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Original Text (Annotation: EAW005475 / 958111)
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"William Girling Reservoir".
The reservoir was conceived as part of an overall plan for the Lea Valley and laid before the Royal Commission on Water Supply (Balfour Committee) in 1893. At the time the responsible authority was the East London Waterworks Company. However, under the Provisions of the Metropolis Water Act of 1902, the undertakings of this and seven other companies were transferred to the Metropolitan Water Board (MWB).
Work began in 1936 when the tender of John Mowlem (for £682,156) was accepted.[1] The project was led by civil engineer, Robert Wynne-Edwards. Due to the use of mechanical scrapers and bulldozers, which were being used for the first time in British dam construction, progress was rapid. The design, by Sir Jonathan Roberts Davidson,[1] President of the Institution of Civil Engineers 1948/49, attracted widespread technical interest in 1937 when a major slip occurred in the partly formed embankment at the north-west corner. When the embankment fill had reached 23 feet (7 m) a 66 foot (20 m) width had dropped 2 feet 4 inches (70 cm) and moved forward 13 feet (4 m). Fortunately, the dam failed before any water had been stored. Investigations were under way when a second slip occurred in December 1937.
Two independent soil mechanics experts, Dr. Herbert Chatley and Professor Karl Terzaghi, were called in and both made recommendations. In July 1938 the MWB made important modifications to the original design. Subsequent investigations into this landslip can be regarded as the birth of modern soil mechanics in Britain. The reservoir was redesigned to increase its capacity by 11.3%.
Construction was further delayed by the outbreak of the Second World War and the reservoir was not finally completed until 1951, when it was officially opened on 4 September by William Girling, Chairman of the MWB, and named eponymously. '