PREFACE.
The absence of any but fragmentary information on EARTH-SLIPS AND SUBSIDENCES UPON PUBLIC WORKS, one of the most annoying and expensive occurrences in engineering construction, has prompted the author to write this book as a vade-mecum for those in charge of such undertakings as Railways, Docks, Canals, Roads, Waterworks, River-banks, Reclamation embankments, Drainage works, &c., and also to fill, however imperfectly, somewhat of an hiatus in engineering literature.
The theory of the lateral pressure of earthwork is not examined, as it is well understood; the intention being to concisely describe the chief causes of slips and subsidences in different earths and many points requiring attention, to call to remembrance some soils especially treacherous and unstable, and to name various preventive measures and effectual remedies.
A reference to the table of contents and the index will demonstrate the comprehensiveness of the subject, for it involves in the various practical applications the science of geology, physical geography, meteorology, the laws of pressure of earth, some chemical and botanical, and other scientific knowledge.
It is scarcely necessary to observe that no exhaustive treatise is herein attempted, for that would indeed be an Herculean task; but in this volume the endeavour has been made to present reliable information, the result of experience, research, considerable labour, and lengthened observation.