1868. | Engineering—Civil and Mechanical. 235 
remarkable of all that have come to our knowledge is the fact of a 
Preston mill owner having recently obtained spinning machinery 
from Belgium. 
Shipbuilding, Docks, Piers, &c—Iron shipbuilding is begin- 
ning to show symptoms of recovery from its recent depression 
at most parts except London, where the suicidal combinations of 
workmen effectually prevent builders from taking orders. On the 
Clyde and Tyne a fair amount of business has been done during the 
past year. On the Mersey most of the shipbuilders are tolerably 
busy, and at Messrs. Laird’s yard two or three ironclads are under 
construction. A new paddle steamship, for the City of Dublin 
Steam Packet Company, was launched at the end of November last 
from the yard of Messrs. Walpole, Webb, and Bewley, of Dublin. 
This is worthy of note, since it is the first vessel of that class hitherto 
constructed at Dublin. M. Giquel, a Frenchman, is stated to have 
arrived at Tientsin with one hundred French engineers and work- 
men, where he is about to build sixteen steamers, of 300 tons each, 
for the Imperial Customs. A new iron steam ferry-bridge has re- 
cently been constructed for the Govan Ferry, which carries two 
loaded waggons or three loaded carts, together with sixty or eighty 
passengers; with these it crosses the Clyde in 1} minute. This 
vessel is constructed in six water-tight compartments. The ma- 
chinery for propulsion consists of a pair of 20 horse-power diagonal 
steam-engines, geared to the driving wheel, round the circumference 
of which is wound the driving chain, whose ends are secured on each 
side of the Clyde. 
During 1867 about 350,000 cubic yards of earthwork and 
24,000 cubic yards of masonry and brickwork were executed at 
the Hull Western Dock; and it is the opinion of Mr. Hawkshaw 
that, if due diligence be shown, the dock may be completed this 
year. The Hull Graving Dock is to be increased by 88 feet, which 
will give it a total length of 300 feet; the depth is also to be in- 
creased to the extent of 4 feet 6 inches. From the report of the 
engineer to the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, it appears that 
the amount required to complete works in progress and contem- 
plated is upwards of 700,0002. 
A new pier has recently been ordered to be erected in Woolwich 
Arsenal, to facilitate the shipment of heavy ordnance, which will be 
fitted with cranes capable of hoisting 30 tons weight. The pier 
with its T head will extend 300 feet towards the bed of the 
Thames; it will be 25 feet broad, and the head of the pier will 
be 100 feet long. A new wrought-iron pier is in course of con- 
struction at Clevedon, in Somerset ; the length of the approaches 
is 180 feet, and of the pier itself 800 feet, having a head 42 feet 
in length, making a total length of over 1,000 feet. The pier is 
composed of eight 100-feet spans, consisting of two continuous 
VOL. V. 8 
