3-003-956 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

London Main Drainage: the Concrete Mills at Plaistow, 1861. During the early 19th century the River Thames was an open sewer, with disastrous consequences for public health in London, including cholera epidemics. Proposals to modernise the sewerage system had been made in the early 1700s but the costs of such a project deterred progress. However, after the Great Stink of 1858, Parliament realised the urgency of the problem and resolved to create a modern sewerage system. View of concrete manufactory making Portland cement for tunnel-building. Railway wagons carry the cement to the various construction sites. From "Illustrated London News", 1861.