PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION H. 549 



But the joint efforts of the engineer and the architect shoukl 

 by no means be confined to the erection of ordinary city commer- 

 cial buildings. Let me give you an illustration that shows, in 

 contrast, the advantages and disadvantages of joint consideration 

 of a design and its opposite. In 1903 a specially appointed 

 iboard of experts submitted to the Government of New South 

 Wales a design for a bridge spanning the harbor and con- 

 necting North Sydney with the city of Sydney, together with 

 a tender from a responsible firm of contractors for its con- 

 struction. This design was based upon a previous one that 

 went no further than solving an engineering problem dealing 

 with stresses and strains, piers and foundations, wind pres- 

 sure, and traffic requirements, and, excepting that its main lines 

 (of composite suspension and cantilever construction) were unavoid- 

 ably in themselves graceful, was unsuitable and quite misplaced 

 in the position it was intended to occupy — that is as a connecting 

 link between two cities of no mean architectural ambition, and 

 between two shores of considerable natural beauty. The architec- 

 tural element on the board, however, made representations (whicli 

 were taken in good part by the designers) and the piers and bridge 

 portals were re-designed on an architectural basis; the deck vista, 

 formerly a maze of girders and rods, was reduced into a handsome 

 arched arcade; and generally the remodelled design, without 

 losing any of its engineering quality, became a most practical and 

 satisfactory combination of the sisters " science " and " art." 



The scheme was not put into execution, for reasons altogether 

 apart from its design ; and in the meantime the demands for relief 

 to .the cross traffic had become so acute that the present Govern- 

 ment has revived the bridge scheme, with the difference that the 

 site and route are somewhat altered, thus involving a new design. 

 This latter is now before the Parliamentary Standing Committee 

 on Public Works, and, to my great disappointment, and to tb-' 

 of all who can become acquainted with it and appreciate the 

 situation, the design is purely and exclusively the engineer's work, 

 with its huge and most unsightly cantilever and overhead girder 

 construction. The graceful lines of the suspension cables and 

 towers are omitted, and no doubt whilst capable of meeting require- 

 ments, it woidd be suitable, so far as the non-necessity of appear- 

 ance is concerned, for spanning some great ravine, if such existed, 

 on the Port Augusta-Kalgoorlie railway, and quite, in my opinion, 

 unsuitable for Sydney. The absence of the architect is the cause. 

 On the other hand, what could be happier than the results of the 

 •combined eft'orts of the engineer and the architect in the Tower 

 Bridge, London. 



One of the leading events of the past year in this respect has 

 been the keen controversy proceeding in London on the designing 

 oi the proposed thoroughfare from Southwark across the Thames 



