10 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[Jan. 6, 



and to the corresponding front ribs; this double framework, being braced 

 togctlier with horizontal and diagonal tension rods of iron, is planked on 

 botli sides, and made perfectly water-tight. The gates constructed in this 

 manner are extremely liglit and buoyant ; and by the admission of more or 

 less water, with additional balance weights, the buoyancy of the gate is so 

 adjusted that its whole weight is borne by the water, and, consequently, very 

 litile power required for opening and shutting, besides the great saving in 

 tear and wear thus reduced to a minimum ; in proof of which it was stated, 

 that iiistead of from ten to twelve minutes, with four men, the time and 

 power usually required for opening or shutting gates of similar dimensions, 

 these gates, by means of improved crab gearing, are opened or shut in three 

 and a lialf minutes, with only two men ; and with a longer allowance of time, 

 cicn one man is able to work them. Thanks voted, and given from the 

 chair. 



2. " Observations iipon Iron Lattice Bridges." By the same. 



Mr. Thomson illustrated his observations with numerous drawings 

 and models of several lattice bridges already completed, or at present 

 carrying into execution, by Mr. MacneiU and himself. The principle of 

 lattice bridges, applied in timber, has for some time back been in use in Ame. 

 rica ; but the adaptation of the principle to iron bridges, as now so success- 

 fully applied by Mr. Macneil and Mr. Thomson, is likely to supersede, in a 

 great degree, the use of timber, antl will supply a desideratum hitherto felt 

 in establishing internal lines of communication, &c., where the expense of 

 stone bridges not unfrequently precludes their being carried into etiect, while 

 the objection to wooden structures on the score of dmability is obviated by 

 the substitution of iron. The first bridge of this kind, recently completed by 

 Mr. Macneil on the line of the Dublin and Drogheda Railway, and of which 

 drawings were exhibited, is 85 ft. in span, consisting of two lattice-work 

 frames or beams, one on each side, resting upon stone abutments ; the lattice- 

 work beams are composed of small bars of malleable iron, about 12 ft. long, 

 and only a quarter of an inch thick, placed so as to cross each other at right 

 angles, and forming a net or lattice-work, rivetted at every intersection ; the 

 lattice frames, so constructed, and stiffened with angle iron, support the 

 roadway by means of light transverse beams, also of malleable iron, secured 

 to the lattice-work at each end. This bridge, which altogether weighs only 

 fourteen tons, sustained a load across its centre of twenty-four tons, under 

 ■which the deflection amounted only to 3-lOths of an inch. A viaduct 230 ft. 

 in length, with a central span of 140 ft., is now being constructed by Mr. 

 Macneil, over the Royal Canal in Ireland, for heavy locomotive traffic. This 

 viaduct, ofwhieb Mr. Thomson exhibited drawings, has a third lattice-frame 

 in the centre, and is composed of malleal)le iron bars half an inch thick. Mr. 

 Tiiomson described a very useful ajiplieafion of this principle to the widening 

 of the roadways of existing bridges ; and exhibited a pretty constructed model 

 of one of the arches of a stone bridge, aliout 400 ft. long, with the aildition 

 of footpaths on each side, as at present executing under his direction, the old 

 width of roadway being only seventeen feet, while, with the new footpaths, 

 supported by iron lattice-work, the width will be increased to thirty feet. 

 The appearance of these bridges, which may be either perfectly straight or 

 slightly curved, as circumstances require, is light and graceful, combining as 

 they do great strength with the least possible quantity of materials, and seem 

 10 be admirably adapted for crossing wide and deep valleys, rivers, &c. at a 

 tmall expense, as also for ornamental bridges in parks, or approaches to 

 gentlemen's seats, &c. The expense of construction, Mr. Thomson estimates 

 at less than half the cost of stone ; but he stated that he was at present 

 making an investigation into their principle, with experiments upon a different 

 arrangement of the lattice-bars, which be hoped would lead to a considerable 

 i-aving both in the quantity of material and workmanship. 



NOTES OF THE M'EEK. 



Thu sculptural decoration of the metropolis seems to be a great attraction 

 just now. The statue of Nelson has been elevated to the top of the pole in 

 'Irafalgar Square, where it has produced such an effect, although a merito- 

 lious work of art, that we question whether any more monostylar monu- 

 ments, supporting nothing, will be erected for some time. We must say that 

 ilie present is a luckless specimen; we have beard of midshipmen being 

 mastheaded, but we never saw an admiral mastheaded before. It seems that 

 discontent and disgust have even afflicted the committee ; they are going to 

 have the cable at the feet of the Admiral altered, so as to give greater so- 

 1 dity to the statue. We wisli while tlie statue is up, that they would knock 

 ( ff the cocked liat, which is too great an attraction, catching the eye from 

 every point. The statue of George IV., by Chartrey, is also mounted on the 

 liedestal near St. Martin's Church. It seems, on a cursory view, to be a good 

 hkeness of the King, and the horse, which is a powerful charger, planted on 

 his four feet, with his head slightly turned, is a fine one. We must, how- 

 ever, see more of it. George HI. is, it seems, to come from Pall Mall to the 

 T\orth West pedestal opposite the College of .Musicians. We hope the pigtail 

 of Ibis statue will also be cut off. The statue of William IV., by Nixon, is 

 nearly ready. It is to be placed at the junctions of King William-street and 

 Giaceehurch-street. We hope the artist has not, agreeably to the practice of 

 modern art, represented the Sailor-King with a doodeen in his mouth, or 

 seme other attribute of the ruling habit of the living man ; the statue, of 

 Devon granite, is fourteen feet hign, and cost £2,200, voted by the Corpora- 

 lion of London. What inconvenience would it be to the Corporation of 



London to vote a similar sum every year, for a statue of some man of genius 

 horn in London, and who has a right to such honours at the hands of its 

 municipal authorities. M'e can give some names to keep them going for a 

 few years, and tell them where to put them. Milton, Bread-street, Cheap- 

 side ; Pope, Lombard-street ; De Foe, Cripplegate, (or Fiusbury Pavement). 



Mr. Nixnn has finished the series of the Four Seasons for Goldsmiths' Hall. The 

 last statue is that of Autumn. He has in hand a statue of Mr. Carpenter, the 

 founder of the City of London school, to be placed in the vestibule of the 

 school ; and also of Sir John Crosby, for Crosby Hall. It has been noticed, 

 as in some degree singular, that statues are now being erected to two con- 

 temporaries and near neighbours — Wliittington and John Carpenter. Mr. 

 Bailey, R.A., has in hand a marble statue of that excellent statesman. Sir 

 Charles Metcalfe, to be !) ft high, and cost .t'3,000, to be placed opposite the 

 Senate House, Kingston, Jamaica. A bust is also to be sent to Calcutta. He 

 is also occupied with the statue of Sir Astley Cooper, for St. Paul's, which 

 will soon be placed on its pedestal. 



Some noise is being made about cheap imitations of bronzes in zinc, but 

 we have not seen any of them. 



As an example of the increased attention paid to decorations, we are glad 

 to instance the three new doors just completed for York Minster, from the 

 designs of Sydney Smirke. The three doors are alike of the decorated style, 

 16 ft. high, and 64 ft. broad. The tracery in the upper part is very rich, sup- 

 ported by slender Gothic columns. The hood mouldings spring from the 

 tops of the capitals, and terminate in rich tinials and crocketting. Three 

 trefoils, bearing shields, occupy the centre of the arches, and the lower part 

 of the door is divided into six decorated compartments. The work is exe- 

 cuted by Mr. Wallace and Mr. Scott, of Newcastle. 



Mr. Kigby has taken the contract for the erection of the new Marine Bar- 

 racks at Wouhiicb, for .i)70,000. The works have been commenced. The 

 barracks are to accommodate a thousand men. 



The Woods and Forests have begun pulling down the Rookery and neigh- 

 bourhood, to make way for the new road from Buckingham Palace to the 

 Vauxhall Road. The embankment of the Thames is also to be proceeded 

 with. 



The Glasgow and Ship Bank, at Glasgow, has been completed. Six em- 

 blematical statues, by Mr. Mossman, jun., occupy the pedestal. They are, 

 Britannia, the City of Glasgow, Wealth, Justice, Peace and Industry; each 

 seven feet high. 



Hess, of Munich, the painter, has finished his grand painting of the Battle 

 of the Borodino, or the Moskowa, for the Emperor Nicholas. It is looked 

 upon as something grand in the great way. 



The splendid gallery of Cardinal Hescli is at last to be sold, at Rome, and 

 is the object of much attraction, from the value and intrinsic merit of the 

 collection. It contains good specimens of nearly every school. 



St. Stephen's, Coleraan-street, has got a new altar window, of painted 

 glass. It is well executed, but the subject is ill chosen, being Ruben's De- 

 scent from the Cross. Ml imitations of historical pictures arc bad. 



Barbarism is not, as some have surmised, a pure English quality. Even 

 German artists go the length of destroying rival works, by stiUettoing fres- 

 cos in public places. 



A triumphal arch is to be erected in the Ludwig Strasse, at Munich, by 

 Von Gartner, the sculpture to be by Wagner. 



The Commune of Hornu, near Brussels, intends to erect a church, the 

 interior of which, it is said, will be entirely of iron. 



It is announced that the British and Foreign Institute has now reached to 

 nearly 1000 members. The Institute will, therefore, be opened on the 15th 

 instant ; the lectures and the soirees on the assembling of parliament. The 

 literary department is to be under the direction of Mr. Buckingham ; and 

 besides the attractions of the reading-room and library, with the public 

 journals of various countries, there will be engravings, pictures, and works of 

 art and vertu, to be collected for the inspection of visitors, it is also intended 

 to introduce occasional music, vocal and instrumental. It is determined 

 also to divest these entertainments, as much as possible, of the formality of 

 a public occasion, and make them resemble, in every particular, an evening 

 party, conducted with all the ease of a private assemblage in the best cir- 

 cles. The hotel department, for which a separate mansion has been taken, 

 will be under the direction of Mr. Whitmarsh. 



Patent Bearings for Locomotives. — At the Liverpool Polytechnic Sd- 

 ciety, Mr. Dewrance (superintendent of the engine building department of the 

 Liverpool and Manchester Railivay) exbibiled some very perfectly cast and 

 beautiful specimens of the '• Patent. Metallic Bearings, or Steps, for Locomu- 

 tiees," Hhich had been found to be superior in practice to those previously 

 used, and whicli. the metal being soft, considerably diminished the friction, 

 by working more smoothly, while, at the same time, they lasted much longer 

 than was anlicipated. One engine had run with them a distance of 4,480 

 miles without requiring renewal or repair, and another (the identical bearings 

 of which were produced) had run 1,000 miles, without additional giving or 

 vibration. The substances for the part in which the axles worked, which he 

 had combined in one instance, and found to be effective, were, six parts of 

 tin, eight of antimony, and four of copper, forming (as we understood him) 

 a solder. Mr. Deivrauce also pointed out various plaus of giving an equal 

 supply of oil. 



