Work on the construction began in 1857, but by February 1858 Mains had failed to get very far. He was paid £500 for the work he had done, and a second contract was awarded to Roper & Smith. By March, the new contractor was working on seven of the twelve shafts and some tunnelling had been started, although the works were hampered by the ingress of water. The directors were hoping for quick completion of the tunnel, to prevent difficulties with supplying water to the towns. They offered Roper & Smith an additional £300, if they would set men on to tunnelling from all of the available shafts. Roper & Smith were facing financial difficulties by November 1858, and the tunnel was not expected to be completed for another two years. The directors offered another £1,000 if the work could be completed in a year, but the contractor did not feel able to commit to such a deadline. As a consequence, Richard Cail took over the works on 1 December 1858.