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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[Jan. 13, 



Tliecnment, with its accompanying l)uil(iings, will cost £7,000. The archi- 

 tecture displayed in its construction is of a similar style to that used in the 

 building of tlie church, only more subdued, and of a less expensive descrip- 

 tion. Several little turrets and spires are erected in various purts, which give 

 it a very pleasing eiTect. The church and nunnery together stand upon an 

 acre of ground, measuring 42,000 so.uare feet. The entire edifice is built 

 from the design of Mr. Pugin, and huilt by Mr. Myers, who, during the last 

 ten vears has been engaged in the construction of 37 churches. 



Tiie cathedral will be consecrated and opened for public worship in the 

 autumn of the present year ; but a considerable time must necessarily elapse 

 before the great tower and spire shall be completed. The subscriptions to- 

 wards this gigantic undertaking have, for the most part, been raised in the 

 provinces through the exertions of the Kev. Mr. Doyle, who is the principal 

 officiating priest. The Earl of Shrewsbury and the late Mr. Benjamin George 

 Hodges have been the principal contributors. A considerable sum has also 

 been subscribed by the poorer classes inhabiting the parish of St. George. 

 The names of the King of Sardinia, the King of Bohemia, and other foreign 

 potentates also figure largely in the list of contributors. A liberal donation 

 is expected from Louis Philippe, who, during his stay in England, was a re- 

 sident of St. George's parish. The Roman Catholic chapel in the London- 

 road, as soon as the building is finished, will be converted into an hospital 

 f.ir the cure of cancer. The church is the largest structure in Great Bri- 

 tain that has been erected by voluntary subscriptions. 



NOTES OF THE WEEK. 



Strong and urgent representations are being made to obtain a clear 

 space at the east end of the Royal Exchange, efforts which we sincerely hope 

 will succeed. If the houses on both sides of Finch-lane were removed, and 

 those on the east side rebuilt as City offices, we believe no loss would be 

 sustained by the corporation, while great public accommodation would be 

 afforded. It would indeed be a shame that a public building of such im- 

 portance should be spoiled for a trifle. 



It is an item worth consideration in the progress of the age, that the lec- 

 tures at the Royal Institution are to be considerably extended after Easter, 

 so as to include a course on the Arts and M.inufactures by Professor Cowper, 

 and on Fresco and Decorative Painting, by Mr. Wilson, Director of the 

 School of Design. It is by these compliances v.itb the spirit of public im- 

 provement that the Royal Institution will maintain its high standing and 

 achieve a position of permanent utility as a superior school of the useful and 

 ornamental arts. The exertions to make it a school of scientific agriculture 

 are equally commendable, but do not so properly come within the sphere of 

 our observation. 



The improvements at Eton College exhibit a commendable spirit of im- 

 provement, the attention to the sanatory arrangements is very laudable, inas- 

 much as it is very necessary. The drainage and ventilation are carefully 

 looked to in all the arrangements, and a sanatorium for the sole use of the 

 students has been established at Eton Wick, a mile off. Among the new 

 buildings is a range of three large houses in the Elizabethan style, two of 

 which are completed, opposite to the principal entrance of the college. A 

 large hexagonal hall for a mathematical sciiool and lectures is also nearly 

 completed. The new lodge and gateway at the end of the Long Walk Wall 

 is the subject of some criticism, but with its small octagon turret makes a 

 handsome addition. 



At OrleansviUe, in Algiers, a beautiful antique marble bust in fine preser- 

 vation, has been discovered. Other excavations are going on there. 



The bronze statue of Moliere was this week placed on its marble pedestal 

 on the fountain at the end of the Rue de Richelieu, at Paris. — Tlie Council 

 Genera! of the Seine has determined on publishing the ancient works, manu- 

 scripts, accounts, &c., which it possesses relative to the customs of Paris, 

 particularly the curious book of Trades of Boyleau.- — M. Marochetti has just 

 finished his equestrian statue of Napoleon. It is said that it will surpass all 

 his former works. — The hotel rontall)a, next to the English Embassy, ami 

 one of the most magnificent private residences in Paris, has just been com- 

 pleted, it is by M. Visconti in the style of the interior court of the Louvre, 

 constructed by Perrault. 



A new hospital of 600 beds is to be erected at Paris, for the northern 

 districts, in the CIos St. Lazare, the plans are by M. Gauthier. 



The church of St. Severin, at Paris, one of the finest, is being completely 

 restored, and in particular its curious tower. Some new sculpture is 

 much admired, and particularly a Descent from the Cross. The new church 

 of St. Vincent de Paul, at Paris, is making much progress, and will be com- 

 pleted by the 15th June. The whole of the external works are completed. 



We are sorry to learn that the Hotel of the Minister of Foreign Affairs at 

 Athens has been burned, and that an attempt was made to set fire to the 

 Hall of the National Assembly, which fortunately did not succeed. 



The jiostmasters on the Orleans, Rouen and Strasburg roads have sent in 

 a complaint to the French ministry of the losses they have sustained from 

 the railways, and the impossibility of carrying on their contracts. The 

 ministry have promised them some relief in the ensuing session. 



It is again reported that the Upper Siiesian Railway is to be connected 

 with the Austrian lines, and that the necessary arrangements have been made 

 by the two governments. 



In some excavations on the Augsburg and Sonauwerth Railway worki, a 



most interesting discovery has been made of tombs of the first four centuries 

 of our era, belonging to the Celts, Romans and Germans. 



A house has been built at Lyons in the Edinburgh style of twelve stories on 

 the side of a hill. It is looked upon as a kind of giant. 



A new church is to be built at Berlin, by voluntary contributions, in the 

 Exercier Platz. 



A new bath is to be erected at Bagneres de Luchon, by the town council, 

 at a cost of i'lS,000. It is to be worthy of comparison with the buildings 

 at the German Brunnen. 



On the archa;ology of public monuments a course has been opened in the 

 military school of St. Cyr. This might be well imitated in England, but we 

 have nothing of the kind, not even in our Royal Academy of Arts. 



INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.— Session 1844, 

 January 9. — The President in the Chair. 



The first meeting of the season was held on Tuesday evening 9th instant. 

 During the recess several alterations have been made in the rooms of the 

 Society : along the sides of the gallery have been placed some handsome cast 

 iron open work shelves, and brackets cast and presented by Messrs. Ransome 

 and May of Ipswich, for supporting a series of busts of eminent engineers, 

 and scientific men. The theatre which was formerly oppressively hot, and 

 but dimly lighted, has now two gas lights placed near the ceiling which 

 throw a powerful light into all parts of the room. The products of combus- 

 tion are carried off by the open-jointed telescopic tubes which have been ap- 

 plied by Professor Faraday to lighthouse lanterns, and were described by him 

 at a meeting of the Institution last year. This system of lighting and ven- 

 tilation, which was, we understand designed by Mr. Manby, the secretary, 

 appeared to be perfectly under control, and was very satisfactory in its 

 eft'ects. 



The following papers were read. 



1. By Mr. John Storey, descriptive of a comlination of Cast and Wrought 

 Iron tised in some Bridges on the line of the Bishop Auckland ^- Weardale 

 Railway. A general review of the usual construction and expense of occu- 

 pation bridges of brick, stone, timber, and lait iron was given, showing their 

 defects. In order to obviate these objections the author has introduced 

 combined trussed beams of cast and wrought iron, which he contended might 

 be advantageously adopted, and that bridges could be thus constructed at a 

 less cost than those of stone, brick, or even of timber. The structure de- 

 scribed consisted of longitudinal segmental girders of cast iron, resting on 

 masonry abutments : a system of wrought iron tie trussing was applied, and 

 struts were placed where requisite, to receive tlie pressure : when more than 

 one principal truss was necessary, they were connected by transverse braces, 

 and distance pieces of cast iron ; sockets being cast upon the girders to re- 

 ceive the timber joists upon which Dantzic timber planking was spiked. The 

 communication was accompanied by five drawings, illustrating in detail the 

 various modes of construction treated of, with estimates of the expense as 

 compared with ordmary bridges of similar spans, whence it appeared that the 

 cost of the former was much less than that of the latter. 



2. By Captain W. S. Moorsom, Assoc. Inst. C.E., descriptive of a Cast 

 Iron Bridge over the Avon, near Tewki-sburgt on the line of the Birmingham 

 and Gloucester Railway, The principal novelty of this work, whicli was 

 proposed, and its execution superintended by Mr. Ward of Fabnouth, is the 

 mode of constructing the two piers, which were externally of cast iron in 

 the form of caissons, each weighing about 28 tons; the plates composing 

 each caisson were put together on a platform erected upon piles over the site 

 of the pier, the bottom of the river being levelled by a scoop dredger, the 

 caisson was lowered, and some clay being thrown around the exterior, a joint 

 was formed so nearly water-tight, that two small pumps drained it in six 

 hours. The foundation being thus excavated to the requisite depth, the 

 caisson, which sank as the excavation proceeded, was filled with concrete 

 and masonry; cap plates were then fixed for supporting eight pillars with 

 an entablature, to which was attached one end of the segmental arches 57 ft. 

 span, with a versed sine of 5 ft. 2 in. There were three of these arches, 

 each formed of six ribs of cast iron, and two such piers as have been de- 

 scribed, the land abutments being of stone-work joining the embankment of 

 the railway. It was stated that this mode of construction was found to be 

 more economical in that peculiar situation than the usual method of fixing 

 timber coffer-dams, and building the piers within them ; the total cost of the 

 bridge being only £10,192, and the navigation of the river was not inter- 

 rupted during the progress of the work. The paper was illustrated by 

 eighteen remarkably well-executed drawings by Mr. llutterton. 



3. A paper by Mr. G. W. Hemans, Grad. Inst. C.E., descriptive of a 

 Wrought Iron Lattice Bridge erected across the tine of tlic Dublin and 

 Drogheda Railway was then read. This bridge, which in construction is 

 similar to the wooden lattice bridges of America,' only substituting wrought 

 iron for timber, is situated about three miles from Dublin over an excavation 

 of 30 feet in depth; its span is 84 feet in the clear, and the two lattice 

 beams are set parallel to each other, resting at either end on plain stone 



' [The original inventor of the lattice bridge, was the late Mr. Smart, of 

 Westminster Bridge M'liarf, Lambeth, who many years since took out letters 

 patent lor the principls.— Editok,] 



