ABSTRACT
This paper provides the opportunity to present extracts from two surv1vmg contemporary documents, a Diary and a field Pocket Book, which relate directly to one of the works described in the most recent of Professor Skempton's masterly surveys of the engineering works of the London Docks. 1 They were both written by G. P. Bidder who was the young assistant to Henry Robinson Palmer who became engineer in charge in 1826 at the age of 31. While they provide little new technical information directly a good deal can be deduced and even more reasonably conjectured from a close study of them-especially when supplemented by other surviving documents. They also provide insights into both the personal aspect of working on such a project and some of the difficulties encountered.
