HARNESSING THE SEVERN.
ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST. Twice in 24 hours 300,000 tons of water sweep up and down the estuary of the Severn, and competent engineers assure us that, if these great tides are harnessed, they will provide 500,000 horse-power continuously during a 10-hour day.- Such a force is sufficienfto lift 7,000,000 tons a foot each minute (writes T. C. Bridges, in the "Daily Mail"),.and is far greater than the power at present taken from mighty Niagara. To-day Niagara yields only 385,000 horse-power. To obtain similar power from fuel it would be, necessary to burn no less than 50,000 tons of coal weekly, so that the water-power yielded by the Severn would save the country 2,500,00'tons of coal a 1 year.
Power from the Severn could easily j be conveyed as far as London, and) Would be of untold value to all big towns in the Western Midlands. As for the scheme itself, every detail has been worked out, and the best authorities assure us that no special dim* culties are in the way. The estuary at the point chosen for the barrage is two miles, and a half wide, but a great natural causeway, known as the English Stones, presents a natural foundation for the work. * Given the necessary funds, the barrage could be built, and, what is more, would give employment to 25,000 men for seven years; It may be added that turbine has been invented by a Frenchman which will work in salt water. In these circumstances it not wonderful that Mr Tom Shaw, Minister of Labour, states that, if the committee now completing investigations reports favourably, the Government will give facilities for the building of the barrage. So far, so good, but if you talk to Bristol people about the Severn scheme you will soon dsicover that there are lions in the path. Bristol herself at one time devised a big scheme for barraging the' Avon, but in 1900 Sir Benjamin Baker reported against it. His opinion was that the dam would completely silt up the river. The same objection holds good with, "regard to the Severn barrage, The, Severn, and the Wye also, bring down ( vast quantities of mud in flood time, j mud which, at present is distributed across the wide tidal flats. The new! dam would interfere with the scour of . the river, and Bristolians are of-the firm opinion that it would endanger! the whole of Bristol's great carrying • trade, which amounts at present to about 2,250,000 tons a year. Apart from this objection, there is the question of cost. Before the war if was estimated that the barrage could. be built for £8,000,000, but to-day it would mean an expenditure of at least £20,000,000. So from the first the scheme would be saddled with an interest charge of £1,000,000 a year. Mud ; and money—these are the principal objections to the Severn scheme. It remains to be seen whether they can be overcome.
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Shannon News, 29 August 1924, Page 4
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491HARNESSING THE SEVERN. Shannon News, 29 August 1924, Page 4
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