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subsequently on the survey and construction of roads in the north of 

 Devon, where the difficulties he had to contend with contributed 

 much to create that self-reliance so useful to him in his subsequent 

 career. At that period he was introduced to the Earl of Morley, 

 who discovering the latent talents of the young engineer, then 

 scarcely twenty-five years of age, confided to him, with the approval 

 of Mr. Telford, the construction of a cast-iron bridge across the 

 Lary, an arm of the sea within the Harbour of Plymouth. This 

 bridge, consisting of five elliptical arches, was, with the exception of 

 that of Southwark, the largest cast iron structure of the kind in the 

 kingdom. Its construction, in which Mr. Rendel was engaged be- 

 tween 1824 and 1827, presented many difficulties demanding con- 

 siderable skill and decision on the part of the engineer ; but these 

 difficulties were successfully overcome, and for the account of this 

 work the Telford Medal of the Institution of Civil Engineers was 

 awarded to him. About this period he designed and executed the 

 Boucombe Bridge, where hydraulic power was for the first time 

 applied to the machinery for working swing bridges. 



Soon after the completion of the Lary Bridge, Mr. Rendel settled 

 in Plymouth, and there exercised his profession with great activity, 

 being engaged in surveying and reporting upon nearly all the har- 

 bours in the South-west of England, and executing the works at a 

 large number of places, acquiring that mastery over Hydraulic En- 

 gineering on which his fame will chiefly rest. He was extensively 

 employed by the Exchequer Loan Commissioners ; in many cases 

 executing the works thus authorized. 



In the year 1831 he introduced a new system of crossing rivers by 

 means of Floating Bridges worked by steam power; they were applied 

 at Saltash and at Torpoint, on the river Tamar, and subsequently at 

 Southampton and Portsmouth ; but the rapid progress of the railway 

 system prevented the further development of this useful invention, 

 for which the Telford Medal was awarded. Descriptions of the 

 structure of these bridges, as well as of that over the Lary, were pub- 

 lished in the Transactions of the Institution of Civil Engineers. 



The repairs of the Montrose Suspension Bridge, after its fall, were 

 confided to him, and he there introduced the system of imparting 

 that rigidity to the platform of the roadway which is now admitted 

 to be so essential to the safety of these structures. He was also 



