1839.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



313 



piico of permission to compete for plans for the erection of a pulilic cdilice. 

 Tlie council recommended to the society (^for consideration and adoption at 

 its next meeting) the establishment of a class of younger meniliers, to he 

 called associates, at a lower rate of admission — to have the use of the lilirary 

 and casts and the museum, lint to he ineli(!;ihle to the council, and to have no 

 vote. — J/jridged from the Manchester Guardian. 



BIUTISII ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 



Tliis association has issued the usual circidar for tlie ninth meeting at Bir- 

 mingham, and fixed for the week commencing on Moiul.ay, the 'JGtli of 

 August, on the cvciung (if which day the Rev. Vernon llarcourt, the in-esideiit 

 elect will take the ch.air. It is rciiucstcil that mendiers who nuiy have re- 

 jiorts, original memoirs, apparatus, models, or other connnunications to lay 

 before the association, will forward the same before the 10th of August, and 

 state their general nature and pmhable extent, in letters, addressed Uy the 

 Assistant General Secretary of the British Association, I'hiloso]ibical Insti- 

 tution, Uirmingham. A room has been provided for the exhibition of philo- 

 sophical apparatus, niodcds, machinery, specimens of natural and artificial 

 products, niannfactured articles, &c. ; and it is especially requested that those 

 who <lesirc to take advantage of this arrangement wilt be careful to send, 

 with the objects which they exhibit, an exact description of then- fabrication 

 and use. Information for mendjcrs, on their airival, is to be given at the 

 Free (Iranimar School, New Street, at which place there will be an .attendance 

 of jn'oper persons for that jiurpose daring the week of the meeting and the 

 preceding week. Every accommodation which this coiiimoilious and magni- 

 ficent edifice art'ords will he given to the jihilosophers. Thomas Knott, Esq., 

 one of the most valuable jiublic men in Birmingham, is bailitf of the school 

 this year. 



STSAM RTAVIGATIOW. 



Sli'um Ships. — AVe learn from the yfrmi/ and Nari/ Clironirlr that the tw 

 sle:un-ships which have been ordered to'be built (one here, and the other a 

 Philadelphia), are to be cimstnielcd upcni the same model, and are intended 

 to be as near alike as possible, with the exception of the engines. To test the 

 comparative advantages of the livo descriptions of engines ado|ilerl. one ol 

 tlie steamers is to be titled wilh inclined engines, of ten-feet stroke ; the 

 uiher vessel to have two vertical engines of the .same jiower of seven-feet 

 stroke. The dimensions of the hull are reported at 



Feel. Inelie.i. 



Length between perpendiculars 220 



Mmihled lieam 3U 



Depth of hold 23 li 



Tonnage by Custom House measurement, 1,650 tons. — New Yorli paper. 

 Steam Nartgation between Boston and England. — The arrangements have been 

 coinplete.l for establishing three steamers on thi.s line, of 1,000 tons each, and 

 the hrilish Ciovernment have contracted lor eight years to pay the proprie- 

 tnis 270,000 dollars every year, for the transportation of the mails in these 

 ships. They will ply once a fortnight, after the first of May. 18-10, calling 

 at Halifax and NovaSeotia. — Boslun Trinvlter. 



Steam Commnnieationwitli. Ameriea. — We learn from Paris that M. C'onle. 

 direclorof the post-olhee, has presented to the government a project for the 

 eslablisbinent of steam-packets between Bordeaux and New Yorli. Accord- 

 ing to this .>:cheme twelve packets, of 450 horse-power, are to be employed 

 upon Ibis service. The packets might promptly he transformed into ships 

 of war. A wet dock is to he opened at Pacillac in order to receive them. 

 A steamer of 150 horse-power will be employed to tow up to Bordeaux 

 such of the packets as may come and take their cargoes there, .so as to 

 prevent accidents to ihcir machinery. This line scheme will require an 

 outlay of 22,0QO.OOOf It appears to have been received by government 

 with great favour. M. C'onle has been ordered to present his plan on the 

 opening of the next session. — Conrrler de Bordeau.i-. 



Tlie Iron Steam-Bnnt. Bridegroom, was launched on the 13lh of .lune, and on 

 the Itilh was running wilh passengers on her station, two days and a-lialf 

 only being occupied in lixing and completing ihc boiler and engines. On 

 the'l7tli she ran with the Naiad (a boat built on the diagonal board plan, 

 and hitherto said to he the lightest possible mode of building), and beat 

 her in the distance from Blackwall to Woolwich half ihe length of the 

 dockjard, although the Naiad »as one-third her superior in power, and 

 allowed to be the fastest boat upon the Woolwich station. 



The Iron Steam Vessel, Orwell, of .■i26Jtons, and SO horse-power, built for 

 tne Ipsw Ich .Steam Navigaiion Company, was launched from Messrs. Ditch- 

 burn and Mare's ship-building yard, Blackwall, on Thursday, June 27. 



LauiiSi. of an Iron Steamer. — On .Saturday, 1st July, there was launched, 

 from the hiiilding-yard of Mr. John Laird. North Birkenhead, an iron steain 

 vessel, called the Dnehess if Laiiensler. She is about 220 tons, and tlO horse 

 power, and is intendeil to ply betueen L;\erpool .ind L neasier, uiili ^'oods 

 and |),u>sengers. She uiU be of light tiralt of water widi a lull cargo.— ^/a,,v- 

 eliester Adierllser. 



PROGRESS OF RAIL'WAVS. 



Manehester and Leeds Railway. — The first portion ofthe line fiMin Manches- 

 ter to Littleborough, was opened on Thursday. Srdult.. and a gieat num- 

 ber of persons travelled between those towns. The journey from Halifax to 



^Ianckst?r, iilijtli wsc'il ts w^m, gn .the aYetiige; tliree Jwws will tbres- 



quarters, is now iierformed in little more than two hours. "When the mail 

 bags are sent by the railway to Litllcborough. an arrangement which will, 

 we hope. Iw .son'n adopled b\ the post-olliee authorilies. the Halifax letters 

 will arrive an hour earlier than at preseni. — Ilalifa.t E.rpress. 



Birmingham and Drrhij Railwaij. — This railway, it is stated, will be openeil 

 to the public on Monday the 12th inst. 



North Midland Ilailwa:/. — Mr. Jackson, of London, cuntraclor for the works 

 on the line of the North Midland Railway, from Bull Bridge to Bel|)er. has 

 taken the contract for the station at Derby. The estimate is about 711,000^. ; 

 the works to be completed in six months. 



Eilinltnrgh and Gta.-igmv Railwnif. — 'file works on this important railway 

 are making very great progress, and when complete 1 will eompele with any 

 similar iinderlaking in the liingdom, both in executii n and extent of profits. 

 The three e\tensi\e viaducts over the IJoou. ihe Redbiune. and the Almond 

 valleys, consisting of 20, 15, and 3li arches, of from 50 to 60 feet span each, 

 have been contracted for by men of skill and great experience, considerably 

 under the parliamentary estimates. This will make the average per mile, 

 including lor land and rails, not exceeding 20,000/. M'hen these works are 

 compared with olhers of a similar nature executed in this country, the direc- 

 tors arc justly entitled to a very considerable degree of credit, for the atten- 

 tion they have devoted to the interest of the shareholders, for the result of 

 their Labours will be without a parallel in the history of railways. The 

 whole line will be completed in 1841. We imdorsland that the south end of 

 the tllasgow. Paisley, Kilmarnock, and Ayr Railway will be opened in July. 

 From the nature of the country, and the price of labour and materials hripg 

 so inurh cheaper in .Scotland than ill I'Ingland. this work will be completed 

 for 11.000/. per mile. The Kdinhurgh, Leith. and New haven Railway 

 Amcniled Bill has passed the House of Lords, and is now only waiting tlie 

 royal assent. 'The establishment of this line of communications, by means 

 ol a tunnel under the n'w town of I'ldinbuigh. with the sea coast, is of the 

 utmost importance to all the Scotch railways; for thus, as their termini 

 Ibey liave seaports in the Frith id" Forth, the Clyde, and the Ayrshire coast 

 and connecting the whole manufacturing district of Scotland, with the faci- 

 lity of steam-boat eomnumication. will, in a very short period, improve the 

 commercial prosperity of this valuable portion of the British empire, and 

 amply repay the shareholders for their cnterpiising spirit inpromoiing works 

 of So important a character.' — Glasgow paper. 



Glasgon- and Pai.sley Joint Railway. — The key-stone of the railway bridge 

 over tile river Cart, in Paisley, was set by Mr. I'.rrington, the engineer, on 

 Saturday, amid the cheering of the workmen. The bridge was ilesigned by 

 Joseph Locke, F.sij., and we extract the following description of its dimen- 

 sions from the Paisley Adrertiser : — "As tins ;s the largest arch on the 

 whole line, we may state two nr tluve particulars regar.ling it. 'flie span is 

 85 feet. The top o'f the abutments, from which the arch appears to spring, is 

 25 feet 4 inches above the bed of the river. The additional height to the 

 lower part of the arch, or, as it is called, the rise, is 18 feet. The total 

 height from the beil of the river to the top of the parapet w ill be 54 feet 2 

 inches. The breadth over the parapets will be 28 feet. We have s dd that 

 the arch appears to spring from the abutments, liut the truth is it .springs 

 from the foundation, eight feet below the bed ofthe river, and is earned up 

 with the same radius all the way. A line, stretching from the foundation on 

 the one side, over the arch, to the foundation on the other side, mea.sures 

 182 feet. The depth ofthe springers, which weigh from two and a half to 

 three tons each, is six and a lialf feet. 'I'he ilepth of the other stones de- 

 crease as they approach the top. by the^ following gra lations : — 5 feet, 4 feet 

 8 inches, 3 feet 8 inches, and 3 feet. Exclusive ofthe springers, tliere arc 

 63 stones forming the arch, each measuring in breadth nineteen and a-half 

 inches. The smallest stones used in the arch contain 18 cubic feet, and 

 weigh from 27 to 28 cwt. The stones in the two abutments weigh about 

 2,2(J0 tons, and those in the arch itself weigh about 900 tons. TiuMvayui 

 which this bridge has been erected, has drawn expressimis of approbation 

 from almost every hi ludder, scientific, practical, and ordinary. The supports 

 ill the river were put up with great strength, and on the most improved prin- 

 ciple, so as to remove every sensation of fear, citherfroin workmen or specla- 

 tor.s. The stones w ere all conveyed to the crow n of the arch on a temporary 

 railway, and in witnessing, from the Old Bridge, the trucks moving upuard-s, 

 they looked like a huge land turtle creeping up a hill with a sheep on its 

 back Kvery thing was done in a quiet, calm way, which would have led one 

 to suppose the operation one of the most ordinary description. The arch 

 will be a standing monument to Mr. Lyon's ere Jit, and we congratulate him 

 on the safe placing of its last key-stone." — Greenork Advertiser. 



Ra/lwayfrom Fhreiwe to Leghorn. — We leani from an esteemed correspon- 

 dent, that the promoters id' this railway have submitted to the imperial go- 

 vernment, for its sanction, a report upon the project which lliey have 

 received from Robert .Stephenson. Ksq., the eminent engineer, who h.as lately 

 returned to this country after a personal inspection of that part of Italy. 

 The fine determined upon by Mr. .Stephenson will eommence at Leghorn, 

 near the new dock, pass near the city of Pisa, and thence proceed towards 

 Pontedera, almost parallel to. and in the immediate vicinity of, the royal 

 posting road. It w ill then keep to the left of the Aino, passing near F'.m- 

 poli and Montehipo, and, crossing the river, proceed along its right bank 

 .as far as Florence, where it w dl lerminite wi hin a short distance of the 

 Porta al I'rato. Mr. Stephenson stales ihat the proposed line can be coii- 

 struc'e:l at small cost, as it traverses a district almost perfectly level, there 

 being only two points at which works of any magnitude will' occur. Mr. 

 Stephenson is of opinion that the sum required for the completion ofthe rail- 

 way, including land, compensation, and the necessary establishment of en- 

 gines and carriages, will be about fifteen millions of 'i'uscan livres. and that 

 the whole may be finished in four years from the commencement of the 

 works. He rcciniimciids that the line be undertaken in four distinct sections, 

 the first being that from Leghorn to Pisa, w Inch he thinks might he finished 

 in fifteen mouths, and which w oulj give the contractors and other partiss 



sniiJloyed i»pi;avti«al insigUt mtvtUs );«^^«Jsite details.— ifnifn'cy Tmi\ 



