viscosity, set time, shrinkage, weight, splitting/tensile strength, water vapour transmission rate, and adhesive bond strength. Grout microstructure was comparatively examined using scanning electron microscopy. Of the 18 grout formulations tested, only one mixture composed of (parts by weight) 1 part microspheres, 1 part sand, 2 parts hydraulic lime, 10% part acrylic emulsion was found to meet all the essential performance criteria established.     

Land selection for irrigation in Al-Andalus,Spain (8th century a.d.)

Abstract

The Andalusi hydraulic systems of the Iberian Peninsula, constructed by Arabs and Berbers between a.d. 711 and the feudal conquest of Al-Andalus (11–15th centuries a.d.), are today among the most productive agricultural areas in Europe. Their current extension is the result of several enlargements made to the original Andalusi design, irrigating lands initially rejected by the first builders. Understanding the reasons that led Arabs and Berbers to select or reject lands for irrigation is essential for documenting the formation processes of these agricultural areas. Here the topic is approached using the hydraulic system of Ricote (Murcia, Spain) as a case study. Through hydraulic archaeology, excavations, and GIS, it is shown that deep, flat, well-insolated (i.e., exposed to sunlight), slightly saline, colluvial soils were preferred for irrigation while slopes, shady areas, floodplains, and highly saline soils were rejected. Optimizing the water supply for irrigation was not a top priority. The results highlight the need to consider topographical features when studying how past agrarian societies introduced irrigated agriculture to new environments.     

The Gallo-Roman sanctuary at Grand,France: II The protection and development of the amphitheatre

Abstract

The amphitheatre at the Gallo-Roman sanctuary in Grand (France, Département des Vosges) is an outstanding example given its non-Mediterranean location. The clearing of rubble from its remains, between 1963 and 1977, led to the masonry deteriorating rapidly due to weathering. The installation over part of the monument of a protective covering, incorporating tiers of seating, constitutes a technological first, as it is made of glued-laminated softwood constructed to demanding specifications. The covering serves to protect and reconstruct part of the amphitheatre, in which it is now intended to hold cultural events. This type of development requires careful planning regarding practical arrangements, marketing strategy and artistic issues.     

A programme for the conservation of architectural plasters in earthen ruins in the American Southwest: Fort Union National Monument,New Mexico,USA

Abstract

Plasters constitute an important component of many ruined architectural and archaeological sites. Methods for their in situ conservation have lagged far behind the field treatment of other materials due to their ephemeral nature and the lack of programmatic laboratory and field research. A preservation strategy involving documentation, stabilization, interpretation and maintenance offers a methodological approach adaptable to most contexts. A pilot conservation programme is described for the stabilization and interpretation of the lime plasters within the nineteenth-century adobe ruins of Fort Union National Monument in New Mexico. Methods of documentation, emergency stabilization, injection hydraulic lime grouting and mortar repairs are described.     

Resistance,Charity, and Rebirth in Roberto Rossellini's Rome,Open City

Abstract

With its use of contemporary events, location shots, and a plot that mixes comedy, tragedy, and passion play, Roberto Rossellini's 1945 film Rome, Open City founded the movement known as “Italian Neo-Realism.” The film vividly presents the Christian teaching on the relation between religion and politics. Rossellini asserts that a Christian Europe can be reconstructed only on a foundation of charity rather than hate, vengeance, or even justified punishment for Nazi crimes. It is not on the basis of tales of resistance that Italians and Europeans can be reborn, Rossellini argues, but on the basis of the Christian command to “love your enemies.” European rebirth means the installation of a moral order that makes parenthood feasible and respectable. By reflecting on Rossellini's masterpiece, I examine the triumph and the tragedy of the Christian Democratic Europe that Rome, Open City foretold and helped to found.     

The Curse of Cromwell: Warrington's Statue of Oliver Cromwell

Abstract

The revision of the historical reputation of Oliver Cromwell in the Victorian period associated with writers such as Thomas Carlyle was expressed in many forms, in histories and biographies, novels, public lectures, magazine articles, and also in the erection of outdoor public statues. Two Cromwell statues were erected in the North of England, Manchester in 1875 and Warrington in 1899. This article traces the history and responses to the installation of the statue of Cromwell, sculpted by John Bell, in Warrington. The gift of a prominent local Liberal businessman, the statue exposed divisions within the community, reinforcing the view that the reassessment of Cromwell's status and place in the making of modern Britain was far from settled. Opposition to the scheme was especially evident within the town's substantial Irish community.     

Organic Loss in Drained Wetland Monuments: Managing the Carbon Footprint

Abstract

The recent installation of land drains at Star Carr, Yorkshire, UK, has been linked with loss of preservation quality in this important Mesolithic buried landscape, challenging the PARIS principle. Historically captured organic carbon, including organic artefacts, is being converted to soluble organic compounds and less soluble carbon gases. At the same time sulphur and nitrogen compounds are oxidized to species that are chemically destructive of artefacts and ecofacts. Two of the carbon products, CO₂ and methane, are ‘greenhouse gases’ whose environmental impact can be costed in terms of carbon equivalents, which can be set against an assessment of the gain in agricultural productivity of the land arising from drainage, at Star Carr being the improved cereal crop. Wetland studies elsewhere suggest that such decay processes could be slowed by restoring the historic soil environment, and even reversed to create carbon capture, enabling the farmer to claim carbon credits.     

Site conservation during excavation: treatment of masonry,wall plaster and floor mosaic remains of a Byzantine church in Petra,Jordan

Abstract

The conservation treatments carried out between June 1992 and August 1993 on the architectural remains of a Byzantine basilica in Petra, Jordan, during and immediately after the excavation are described. The treatments completed during excavation included: stabilization and consolidation of certain sections of the basilica's sandstone ashlar masonry; cleaning and consolidation of the unpainted lime wall plaster decorating the basilica interior; cleaning and consolidation in situ of the extensive remains of a figurative mosaic pavement in the two side aisles, and the fragmentary remains of the opus sectile pavement in the central aisle. The consolidation treatments included injection grouting using hydraulic mortar mixes produced in Italy, and mortar repairs using slaked lime and hydraulic lime. The existence of the mosaic required preventive conservation measures during the excavation, such as the construction of a temporary shelter over the site during the winter, the use of temporary protective facings over damaged areas of the mosaic, as well as the temporary backfilling of the mosaic with soil over a layer of geotextile in order to protect the mosaic between the initial phase of conservation work and the construction of a permanent shelter for the site in the near future. The importance of having a conservator present on site during the critical phase of excavation, when all materials are most susceptible to damage, is emphasized. The Petra Church Project will hopefully serve as a model for future excavations in that it employed two conservators from the beginning of the excavation: one for small finds, the other responsible for the site and the architectural remains removed from the site during the excavation.     

‘In common for everyone’: shared space and private possessions in the English parish church nave

ABSTRACT

Medieval historians have long emphasised the social significance of the installation of fixed and owned seats in English parish churches, but its impact was affective and ideological too. Since the late thirteenth century, church authorities had decreed that all worshippers should have equal access to the nave but seating introduced an object with many of the characteristics of private property into space theoretically held in common. Judges and bishops not only rued this as a corruption of Christian egalitarianism but also feared the opportunities for sensory enrichment, privacy and conflict that came with purchased pews. A new proprietary culture developed in churches that stimulated new practices, affective bonds and ideas about how entitlements and hierarchies from parochial life should or could be transplanted into the nave space.     

Iranian Art and Archaeology

Abstract

Examination of the synthetic aperture radar imagery and of the hydraulic characteristics of Maya lowland swamps has led Kevin O. Pope and Bruce H. Dahlin (“AncientMaya Wetland Agriculture: New Insights from Ecological and Remote Sensing Research,” Journal of Field Archaeology 16 [1989] 87–106) to conclude that there is no connection between lattice patterns in the imagery and raised fields in the swamps. They further conclude that there are no significant numbers of raised fields in periodic swamps. We examine the arguments and points raised and find them tenuous at best, and disingenuous at worst. We conclude that the SAR imagery does indeed indicate raised field and canal systems and that they exist in the large periodic swamps of the Maya lowlands.     

The Robinson Enterprises at Papplewick,Nottinghamshire: Part Two

Abstract

In Part One (Industrial Archaeology Review Vol IX No 1) the establishment of the Robinsons' water powered cotton spinning mills along the River Leen was described. By 1785 there were four mills working and a fifth was being built, all of them dependent on the same water supply. The operations of these mills were seriously threatened by the activities of a land owner upstream who obstructed the water flow. The Robinsons then resorted to litigation and also immediately sought an alternative source of power. Their approach to Boulton and Watt led to the commissioning in 1785 of the first rotary steam engine to drive cotton spinning machinery. The problems attendant upon its installation and early operation are described through the medium of letters and drawings in the Boulton and Watt Collections. Using these and other sources the author establishes the site location of the first steam engine and also that of the second Watt engine some five years later. She is very much indebted to Peter Neaverson for additional technical information and his interpretation of the Boulton and Watt drawings.     

Manchester Railway Warehouses— A Short Note

Abstract

In 1840, Francis Wishaw described three warehouse ranges at Liverpool Road, Manchester, estimating the floor area to be some 5 acres and the capacity 4 million cubic feet. By means of turntables, wagons were conveyed, loaded and unloaded within the warehouses. Flaps in the floors and openings in the yard side facilitated the quick dispatch of business. The internal structure of these early railway buildings followed canal practice but by the 1860s the jack-arched, iron-framed structure had been adapted from the cotton factory. Goods handling at first was by gravity hoist, platforms and mobile or fixed steam cranes. Subsequently, the use of hydraulic power was a significant improvement. This paper describes the railway warehouses of Manchester.     

HMS Colossus,an Experimental Site Stabilization

Abstract

HMS Colossus, a 74-gun warship, sank in the Isles of Scilly in 1798. The stern half of this vessel became exposed on the seabed some time around 2001. The timbers of the wreck were in excellent condition when first exposed but quickly began to deteriorate, mainly due to attack by wood-boring organisms. In 2003 English Heritage commissioned a two-year stabilization trial project on the site. These trials were aimed at determining the most effective method of protecting the exposed timbers of the wreck. Three different methods of protection were trialled, all of which had been used previously elsewhere. One of these methods, a Terram 4000 mat, was clearly the most effective on this site. In 2008, a small area of the wreck was covered with a Terram 4000 mat to determine the long-term efficacy of this means of site stabilization. Prior to installation the area to be covered was recorded in detail, along with an adjacent area as a control, to facilitate future comparison of the condition of the ship's timbers. This work, too, was commissioned by English Heritage (Camidge 2008).     

Breakwater Engineering

Abstract

Breakwaters have been built for thousands of years to protect harbours and coasts against the waves. Because of their very nature, breakwaters are exposed to strong wave attack. During recent years a number of newly constructed breakwaters have been severely damaged: Sines in Portugal in the winters of 1978 and 1979; Arzew-el-Djedid in Algeria in 1980; Tripoli, Libya, in beginning of 1981; Gioja Tauro in Italy in 1980; San Ciprian, Spain, during the winter of 1980. These recent examples of breakwater failure are not unique: there have frequently been reports of storm damage. One can even say that a rubble-mound breakwater is designed to absorb a certain amount of damage during its lifetime. What now alarmed the world of designers and builders of such structures, however, was the unprecedented increase in the number of failures, the fact that the breakwaters were either under construction or had been just completed and also the extent of damage in each of the above cases, the total damage being estimated as a thousand million US dollars.

So far, no overall picture has been presented. All failures were individually investigated. The investigation reports left few issues unexamined, but remain confidential themselves. The Delft Hydraulics Laboratory participated in some of the damage investigations and was entrusted with the hydraulic investigations for the rehabilitation of all five breakwaters. A unique chance, therefore, existed for the development of an overall picture. Without affecting the confidentiality of the individual cases, the most important deficiencies in the design of rubble-mound breakwaters are treated in this paper. A plan is made for a design approach in which hydraulic, structural and geotechnical aspects are integrated. The state of the art of each of these different aspects is presented globally, emphasizing the interactions between them and the consequences of an integral approach for the design methods.     

Weak seams: Controversy over welding theory and practice in american shipyards, 1938-1946

At the height of World War II, America's record-setting shipyards were stunned when several merchant ships literally cracked in half. Worried that endemic manufacturing defects might endanger the entire wartime merchant marine, engineers argued that poor workmanship by shipyard welders had contributed to the accidents, that their own technical expertise should be more highly valued, and that they should be granted greater authority over the shipyard workforces. However, administrators in US Maritime Commission rejected these arguments. Instead, federal officials and shipyard managers assumed that many factors had contributed to the fractures and chose to implement a few modest, practical measures which soon stopped the fracture epidemic: improved worker training, the elimination through redesign of certain structural flaws in the endangered ships' hulls, and especially the installation of reinforcing devices at weak points in the ships. This episode not only draws attention to the way warfare heightens the stakes of technical controversies, but demonstrates the utility and resilience, even and especially at highly-charged moments, of practical knowledge and straightforward craftsmanship.     

Historical Perspectives on Pre-Colonial Irrigation in Southern Africa

Abstract

One of the basic areas of interaction between water as natural resource and human societies as agents of cultural transformation is the technology of irrigation. In Africa at least 66 per cent of the available water is used for purposes of irrigation. For more than 4 000 years irrigation has secured food supplies for humans on a continent that is noted for its relative shortage of sufficient natural water supplies.

There is a remarkable hidden power of water in the history of southern Africa. This is particularly the case when we consider the development of early irrigation technologies of Iron Age farmers. The small irrigation furrow of the subsistence farmer was just as important to an insular community of Bantu-speaking people in pre-colonial times, as is the sophisticated irrigation technology in present-day South Africa. Currently there is a paucity of information about pre-colonial indigenous irrigation technology. This can be ascribed to a number of factors of which the invasion of modern Western traditions in the nineteenth century is perhaps the most important. A number of other factors for the apparent blind-spot is also presented in this study.

In southern Africa there are traces of indigenous pre-colonial irrigation works at sites such as Nyanga in Zimbabwe; the Limpopo River Valley; Mpumalanga; and South Africa's eastern Highveld. Reference is also made in this article to specific strategies of irrigation used by Iron Age communities, prior to the advent of a colonial presence. Finally, attention is also drawn to pre-colonial land tenure and state formation against the backdrop of Wittfogel's theories on hydraulic society.