H6 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[March, 



FOREIGN RAILWAYS. 



Aiit^trio. — The rails in the Austrian railways are now made of iron from Sfyria 

 fsliich are said to he found luure durahU* than those supplied in Kngland. 



Aiisfria. — The Austrian Ku\rrnnient is at present occupied with the plan of a rail- 

 road between Vienna and Sal/.hnrg, by the way ut" Len/., tipon the right bank of the 

 Danube, which will be speedily carried into execution. The couataut cuiniuunicalioii 

 upon this joad promises every prospect of success to thiti undertaking. 



'J'ht VtrMiilles ami St. Cloud liailuuiy. — The works have been commenced at 

 five points at once within the commune of Versailleii, and are carried on with the 

 utmost activity. As tlie works on the other parts uf the line are nearly tinished, the 

 whole of the two lines of rails are expected to l*e laid from Asiileies to tlie limits of 

 Versailles before the end of the niontli. Indi-pendent of the ordinary works^ the 

 company has had to form the tunnel under the Park of St. Cluud, lt>54 feet in length ; 

 Another tuuntl nf 6*^7 feet, under the Park of Montretont, and the high road between 

 Saint Cloud and Mantes; a third tumiel of 272 feet, at Courbevoie. under the road 

 het^een Paris and Puissy ; two large viaducts of five arches each; 3ti bridges over 

 high, departmental, and crossroads, anil 10 rtqueducts. Tiiere remain besides tive 

 bridges to he erected in ^'ersallles. All tliese works are comprised within a limit of 

 four and a half leagues. In the plan laid down by the goverinnent engineers, upon 

 which the undertaking was foiuided, there were only one tunnel, 28 bridges, and four 

 aqueducts mentioned; and tlie greater part of the adilitional works have been occa- 

 sioned by the decrees of the municipal councils. 



AV. Cloud Railway.- — The jury of expropriation has just decided at Versailles upon 

 the indemiiities to be paid to proprietors aflected by the last portion of the liaie uf 

 tlie Versailles and St. C'loiul Railroad, from Virollay to its entrance into the first- 

 named town, hut the suuis awarded have in general been much less than those 

 demanded. Property in Jlonlreuil, fur which 0.5t>,75.'5f. were demanded, has been 

 adjudged at 2G4,lllf. Ten houses in the same place, estimated by the owners at 

 207,343f., have been awarded at 83,4UUf Some gardens in Versailles, for which 

 !:ill,Glof. were asked, have been given to the jcompany by the jury at .50,200f. ; and 

 the total amount of l,546,l5tJf, for the portion of the line has been reduced to 

 040,005 Two extreme cases deserve to be mentioned: the lessee of a field at A'er- 

 soilles demanded 21,243f. as an indemnification for one acre of land, and produced 

 docuraeuts ^lg^il' 1 by some architects of that place in support of his estimate. It 

 was, however, rc.luc^l by the jury to 400f. Another proprietor claimed U,tl20f for 

 th« suppression •'•i a right of way across his land ; the company ofiered lUf. fur it, 

 and the jiu'y aw:;ided him nothing. 



Belgivin. — Froiu a report recently laid before the Belgian Chamber of Representa- 

 tives by the IMlnister of Public Works, it appears that the total expense of mainte- 

 nance, purchase, and repair of maehinery, watching, Sec, of the Belgian x-ailways- 

 since the completion of the first line i?! 1834, up to the 1st of November, 1838, is 

 3,374, 670frs. ; that the total receipts during the same period have been 5,144,645frs. ; 

 giving a net profit of l,770,075frs., wbicli, upon tl;e capital expended in the con- 

 struction of the roads, returns an annual dividend of 4 per cent. Thf average cost 

 of tlie construction per league has been 531,l)U0frs., about a sixth of tlie cost of the 

 English lines ; and the average price paid by passengers is 12 centimes per league, 

 about a fifth of the lowest rate of charge in England. The total lengtli of the 

 Belgian lines, now completed, is 04 leagues, about 270 miles. 



Mus-sia. — The Hamburg paper.s mention, upon the faith of letters from St. Peters- 

 burg of tlie 12th December, that a new railroad was about to be established from the 

 town of Morschansk, on tlie river Zora, ti the mouth of that river, in order to faci- 

 litate the ciniununiciitiuns of ^ouit- of the richest provinces of the south, which send 

 all their warc^ and uruduc to Mi-i^cliansk, one of the fir^it commercial towns of tlie 

 empire, with St, 1'eter.sburg and the north. 



Propuncil Ruilwaya hi America. — One of the grandest railroad schemes ever con, 

 ceivftd by tlie mind of man, has been submitted to tlie public by General Gains, of tJie 

 United States arniv- It propose.-* a sy.stem of railroads, all diverging from a conmion 

 focuN or centre in KentULky and Temitjicjoti — tlie midille pnint of the Union; and 

 tbenc^ to bri.nch in as straight directions as possible, like the radiation* of a star, to 

 all tlie lai'ge cities, and important frontier posts in tlie country. Thus New Orleans, 

 $?ortlaud in Maine, New Vork, the other Atlantic cities, and DeUxtit iu Michigan 

 Chicago, in Illinois, Fort Gibson, iu Arkansas, St Louis, in Missouri, th^ northern 

 \9Jfes, and the southern sea of Mexico, the ocean and perhaps tlie Rocky Mountains, 

 will all be, uuittfd in bonds of iron, ste«m, and rapid public hitcrcourse- Tlie General 

 siaya^ that such a, system would make the United States prosperoua in peftce and im- 

 pregnable iuwar. I think that before many yeers have colled away this scheme will 

 be commenced. The United States are the very repubUc for railroad enterprise. — 

 Daily Paper. 



The Neiv }*hilad4ilpliia railro.a,d is at present doing an excellent business ; the month 

 of Decemher, one of the dullest of the year, will realise over 8,000 dollar*. January 

 and February are the months when the merchants fnmi the western stiites commence 

 their purchases for their spring business, when the amount of freight passing over our 

 road will be very great. I feel more and more satisfied of its being one of the very 

 best stocks in our state, and you can with perfect safety give the bondholders every 

 a.ssurance that their bonds will increase in value every year they hold them. The 

 Cumberland Valley have completed their bridge over the Susquehannah, and formed 

 their connexion with our road, which vn\\ enable our Philadelphia merchants to 

 forward their goods 150 miles by railroad in thirteen hours towards Pittsburg, which 

 is just halfway. Formerly goods were 18 to 20 days reaching I'ittsburg, and you, 

 ■who are so familiar with the rapid increase of the popidatiou of tlie western states, 

 and their conaei^uent necessitie.'i, dependent entirely on our Atlantic cities ior their 

 iuppllea— you can readily calculate the great importance of our road, and the cer- 

 tainty of its immense revenue." — Morning Herald. 



FOREIGN INTELXiiaBNOB. 



The completion of the Co/umn, in commemoration of the Revolution of July, may at 

 length be expected within^ definite time. Messr?*. Soyer and Inge a few days' since 

 cast the capital and the tambour, by which it is to be crowned, in one mould. This 

 is the largest single cast of a capital that has ever been made — Paris Paper. 



l\'u nrw marble statues, those of Lakain and Taliua, have just beeu stationed 

 right and left of the author of Zaire in the hall of the Theatre Franjais, 



Iron Steam Ship. — There was launched from the building yard of Mr. (' Wood, 

 Dumbarton, on the 22d Jan., an irou steam-ship, 146 feet huig, and 2fi broad, intended 

 for South America. t)u being launched this vesi*el drew only eighteen inches w ater, 

 and with machinery and cargo will not exceed three feet. She is intended for pas- 

 sengers chiefly, of whom she can carry a thousand. This fine ve.ssel was built by 

 Messrs. J. and W. Napier, in Gla.sgow, and we understand that these gentlemen have 

 her machinery ready for putting on board, so tliat we shall soon have an oi>portunily 

 of seeing this splendid specimen of the improvements of the present day leaving our 

 river for a distant part of the world, another trophy of the success of the enterprising 

 engineers on the Clyde. She is now at the BriHtuiielaw , aud is worthy (»f inspection. 

 Tlie rarpenteruoik of the vessel was done by that eminent shipbuilder, Mr. C Wood, 

 of Duuibarton. — iilasyinv Paper. 



Steam A'avlgarion ,to South A'nerica. — A memorial, which includes among its 

 signatures those of Baring, Gladstone, Rothschild, and other firms of mercantile, 

 bunkuig, and manufacturing eminence, has just been presented to the Treasury, pray- 

 ing for a monthly line of steam packets, from Falmouth Ut Madeira, the Canaries, Uie 

 Cape do \'erd Islands, Pernambuco, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, Monte Video, and Buenos 

 Ayres. The j)acket establishment now existing is so irregular, that w itli the ports of 

 Peruambiico and Bahia a communication can be had but six times in the year, trade- 

 winds and ocean-currents hindering any sailing vessel from touching at either, except 

 during some half-dozen months of a periodical sea-son. The passage outwards to Rio 

 de Janeiro averages fifty-six days, audhomewards sevenly-four, while, from computing 

 tlie speed of the (jreat Western steanrer across far less favourable seas, two-thirds of 

 that tiuie niight, iu all pmbability, be saved. An allowance of 40.001)/. per annum is 

 at present made fur the tardy packets apon this important line, and for the same sum 

 contractors could doubtless be found to deliver twelve monthly malls ontwanls and 

 homewards, in steam ships of the very first class. We do not surely err in antici- 

 pating for this memorial the most immediate and attentive consideration which Go- 

 vernment can give it. — Haily Paper. 



The Dehats quotes letters from Havannah, announcing tliat the magnificent Go- 

 vernment steamer \'eloce, Capt. BL-chaiueille, which had recently entered Havannah 

 after its transatlantic experimental voyage, had been burned in that habour. 



PROGHIES3 OP RAILWAYS. 



Eastern Counties Railicay. — The rapid progress of the works on this line bespeaks 

 an active executive. We had no idea of the forward state of the works towards 

 Brentwood. It was only in October last that the contract was let, and looking to the 

 time of year we cousidereil nothing would have been done but prepare for the spring. 

 On inspecting this part of the line, we found the works in lull operation ; several 

 bridges and large culverts erected, and the embankments carried over them. There 

 are three extensive cuttings on this contract, all of which are hi full work, even 

 during the late and present unfavourable weather there has been excavated and carried 

 to the embankment near 2 UO yards per day. The cutting in the hill on this side of 

 Brentwood is so deep as to be carried on in four lifts, near to this excavation is 

 erected a handsome skew bridge, the angle of whidi is very obliipie, we should 

 suppose about lOdeg. At Romford great activity prevails, .several large bridges and 

 culverts are in the coiu'se of erection ; close by at Hare-street, a large bridge over 

 the railway, of three or more arches, is commenced, the founilations are about 35 feet 

 below the surface. Between London aud Romford there are tive locomotive engines 

 incessantly employed iu expediting the earthwork, besides an immense number of 

 horses. The long and expensive embankment over the Stratford Marsh is now 

 just completed ; ami as tlie distance between its termination and the commencement 

 of the viaduct at Bethnal Green has been formed from side cnttuig, there remains 

 nothing of importance between London and Romford but the viaduct, portions of 

 which are in a very forward state. 



Bristol and E.veter Railway. — Within the last few months-cofler dams have been 

 driven preparatory to the erection of a bridge, 100 feet span, over the river Poret, 

 about tliree-fonrths of a mile higlier up »hat river than tlie town of Brldgewater. The 

 contractor is now employed in building the abutments, and the arch will be turned in 

 the latter exiA of the spring, when the work towards Taunton will be begun imme- 

 diately. The cutting at Pariton Hill is proceeding with much vigoiu', upwards of 

 500 men arc employed on it at present, and more will be shortly. I'his is the only 

 hill, for many miles, aud as soon as it is got through, which, if the Company go on at 

 the rate they have begun, ■nill be soon, nothing remains but to lay the permanent 

 rails. Tlie broad guage will of course be adopted. The town of Bridgewater pos- 

 seges facilities for being made one of the principal manufacturing towns, and one of 

 the first ports in the kingdom ; and when the communication with London on the one 

 side, and the West of Kngland on the other, is opened, we know nought more wanted, 

 save a few more spirited men in the midiUe. — Bristol Journal. 



Birmingham and Gloucester Railway. — Mr. Norris, of Philadelphia, hasreceived an 

 order for ten of his locomotive engines, from the Birmingham and Gloucester Rail 

 roa^l Company, in England. — AVic I'ork Paper. If this be correct we are not sur- 

 prised that the shares of this company are at a greai discount. Do they expect English- 

 men will support their projects if the money subscribed is to go out oi the country? 

 and does the company expect that the public will have any confidence in the safety 

 of the engines when made abroad. — Ed. C. E. aud A. Jourmtl. 



London and Brighton Railnaij. — The locomotive engine which has been named 

 **Tlie Brighton," lately sent down by the railway company to fa<'ilitale the works on 

 the Slioreham branch, was tried on a portion of the line, about a mile and a half in 

 extent, on which the permanent rails have already been laid. We are happy to slate 

 that the worlts on the Shoreham branch are progressing with great activity. The 

 tunnel under Lashmar's mill is proceeding night and day ; and tlie land purchased of 

 Mr. Kemp has been enclosed from the mill to the terminus, crossing the Montpelier 

 road. As great a number of excavators as the space will admit are engaged on th^ 

 cutting at Fuller'sdnll, in the parish of Aldi-ington ; and as soon as this is completed, 

 which it is anticipated will be the case in a month, permanent rails ^ill be laid for 

 the distance of about four miles, and the engine will be used fur the purpose of 

 removing the earth from the cuttings and tunnels at the Brighton end of the branch. 

 The worka on the London part of the fine are also proceeding with great rapidity.-? 

 Brighton Gazettf. 



