10 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



[No. 1 



curve on the line, and was neressarily adopted to 

 avoid very heavy cuiliiif!;. With the exception ot 

 these 2100 feet, a locomotive can pass as last, and 

 draw very nearly as heavy trains ihrouirh the whole 

 line, as thou^-h the road were perlectly straiirht. 



As the nuinbers of the last table afiiird conve- 

 nient marks of reference, lei me here introduce a 

 few remarks relative to the constructi(jn of the 

 work', and the nature of the counirj' throuixh 

 which it passes. Between points Nos. 1 and 2, 

 nothing remarkable occurs — the whole consisis o! 

 cuttinix from three to >;ix lee' — the soil priucipnlly 



r 



clity. R'tween 2 and 3, is encountered a swHmp, 

 or hijrhland slash, which was Ibund very trouble- 

 some, bfin<2; completely covered with water during 

 the winter and sprinji, and in suiiuiier, baked so 

 hard, that a pick could scarcely penetrate the soil. 

 The cleaririir through tiiis swump was very heavy. 

 In this distance, also, is crossed Fontaine's creek. 

 O /er this stream is erected one of the handsomest 

 stone structiues in this country — a drawin<r of 

 which I send you, * by one of the eujiiueers, 

 now on the Raleigh and Gaston road. This via- 

 duct is built of most beautilul granite, wliich was 





^xr'M^^ ii^: 



Cruk Wadud. 



found in abundance at a distance of about three 

 miles. At the roadway level, the britlge is one 

 hundred and eighty feet long, and only six feet 

 wide — the plate of the rail, being about Ibrty two 

 feet above the eurfu-e of ihe water. The span, or 

 archway, is sixty feet, and each abutment has a 

 length of sixiy leet. The abutments fur the twen- 

 ty feet next to the arch, are Ibuuded on solid rock, 

 and have such a base, that with a batter, or slope, 

 on each side, of one inch to the loot, they dwindle 

 to a width of six feet, by tlie time they reach the 

 level of the roadwa}'. Over the whole is put a 

 coping, beautifuil}' cut, one foot in thickness, 

 which projects on either side, six inches, which 

 gives the briilixe the appearance of being seven 

 feet wide. Tiiis bridire is remarkable l()r its light 

 and graceful appearance, being only seven leet 

 deep from the top of the coping to the crown ol 

 the arch, or the stone work being only seven feet 

 thick just above the crown or highest point of thp 

 arch, so that it looks as if it were actually suspen- 

 ded in the air. And yet there can be no manner 

 of doubt as regards its strength or safety. The 

 ring stones are two and a half li-et deej), and mea- 

 sure two feet on the inner, and two U'.ei two inches 

 on the outer circle — the beds or joints of these ring- 



stones are cut perli^ctly smooth, as well as their fa- 

 ces, and they lie so nearly in contact, that it is almost 

 impossible to run the blade of a kiiiie between them. 

 Such an arcli, siip[)orted by abutments sixty leet 

 louij-. and Ibiinded on rock, will resist any pressure 

 insufficient to crush the granite to dust. There 



* We will take the liberty of saying that we are in- 

 debted for the original drawing of the viaduct to the 

 ppncil ol M. Tiiomey, esq. — and we feei regret and 

 iijortification that the engraving, (for which this publi- 

 cation lidS so long waited,) is much inferior in beauty 

 to the drawing from which it was tak°n. Yet it was 

 ohtain^d of a first rate engraver, (Horton of Balti- 

 more,) and ordsred in his best st}'!^ — no limit fixed for 

 the price, and paj^ment made for this and sundry 

 others even before seeing the work. The contrast of 

 quality in the earliest and the latest work received from 

 this artist, for the Farm^^rs' Register, is a striking exem- 

 plification of the usual manner in which distant cus- 

 tomers are served, after their confidence has been se- 

 cured. It is cheaper in the "long run" to buy at and 

 near home, though the prices asked may be nominally 

 20 per cent, higher. Ed. 



