1839. 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOHRNAl,. 



203 



WESTMINSTER BRIDGE REPAIRS. 



noN ot'l'iLn, showiug tlir new Slieet-piling and Si 



High water. 



Trinity 

 Standard. 



Low water. 

 1739. 



Low water. 

 1839. 



Bed of River. 



Griivel. 



Sub-stratum of — — 

 clay. 



Fig. i. ri..i.\ ot riKi:, bliowiiig the Sheet ijiliiiy and 

 Stone-cai»piiig. 



Scale of feet. 



10 



10 



20 



10 



Scale of feet. 

 10 



20 



WESTMINSTER BRIDGE. 



Before noticing the' improvements which are at present being made 

 on this structure, it m;iy not be uninteresting to give a brief account of 

 its censtriiction, taken from a work published by Mr. Labelye, tlie 

 engineer, in the year 1751. 



In the year 1735 a petition was presented to Parliament, the pur- 

 port of which was to have a bridge erected at the Horse Ferry, or at 

 such other place as the House should think fit. 



On the 'iOth of May, 17.36, an act for this purpose received the 

 royal assent, the commissioners appointed under it were nearly '200, 

 and tliere was granted the sum of 100,000/. to be raised by a lottery. 

 This lottery having proved unsuccessful, a new lottery was granted by a 

 second act in 1737. 



In August, 1737, tiie commissioners received plans from dilt'ereiit 

 persons for the proposed bridge, and Mr. Labelye was ordered to ex- 

 plain his method of laying the foundations of the stone piers of a 

 bridge below the surface of tlie bed of the river, which he did in the 

 following September, by means of a model, when it was resolved, 

 " That this board do approve of Mr. Labclye's design, and are of 

 opinion that he is a proper person to be employed in case the commis- 

 sioners proceed to the laying the foundations of stone piers." 



A third act was obtained in February, 1738, by which the position of 

 the bridge was fixed at or near tlie Woolstaple, a little lower than Now 

 Palace Yard. In the same month Mr. Labelye again explained his 

 method to the commissioners, which was as follows : " That the founda- 

 tion of every pier should be laid on a strong grating of timber planked 

 underneath ; that this grating of timber sliould be made the bottom of 

 a vessel, sucli as is called caisson by the French ; that the sides of this 

 caisson should be so contrived as to be taken away after the pier should 



be finished ; tliat the bed of the river should be dug to a sufficient 

 depth (none of tlie caissons to be laid at a less depth than five feet 

 below the surface of the bed of the river), and made level, in order to 

 lay thereon the bottom of the caisson." 



Shortly after this the commissioners resolved that the bridge .should 

 stand upon stone piers, and fixed the number and dimensions accord- 

 ing to Mr. Labelye's design for a stone bridge ; tliey also appointed 

 him engineer, but the superstructure was to be of oak wood, according to 

 a design of Mr. James King, with whom, and his partner, they con- 

 tracted for such superstructure for the sum of 'J8,000/. 



On the 29th of January, 1730, the first stone of the bridge was laid 

 by the Right Hon. the Earl of Pembroke, and on the iSrd of April 

 the first pier was finished. In December of the same year a severe 

 frost put a total stop to the work till the following February. The ice 

 carried off 140 piles, and broke above one-half of them. The com- 

 missioners, after this accident, determined to drop the design of a 

 wooden, and resolved upon an entire stone bridge. 



Mr. Labelye furnished the designs from which the present bridge was 

 Iniilt, and the work proceeded without interruption till its completion 

 in 1740. 



On the -Jotli of October in that year the last stone was laid by the 

 Earl of Pembroke, and on the 14th of November, 1747, the biidgc, 

 roads, and streets on both sides were finished ; the whole was pertbrnied 

 in seven years, nine months, and sixteen days from tlic laying of the 

 first stone. 



The Commissioners intended soon alter this to have opened the 

 bridge for the service of the public, but were prevented by tlie failure 

 of one of the piers, which occupied a considerable time in being re- 

 stored. 



Mr. Labelye, after giving a highly interesting account of the work 



