Laying the floor of Pedro Miguel Lock

Pennell, Joseph, 1857-1926 · 1912

"One of the most stupendous, most decorative compositions I have ever seen. When I asked the engineer - Mr. Williamson - how had come to make the splendid springing lines of his arches and buttresses, he said it was only done to save concrete. Yet the result is as fine as the flying buttresses of a cathedral. The floor of the lock was crowded with men, the walls at the top, with the concrete forming crenellations, were crowded; and with the cries of bosses, the shriek of whistles, and the blasts of explosions, it seemed like a siege. But all was peaceful." Joseph Pennell.