Document 73, p 6, Layborn
| of £937-1- by this Depont. and the sd. Lowinger Maddison all the same materials were assigned | ||||
| by a Bill of Sale duly executed by this Depont & the sd Lowinger Maddison to some pson or psons in Trust | ||||
| for the use and benefit of the Justices of ye peace of ye Co of Northd & wch Bill of Sale as this Dept bels is now | ||||
| or late was in ye posson of Mr Ra Herron of Newcastle upon Tyne Soll. for the Complt And this Dept saith that | ||||
| accordg. to the best of his Judgmt & belief the materials assigned by this Dept & the sd Lowinger Maddison for | ||||
| the use and benefit of ye sd Justices of the peace for the same Co. of Northd. were well woth to be sold the sum of | ||||
| £3900 and upwd & this Dept saith that soon after the execution of the same Bill of sale of the same Materials as afsd | ||||
| all the same Materials were delivd. by this Dept. & the sd. Lowinger Maddison through sd Jonan Peckernell for ye use and | ||||
| benefit of ye sd. Justices of the peace for ye sd. Co. of Northd. And saith that aftr. ye sd. Jonan Pickernell had recd ye same | ||||
| Materials from this Dept. & the sd. Lowinger Maddison he ye sd Jonn Pickernell did Collect various sd Materials for | ||||
| the purpose of carrying on the Buildg. of ye sd. Bridge so bigun to be built by this Dept. & the sd. Lowinger | ||||
| Maddison consistg. Chiefly of Stones & some parcels of Timber & wch last mentd. Materials so Collect[ed?] | ||||
| by the sd. Jonn Pickernell as afsd. were in the Judgmt. of this Dept. well worth the sum of £500 and upwd [?] | ||||
| saith that he this Dept. is the better able to depose to the Collectg. & value of the sd. last Mentd Materials [by?] | ||||
| reason that he this Dept. was employed by the sd. Jonn Pickernell in Collectg the same And this Dept | ||||
| further saith that he hath heard and bels. that ye Justices of the peace for the Co. of Northd. did not proceed | ||||
| in buildg the sd. bridge so bigun by this Dept. & the sd. Lowinger Maddison & that some time in the begg of ye | ||||
| yr of 1777 certain Articles of Agreemt. were entered into between the Compl. & the Deft for buildg. a Bridge across | ||||
| the River Tine at a place where there was a Ferry Across the sd River known by the name of the East | ||||
| Boat upwd. of a Quat of a Mile from the place where this Dept. & the sd. Lowinger Maddison had begun | ||||
| to build the sd Bridge so contracted to be built by them as afsd. And the Dept. saith that all the sd. Materials | ||||
| so assigned by this Dept. & the sd. Lowinger Maddison for the use of the sd. Justices of the peace of the sd Co. of Northd. | ||||
| & also all the sd. Materials so Collected by the sd. Jonn Pickernell as afsd. were delivd. to the Agents of the sd. | ||||
| Complt for his use and benefit & this Dept. saith that the whole of the Materials so delivd. to ye sd. Complts | ||||
| Agts. were in the Judgmt. of this Dept. well worth the som of £1000l & upwds. aftr. makg. a Deductn. or | ||||
| allowce. to the Complt of the sum of 150l for such pt of the sd. Materials as were rendered useless to | ||||
| the Complt by reason of the same Materials havg been sunk in the same foundn. of the Bridge so | ||||
| bigun to be built by this Dept. & the sd. Lowinger Maddison as afsd. and this Dept. saith that the sd. | ||||
| Complt did finish this Bridge across the River Tyne at the place herein before for that purpose | ||||
| Mentd. in the beginng of the yr. 1781 And that the sd. Bridge was thrown down in the Mo. of March | ||||
| 1782 & this Dept. saith that Accordg. to the best of his Judgmt. the sd. Bridge so built by the Complt was | ||||
| not properly and effectually built & saith that much too small a Quantity of Timber & Iron was | ||||
| in the Judgmt. of this Dept. made use of by the Complts Workment in laying the foundns. of ye | ||||
| sd Bridge And saith that Six or Seven piers of the |
||||
| founded & built Sprineger?* hight during the Course of the first Summer aftr the begng of ye. | ||||
| buildg. sd. Bridge and that one of the sd. piers only was founded upon piles & the ors. were founded | ||||
| upon Slight Cassoons* and saith that in the next Winter & before any of the Arches of the sd Bridge | ||||
| were Sprung all the sd. piers wch were founded upon Cassoons were so much Damaged by | ||||
| a Flood wch happened in the Course of that Winter that it became necessary to take down a | ||||
| considerable pt. of all the same piers wch had been so founded upon Cassoons in order to | ||||
| repair & reinstate the same And this Dept. saith that the sd. Flood by wch the sd. piers were so | ||||
| Damaged was but a moderate flood and that the sd. pier of the sd. Bridge wch. was so founded | ||||
| upon piles was not injured by the sd. flood And that the sd. last mentd. pier yet remains Standg | ||||
| and now supports pt. of two Arches of the sd. Bridge & this Dept. saith that after the sd. piers so founded | ||||
| upon Cassoons has been injured & damaged by the sd. flood the same piers were braced with Wedges underneath | ||||
| but saith that ye sd. Piers were not braced accordg. to this Dept. Judgm. in a suffict. & effectual manner so | ||||
| as to be equal to sustain so heavy a superstructure as the sd. Bridge especially in a place where very | ||||
| high & rapid floods were freqtly to be expected & this Dept. saith that he verily bels. that ye real cause | ||||
| of ye sd. Bridge being thrown Down was a Defect in laying proper & sufft. foundns for ye same & this | ||||
| Depont saith that Mr Smeaton the Engineer employed by ye sd. Complt. to build ye sd. Bridge caused | ||||
| the gravil on wch. ye places on wch. the piers of the sd. Bridge were afterwds. |
||||
| a quanty of Compon. or Cement (the constituant pts. of wch. this Dept. doth not know) upon ye same Gravil | ||||
| then | ||||
| ⁁ covered wth. water to the depth of three feet or thereabts. & wch opern. was in ye Depts. Judgmt very unequal | ||||
| for the purpose of obtaing solid and proper foundns. for ye sd. Bridge & this Dept. further saith that ye | ||||
| superstructure of ye sd. Bridge was finishd. in this Depts. Judgmt. in a good and Workmanlike manner | ||||
| & saith that he bels. that in Case the foundns. of the sd. Bridge had been well & suffty. Laid this same Bridge | ||||
| Might have stood for Ages & that the Defects in laying & securing the foundns. thereof were in this | ||||
| Dept. Judgmt. the true causes of its being thrown down by ye flood in March 1782 and this Dept saith | ||||
| he is the better able to depose as to the Goodness or Insuffcy of the Constn. of ye sd. Bridge by reason | ||||
| that this Dept. hath for ye space of 30 Yrs. been much employed in building Bridges and that he | ||||
| this Dept. was employed in Winning Stones only to be used in buildg ye sd. Bridge that this | ||||
| Dept. freqtly for his own infomn. inspected the work of ye sd. Bridge from time to time as the | ||||
| same was carrying on | ||||
| 2 | ||||
Note: Thomas Layborn's answer to Interrogatories, p 2
Abbreviations are underlined like this Wm. and the expansion may be seen by moving the cursor over it.
| An entry outlined like this has a note which may be seen by hovering over it. |
Transcribed by RMS and CW