1840.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



137 



report, llmt lliev have taken into tlieir consideration the following clause 

 which has heen referred to them by the House : — 



"Ami he it enacted, that no bridge or tunnel, or approaches to the same, 

 for carrying a turnpike-road over or under any part of a railway or canal, 

 shall be made or constructed of less width between the fences, walls, or para- 

 pets thereof than 21 feet: nor shall any bridge or tunnel, or approaches to 

 the s.ame. for carrying any other public carriage-rond over or under any part 

 of a railway or canal be made or constructed of less width between the fences, 

 walls, or parapets thereof than 16 feet ; nor in any case less than so much 

 greater width, not exceeding 30 feet, as may be the average width of the 

 turnpike or other public carriage-road for 100 yards on each side of that 

 part of the railway or canal where any bridge or tunnel is inlende.l to Ije 

 made or constructed." . , , „ . , . 



Your Committee have upon this subject examined Mr. Palk, the legal ad- 

 viser of the Chairman of Committees iri the House of Lords, and it appears 

 from his evidence, tliat about the end of tlie year 18,S6, complaints were made 

 to the Chairman of the Committees, and he introduced clauses into all sub- 

 sequent railway bills, containing the provisions here anne.ved. and which 

 vour Committee will now proceed to compare with the clause referred for 

 iheir consideration. 



The rule which since that period has, with few exceptions, been adopted by 

 the Chairman of Commitiees in the House ol Lords, provides that the width 

 of turnpike roads passing under bridges or tunnels should be 2.5 feet, and 

 the width of highways passing under bridges or tunnels should be 15 feet. 



The clause referred to your Committee for their consideration provides, 

 that no bridge or tunnel for cariying a turnpike-road under any part of a 

 railroad or canal shall be constructed of less Hidth than 21 feet, and no 

 bridge or tunnel for carrying any puljlie carriage-road under any part of a 

 railway or canal, .shall be constructed of less width than IG feet. 



It w ill be perceived, therefore, that as regards a turnpike-road, the clause 

 referred to your Committee requires a less width by four feet than has been 

 required by the rule adopted m the House of Lords, while, as regards a 

 highway or public carriage-road, an additional width of one foot is required 

 more than has been deemed necessary by the regulations of the House of 

 Lords. These regulations further provide, that the height of a bridge or 

 tunnel passing under a railway should Ije 16 feet. This appears to your 

 Committee to be also an important regulation. It will be found in the evi- 

 dence aiuiexed to the second report of the Committee on Railways in the 

 last session, that it has been especially provided that the bridges or tunnels 

 for carrying turnpike-roads under the Brighton Railway shall he IS feet in 

 height, and it is stated that this height was insisted upon for the conveni- 

 ence of the farmers anil hop growers in that district. Tlie rule of the House 

 of Ijords also requires that the width of a turnpike-road upon a bridge pass- 

 ing over a railway must be 2.5 feet, and the width ot a public carriage-way 

 15 feet, with a parapet-wall in e.ach case four feet high. A reference to llie 

 analytical table in the appen lix to the second report of the Railw ay Com- 

 mittee of last session, wilt show that these regulations luave been introduced 

 into all the Railway Acts since the year 18.36. 



Your Committee would now recommend to the House that in all original 

 Railway Acts, and in all Railway Acts authorizing new works in the present 

 session of Parliament, the rule of the House of Lords should be adopted as 

 to works to be carried into execution under the provisions of those Acts re- 

 spectively, with this addition, that in every bridge or tunnel tlie arches 

 should spring from abutijients of not less height than 10 feet. Your Com- 

 mittee would also recommend that in all Railway Acts authorizing further 

 works, passed in any future session of Parliament, the rule shall be as fol- 

 lows, with respect to works to he carried into execution under the provision 

 of those Acts respectively : 



Whenever a turnpike-road passes under a railway, the width of the bridge 

 or tunnel shall in no case be less than 30 feet, and there shall be on eacli side 

 footways of 2i feet in width. Whenever a public carriage-road passes under 

 a railway, the width of the bridge or tunnel shall he not less than 20 feet, 

 and there shall be on each side tootways of 18 inches wide; the height of 

 the bridge or tunnel shall in no case be less than 16 feet, and the arches shall 

 spring from abutments of not less than 10 feet in height. 



•Similar provisions might also, with advantage, be made applicable to all 

 canal bills which shall in future be introduced into Parliament. 



Statistics op Gas. — For lighting Loudon and its suburbs with gas, there 

 are 18 public gas works ; 12 public gas work companies ; 2,800,000/. capital 

 employeil in works, pipes, tanks, gas-holders, apparatus; -150,000/. yearly 

 revenue derived; 180,000 tons of coal used in the year for making gas; 

 1,460,000,000 cubic feet of gas made in the year; 134,300 private burners 

 supplied to about 400,000 consumers ; 30,400 public or street consumers. — 

 About 2650 of these are in the city of London. — 380 lamplighters employed ; 

 17G gas-holders, several of them double ones, capable of storing 5,500,000 

 cuoic feet ; 890 tons of coals used in the retorts on the shortest day, in 24 

 hours; 7,120,000 cubic feet of gas used in the longest night, say 24th De- 

 cember; about 2500 persons are employed in the metropolis alone in this 

 branch of manufacture ; between 1822 and 1827 the quantity nearly doubled 

 itself, and that in five years ; between 1827 and 1837 it doubled itself again. 



Portsmouth Flo.\tixg BRiDGE.-;-This bridge, which will shortly be 

 opened, is seventy feet in length, and sixty in breadth, and is capable of hold- 

 ing on each side, besides passengers, two rows of carriages seventy feet long ; 

 she is impelled by two engines of twenty-horse power each, the cylinders 

 being eighteen inches in diameter, and the length of the stroke three feet. 

 The average rate of the engines will be about thirty strokes per minute, and 

 the average speed about 350 feet per minute ; so that she will perform the 

 passage (2200 feet) in about seven minutes. She only draws, with all her 

 machineiy on board, two feet and nine inches, and fifty tons additional weight 

 will only sink her four inchei. 



STEAM NAVIGATION. 



The Kemesis iron steam ship, 165 feet long, 29 feet beam. 660 tons, built by 

 John Laird, of the Birkenhead Iron M'orks, Livcrpoid, with engines of 120 

 horse power, made bj George Korresler and Cn. Liverpocd. On her passage 

 from Liverpool for Odessa, she struck on a sunken rock when going 9 knots 

 per hour the damage she sustained w.as trifling, requiring only about 2i ewt. 

 of new iron, and 12 men about 6 days to repair it; not a rivet was started — 

 the injury w.is confined to the part actually lihiged or cut ; the repairs might 

 have been cumpleteil in three days at Liverpool, where every cnnvenience 

 could have been had. [t is stated by s<inie parties, well acquainted with the 

 circumstances, that hail the vessel heen timber built, she would not have 

 been got off at all ; but all agree tliat had she got oil' the repairs would have 

 been both tedious and very expensive. The leak caused by the lilow was so 

 trifling that the Nemesh might have steamed for months w itliout being obliged 

 to dock. Ibe accident occurred about the lOth ult.. she steamed .300 miles 

 afterwards, w.as discharged, docked, repaired, reloaded and ready for sea 

 again by the 26th ult., with all her stores and coals on board. 



PROGRESS OF RAIL-WAVS. 



CROYDON RAILWAY. 



Mr. Cubtlt's Report to tlte Directors on the Cost of constructing the 

 Railioay. 



[M'e have given this report in full, as it contains a great deal of valuable 

 information to the profession.] 



Gentlemen, Loinlon, March 9, 1840. 



'■The object of this report is to set forth the cost of constructing the Croy- 

 don Railway. 



" In performing this duty it will be necessary to refer back to a period 

 previous to the general meeting in August last, at which time the affairs of 

 the Company were undergoing an examination by a committee of proprietors, 

 by whom I was lalled upon, to aid and assist them in their labours. 



'' As much dissatisfaction at tliat time existed with regard to the great 

 cost of the works, and the little information which existed on the subject, it 

 occurred to me that nuthiug could lend to satisfy the minds of the proprie- 

 tary so much as a clear statement of ihe cost of all the various parts of the 

 work, and in a short report of the Committee of the 7tb of August, I stated 

 the way and manner, and the uiunber of heads in wdiich [ recommended tlie 

 accounts to be called fir, and which were as f jilow : — 



I. Acts of Parliament, including all legal and professioiml charges of all 

 kinds incurred in soliciting and passing the various bills ; the whole 

 drawn out in a detailed form. 



II. Land, buildings, and compensations of all kinds for the line of rail- 

 way, and stations, together with all legal charges attending the same, 

 and the expenses of all kinds attendant lai obtaining possession of the 

 land, &c., in detail. 



HI. Karthwork, bridges, fencing, draining, and forming the line of railway, 

 as per contracts and otherwise, and also all extras upon contracts, set- 

 ting forth in a clear and detailed form the whole cost of formation, bridg- 

 ing, fencing, draining. &ic.. up to the line of ballasting. 



IV. Ballasting, sleepering. .and laying the permanent way complete, in- 

 cluding all turn-plates, sidings, and expenses of all kinds attending the 

 trackways of the line. 



V. Water apparatus, including engines, pumps, standards, pipes, and erec- 

 tions of all kinds relative to supplying the locomotive engines with 

 water. 



VI. .Stations, showing the amount of contracts, and an account in detail 

 of all extras thereon. 



VII. Engine and carriage hou.ses, workshops, implements, machinery and 

 apparatus of every kind, for repairing and maintaining the locomotive 

 engines, (<tc. 



VIII. Wharfs, railway cranes, and works connected with the GrandSurrey 

 Canal Junction. 



IX. Sundries of various kinds not reducible to the above heads. 



X. Engineering and supervisal of all kinds. 



••Such were the accounts which I recommended the Committee to obtain, 

 and which statement was remitted to the engineer as instructions to furnish 

 to me. in detail, the accounts as therein specified. 



•'This requisition, which involved much labour and of necessity would 

 occupy a great length of time, was most readily and cheerfully responded to 

 by Mr. Gibhs, who not only ciuseil the whole of the engineering accounts and 

 expenditure to be arranged in detail under their respective heads, from HI 

 to IX. inclusive, but induced Messrs. Grissel and Peto, the contractors for 

 the stations and buildings, to do the same with all tlieir work, and who, much 

 to their credit and at a very heavy expense, furnished in detail a minute 

 account of all the work executed by them for the Company.- 



" To the heads. Nus 1, II. and X , I have not received any returns, but as 

 they form no portion of the construction of the railway, and the first two 

 not' being in the engineer's department, and the last relating to private and 

 personal accounts of the Company, may be considered as sufficient reasons 

 for not being included in this inquiry, 



" As it will be difficult, if not impossible, in a report of tlii ; kind, (which 

 is intended to afi'ord as much general information as possible in the shortest 

 compass, and in a way to be understood by the general body of the proprie- 

 tors) to enter very minutely into the accounts, 1 shall therefore suljmit to 

 the board a general abstract or statement of the whole work, under the sepa- 

 rate heads contained in my instructions, dividing each head into the princi- 



