1889.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



157 



Chester ami Cretve i?rt/7(/'a//.— We leaiu that Messrs. Jacksou and Bean, who 

 completed a portion of the Birmingham and Derby Railway, have undertaken the 

 Bimbiirv and Wardle contract, in length abotit ten miles, on the Chester and Crewe 

 line.— CAcWrr Gu:ett>: 



London anil Brighton IlaJlumij. — Great exertions have been making lately in order 

 to the completion of about three and a half miles of road ipn the Shureham branch of 

 tliisline. The late heavy rains, however, partially retarded the progi'ess of the works, 

 and the opening was in consequence postponed till Tuesday, I9th ultimo. The con- 

 tractors will then re-connueuce acti\e operations at the Hove cutting. The tunnel 

 there will, we underslund.be completed in the early part of July. — Br/yhtun jjuj/ei: 



Bailn-ai/ Sunch/ari/. — As the constable of Milford was employed in cunveying a 

 man employed on the railway to gaol, on a charge of felony, he managed to slip from 

 the oihcer, and descended into the Claycroft tunnel, in which he could not be found. 

 The fellow got into a cart, covered himseli' with earth and rubbish, and was drawn out 

 of the tunnel witliout being perceived, and made his escape. — iJerhy Mercury. 



Breaking in of the Hana-eV-Bridye of the Great U'cstern Jtaihray, and Loss of 

 Life. — (From a Correspondent.) — Considerable alarm prevailed on Monday, the 18th 

 ultimo, about 9 o'clock, on the line of the Great AVestern Railway, to the passengers 

 who were coming to tow n in the train drawn by tlie \'ulcan engine. On tlie arrival 

 of the tiain at the viailuct-bridge whicli passes ever the high road at Hanwell, they 

 were tlu'own into the ntmost consternation by hearing a rejiort resembling that of 

 a heavy cannon, which \v:xs supposed to be occasioned by tlie bridge over winch they 

 were in the act of crossing having given way. On making an examination, it was 

 found this supposition was in a gi-eat measure correct, as one of its principal sup- 

 porters, consisting of an iron beam of great dimensions, extending from one pillar of 

 the bridge to the other, had snapped in half, carrying with it in its descent a vast 

 quantity of the material of which the bridge was composed, leaving an open space 

 under a portion of the line. On tlie next train coming up great delay was occasioned, 

 ia consequence of the apprehension that if it passed over the rails wfpuld give way, 

 but ti-nm the care of the engineers and others, such a result did not take place. Im- 

 mediate steps were taken to repair the damage, and several of the workmen were em- 

 ployed to shore it up. \\'hilst so engaged, a massive piece of timber fell from the 

 upper part of the bridge upon one of them, and almost immediately killed him. — 

 Titnea. 



ENGINEERING WORKS. 



NEW HOUSES OK PARLIAMENT. 



The works connected witli tlie embankment for the new Houses are pro- 

 bably the most extensive hydraulic works now in progress, and the coffer dam 

 is certainly unequalled ; drawings and descriptions both of the coffer-dam 

 and river wall were given in our first volume, and we sliall now briefly de- 

 scribe what has been done up to the present time. 



The coffer dam and other works were contracted for by Messrs. Lee, to be 

 executed under the direction of Messrs. Walker .and Burges, Engineers, and 

 Charles Barry, Esq., Architect. The coffer-dam was commenced in the 

 month of October, 1837, and is constructed nearly similar to the drawings 

 and specification before given by us in Vol. L, page 31, with the addition of 

 horizontal struts of whole timber at the back of the brace pile^, B, fig. 1 and 

 2, and abutting against other piles driven just within the inner edge of the 

 foundation of the wall. Considering the great extent of the dam it stands 

 remarkably firm, and is tolerably free from leakage ; it was finished on the 

 24tli day of December last, when it was closed, and operations commenced 

 within. For the purpose of pumping out the water, a 10-horse power steam- 

 engine w,as erected, which is kept at work night and day ; at the present time, 

 the water is easily kept under by the aid of two 18-inch pumps, each working 

 14 three-feet strokes per minute; since the closing of the dam the 

 whole of the .silt or mud lying at the bottom of the liver within the 

 enclosure has been removed, leaving a fine bed of gravel over the 

 whole surface ; the gravel has been excavated for the foundations of the 

 river wall, and nearly the who'e of the foundations laid, and the sheet 

 piling protecting the footings completed, likewise a considerable portion 

 of the brickwork to the backing is commenced. The granite intended 

 for the curvihnear facing is in an advanced state, a very large portion of it 

 being already prepared and ready for setting. Too much praise cannot be 

 bestowed on all parties for the activity vifith which the works have been con- 

 ducted within the last two months; before another four months elapse, we 

 hope that we shall be able to announce the river w.all is completed, and the 

 new buildings ready to be commenced. 



The first stone of the foundation was laid on the 5th ultimo, without any 

 ceremony. 



WESTMINSTER BRIDGE. 



We hefore noticed a commencement of the works for the repair of West- 

 minster Bridge, in a former number ; a dam has since been completed round 

 two of the piers on the Westminster side, and a beginning made with the 

 piling round them. 



The great extent of the coffre dam (being no less than 500 feet in circum- 

 ference), as also the difficulty experienced in driving the piles through a hard 

 crust of gravel which overlays the clay at this place, and the care that must 

 have been taken in doing the work, by so efl'ectually shutting out the water, 

 makes it appear to us truly astonishing that so much has been done in the 

 short period of eight months, especially as all works of this nature depend 

 so very mnch upon the weather and tides. 



Great credit is due to the parties in charge of the work ; and, if we may 

 judge from the earnest manner in which they are proceeding, the public will 

 have no cause again to complain of the tardy progress which hitherto maxked 

 everything connected with this bridge. 



Neither can we omit to state, that upon our late visit, the grati- 

 fication we experienced in witnessing the very dry state of the work, and 

 although the level at which they are now proceeding is several feet below the 

 bed of the river, there was not the slightest leakage ; and we understand that 

 the same has been the case since the completion of the dam. 



The plan of operation for protecting the foundation of the piers, from being 

 undermined by the wash of the river, is, by surrounding the caisson upon 

 which the pier is built with sheet-piling, driven as close as it is possible to 

 bring wood and wood together. The piles arc driven fourteen feet into the 

 solid ground below the bottom of the stonework ; they are twelve inches 

 thick, and the s))ace between the pier and the piles is afterwards filled in solid 

 with concrete, upcm which masonry of square stones of large dimensions is 

 laid, the top of the piles being dressed oft' to a fair and nnil'orm line, and 

 further secured with a strong band or waling of timber, encircling the whole 

 tie, which is held in its place by iron caisson bars, firmly fixed to the main 

 timbers of the caisson. 



By this plan very little obstruction will be offered to the current, should 

 any further increase of depth in the river take place, and from what we saw of 

 the care taken to make the joints close, there will not be, in our o]>inion, the 

 slighest apprehension for the safety of the bridge, should the river deepen 

 three times as much as it has since the remoYal of Loudon Bridge — a circum- ' 

 stance very unlikely to happen. 



In comparing this method of work with endeavouring to accomplish the 

 same object by diving bells (which was the plan till lately followed at this 

 bridge), there canimt be a question which is the best ; in one all is done in the 

 dark, or otherwise hid from view ; while in the other it is seen as the work 

 progresses ; in truth, the last is the only proper cour.se. 



THAMES TUNNEL. 



E.rlriicl from the Report of tlie Directors at tlie laxt General Meetiiir/, held at 

 the London Tarern, /^th March, 1838. 



Tlie plan upon which the works have been carried forward consisted of 

 three principal features, viz. : — 



1st. — To divert the Navigation from that part of the River immediately 



over the Mining operations. 

 2dly. — To gain the command of that p.irt of the River, without inter- 

 ruption, and to be thus enabled to load and cover its bed, both over 

 the Works in progress and in advance of them ; and to compress this 

 artificial bed, directly over the Shield, by grounding upon it, at every 



fall of the tide, a vessel, when ballasted, of about 900 tons burthen 



And, 



3dly To make alterations in the auxiliary parts of the Shield, still 



further to add to its security and power. 

 Tlie brickwork of the Tunnel has been advanced, since the last Meeting, 

 90 feet, and is now within 60* feet of low water mark ; and if the same rate 

 of progress continues, which there is every reason to expect, low water mark 

 will be reached in the course of the autumn. 



It will be clear to those who are best acquainted with the work, that when 

 this is accomplished the most hazardous portion of the Tunnel will be com- 

 pleted ; and that however novel, and even bold, the work which then re- 

 mains to be dene, in order to realise the original design, yet its complation 

 becomes comparatively safe and easy, and calculable within a reasonable 

 time. 



" Since this Report was read to the General Meeting, Ten feet have lieen excavate d 

 file distance to low water is therefore only 50 feet. 



Suspension Bridijes The largest suspension bridge in this country is that across 



the Menai Strait, with a span of 560 feot ; the next in point of size, is that at Mont- 

 rose, which is 43"i feet in span ; we have been much gratified by the inspection of a 

 report and plan of a third which will rival these stupendous works of art, both in 

 magnitude and iinpurtance ; for while they have but one span eaiii, of the above 

 dimensions, that to which we are alluding projected by that able engineer Mr. J. M. 

 Rendel, will have two of 4o0 feet each, and a whole length (with the side openings) 

 between the abalnionts, of 1125 I'eet. The site of tko proposed bridge, is at Newn- 

 haiii, on the Severn in Gloucestershire, where there is at present a ferry, which ha-j 

 the gi-eat inconvenieuee of being entirely navigable only half an hour before and 

 after high water. The great advantaget of such a work will be materially- felt in the 

 adjacent country, by the coal and other mines of Dean Forest, becoming easier of 

 access, thereby* producing a considerable reduction of price, besides the conveni- 

 ence it \\ ill secure ot a direct route across the Severn to the southward of Gloucester. 

 The various drawings by which the proposed bridge is illustrated are admirably exe- 

 cuted, and convey both in point of topogi-aphical, geological, and perspective detail, 

 as comidete an idea of this magnificent proposed work and its locality as can be ex- 

 pressed by the artist on paper. — Nuulical Moj^aiine. 



The Wreck oj' tlir Itxyal Geori/e. — I'he experiment of blowing up the wreck of the 

 Royal Geor<Te, at Sjiitbead, by means of l;J-incli shells, placed as far into her in dif- 

 ferent parts as the divers can manage it. To prevent accident to any boat, the ex- 

 plosion will be eflected by the rising of the tide operating on a buoy attached to the 

 sliells by alogdiue. 



."Attorn Doelc-tjiinl:-. — 111 bringing in the navy estimates, Mr. C. Wood stated, that 

 the government luul laid iu ample stores — had added one-lhird to the dock-yards — and 

 had made preparations at Deptford, Woolwich, Portsmouth, and Plymouth. 



Oeerluiiil Indian Mails. — The contract ibr a carriage conveyance over the desert 

 between Suez and t'airo has been taken by Messrs. Hill and Co., and by the 17th of 

 .January, there was to be a car-riage for the conveyance of passengers liom Cairo to 

 Suez, between whicli the distance is 90 miles, aud the time is about 24 hours. 



