Notes on the Peat and Underlying Beds observed in the Construction of the Albert Dock, Hull

Abstract

T he author described the Albert Dock as extending east and west along the foreshore of the Humber at Hull, for a distance of 4000 feet. The total area excavated was about 30 acres. All the excavations were carried to a depth of at least 8 feet, and in some instances of 27 feet, below the level of low water. Before the commencement of the excavations the Hessle Clay, peat, and overlying silt were met with in succession on the foreshore, the level of the top of the peat-bed at the west end of the area being about 3 feet above the level of low water, and its thickness from 3 to 4 feet. Eastward the bed followed the undulations of the clay without much variation in general level for half a mile, when it began to dip, attaining a depth of 12 feet below low-water level at the lock-entrance, and then rising again. From this depression of the peat-bed, and the appearance of the overlying silts, the author thought it probable that this had been an old channel of the river Hull, and that the upper part of the peat had been removed by scour. In support of this view he quoted the statements of antiquarian writers. The peat rested directly on the Hessle clay, into which roots penetrated to a distance of 5 or 6 feet, generally following the direction of vertical joints, which gave the clay a tendency to split into prisms. These joints did not occur in