THE MAGNITUDE OF LONDON

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 8 January 1931, Page 2

THE MAGNITUDE OF LONDON

ENGINEERING PROBLEMS The civil engineering problems arising in a city so vast as London were discussed by Sir George William Humphreys in his presidential address to the Institution of Civil Engineers. London, in effect, he said, now covered an area in which the limits of the county were indicated only by obscure boundary stones or marks and of which no outer limit existed or could even be foretold. He produced the following table to illustrate the wide extent of the principal services: — Sq, miles. London County area 117 London main drainage area 180 London water area 574 London telephone area '35 London and Home Counties electricity area 1)797 London traffic area s. 1,820 The engineering problems of this area included all the modern requirements of so large a community; adequate means of communication, whether by road, railways or water, water supply and drainage, refuse collection and disposal, telephone and telegraph, electricity and gas. housing and town-planning, all on a very extensive scale. The huge agglomeration of individuals and their needs had produced a set of conditions that called for exceptional if not exclusive treatment, and he feared that the growth of London had in some respects outgrown the preparedness of the community. There was more than a tendency in recent years to defer conclusions until the views of a large number of people were ascertained, many of whom, on a strictly impartial review of their qualifications and interests, would not be able to contribute much of real value to the question under examination. The engineer by tradition and by virtue of his training was the exponent of action, but not infrequently he had to regret that a solution or step recommended by him as the proper and fitting one to take was nevertheless delayed or abandoned.