230 CORNISH VIADUCTS. 



crane, and deposited on the main girders near to where they 

 were to be fixed. They were then hauled up into position, 

 and ri vetted to the main girder without interfering with 

 the main line. 



The little rail girders were then lowered through the floor 

 of the viaduct, and the weight of the decking, when they 

 were fixed, was transferred to them. The timbers of the old 

 viaduct, which was built on the straight, had become in 

 some places rather warped with age, and it was found neces- 

 sary to cut half through some of them before the main girders 

 could be finally placed in position. When this was the case 

 the girders were first placed as near as possible into exact 

 position, the cross and rail girders were attached and made 

 to support the decking, and the whole affair was jacked into 

 its final resting-place in the intervals between the trains. 

 The girders once fixed, the old decking was taken up in 

 10-feet lengths, and replaced with the Barlow rails. The 

 railings were then fixed and the finishing touches given, 

 thus completing the reconstruction. 



Although the cost of renewing the viaducts has been heavy, 

 it has been estimated that the interest, etc., on borrowed 

 capital necessary to do the work amounts to less than the pre- 

 sent annual cost of repairs, so heavy have they now become. 



When a new viaduct is completed, the timber superstruc- 

 ture of the old viaduct is taken away, and in some cases the 

 piers are demolished. As a rule, however, they are left 

 partly standing, as not being worth the risk of removal. 

 Thus they rather take off from the architectural effect of the 

 new construction, which, though plain, has certainly a most 

 substantial and satisfactory appearance. The old viaducts 

 are certainly very picturesque, perched, as they often are, 

 among the tree tops ; but the new viaducts quite make up 

 for all this in their increased solidity and stateliness. 



