London Labour and the London Poor, Vol. 2

by Henry Mayhew

1. Foundations of Houses.—Each house that is built requires the ground to be excavated from two to three yards deep, the average area of each being about nine yards square. This gives between 160 and 200 cubic yards of earth removed from the foundation of each house. A cubic yard of earth is a load, so that there are between 160 and 200 loads of earth displaced in the building of every new house.

The following statement shows—

The Number of Houses Built throughout London between 1841 and 1851.

	Total No. of Houses built in 10 Years.	Average No. of Houses built per Year.
West Districts	9,624	962·4
North Districts	13,778	1377·8
Central Districts	349	34·9
East Districts	8,343	834·3
South Districts	14,807	1480·7
Total	46,901	4690·1

Hence, estimating the number of new houses built yearly in the metropolis at 4500, the total quantity of earth removed for the foundations of the buildings throughout London would be 800,000 loads per annum.

2. The Cuttings of Railways.—The railways formed within the area of the metropolis during the last ten years have been—the Great Northern; the Camden Town, and Bow; the West India Docks and Bow; and the North Kent Lines. The extension of the Southampton Railway from Vauxhall to Waterloo-bridge, as well as the Richmond Line, has also been formed within the same period, but for these no cuttings have been made.

The Railway Cuttings made within the area of the Metropolis Proper during the last ten years have been to the following extent:—

Railways.	Length of Cutting.	Width of Cutting.		Depth of Cutting.	Quantity of earth Removed.
		At top.	At bottom.
	Miles.	Yards.	Yards.	Yards.	Loads.
Great Northern	1½	12	10	10	290,400
Camden Town and Bow	1½	12	10	10	290,400
West India Docks and Bow	2	15	10	12	528,000
North Kent	2	15	10	12	528,000

Hence, the gross quantity of earth removed from railway cuttings within the last ten years has been 1,636,800 loads, or say, in round numbers, 160,000 loads per annum.