MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 41 



coed further inward. The approach on the French side, to connect 

 its entrance at Modane with St. Michel (the present termination 

 of the railway system of France in the direction of the Mont Cenis), 

 will be l~2 miles long, through an extremely difficult and moun- 

 tainous country. OrTtlie Italian side, the amount of railway to be 

 constructed from Bardeneche to connect it, in the neighborhood 

 of Susa, with the railway system of Italy, will be 22 miles. The 

 whole of these works will be of a very heavy and expensive 

 character. The length of the railway, via the tunnel from St. 

 Michel to Susa, will be 42 miles, or Ci'miles shorter than that now 

 finished on the outside of the Mont Cenis Pass, and known as the 

 "Fell Railway," from its being constructed in accordance with 

 the patents of the gentleman of that name. As regards transit 

 through the tunnel, in consequence of the average gradient on 

 the French half being 1 in 45, and the steepest gradient on the 

 line being 1 in 28, it will not be possible for a train to go 

 through from the north to the south in less than from 38 to 40 

 minutes. Coming from the south to the north, the ascent is 

 much more gradual, but even in this case the transit will occupy 

 from 30 to 32 minutes as a minimum. It has yet to be seen 

 whether passengers would not prefer the outside line instead of 

 being shut up in a tunnel so long as we have just stated. It is 

 for this, among other reasons, that many persons expect the " Fell 

 Railway, 11 which only possesses a concession for working until the 

 tunnel line is opened for traffic, will have its privileges extended 

 so as to make it practically a permanent concession. On the last 

 day of July, 7,263 metres had been successfully bored, and during 

 August, 139 more had been accomplished. The progress made 

 during the month of October was 61m. (3 feet 3^ inches each) on 

 the north side, and 72m. on the south. The general state of the 

 work October 31, was as follows: already executed, 7,665m. ; re- 

 maining to be pierced, 4,555m. During the first 10 months of the 

 present year 1,329m. have been finished, while during the whole 

 of last year only 1,025m. were executed. The engineers still ex- 

 pect to see this great work terminated in the course of 1870. The 

 expense of the tunnel is to be divided equally between France 

 and Italy. 



HOOSAC TUNNEL. 



The excavation of the Hoosac Tunnel proceeded last year at the 

 rate of from 43 to 56 feet a month. The dimensions of the bore 

 are 24 feet height through the rock, and 26 feet where the work is 

 bricked up ; the width is equal to the height in both cases. The 

 track is laid from 3 to 5 feet above the bottom ; a passage being 

 left for the drainage of water underneath. It will be about 4 

 miles long, and its sectional area 459 square feet. 



The tunnel commissioners give the following account of the 

 progress of that work : At the east end of the tunnel, up to 

 November, 1866, 3,431 feet of progress had been made into the 

 mountain, of which 592 feet was the work of the year immedi- 

 ately preceding the time when the work was taken in hand by the 



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