so 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[Fkbruary, 



moved on slide balks only. The operations for the removal northward were 

 commenced at half-past 3 r.M. and at a few minutes after 8 p.m. it was safely 

 landed on the new pier. The distance travelled was 20 feet 5 inches. 



On the 7th of August the building was drawn, in a similar manner, to a 

 further distance northward of 8 feet 1 inch. The cradle was then shored 

 with timber uprights, which allowed the railway and sheave balks to he 

 withdrawn and reversed, for the purpose of taking tlie building to the east- 

 ward. It is unnecessary to describe the process of placing these railway and 

 sheave bulks in a direction bearing east and west, as it is merely a repetition 

 of the same operations previously mentioned. Some diHiculty was experi- 

 enced in taking the building round the curve, which was a portion of a circle 

 of 64 7 feet radius. 



The rails on this curve were laid level, to the point at which the tangential 

 lines of the rails commenced and from that point, to the new pier-head, they 

 had a gradual inclination of 1 in about 225, making a total rise of 1 foot 7 

 inches above the original base of the building. This was accomplished, on 

 the raised platform, by different heights of timber beams and on the unfi- 

 nished part of the pier, between the platform and the coping, by large stones 

 set in mortar, on which the railway beams were solidly fixed. 



The series of wedges in the sheave balks not oiily allowed them to be 

 removed when required, but were otherwise of great use, for by slackening 

 the wedges on the east side and tightening those on the west, the building 

 was retained in a perpendicular position, when the rails were on the inclined 

 plane. 



On one portion of the raised platform of the pier the pavement was com- 

 pleted with large Yorkshire landings, from 6 inches to 8 inches in thickness. 

 It was questionable whether they would be able to bear the great pressure of 

 the building; but it was determined to try it, as the stones had been laid 

 with the greatest care on a proper bed of rubble stone, and the joints run 

 with pozzolana mortar. As a precaution, planks were laid upon the pave- 

 ment, to equalise the pressure, and particular attention was paid to have the 

 rail balks securely and thickly wedged upon the planks. Under the great 

 load of the building very little impression was made upon the paving ; in 

 some few instances the joints of the mortar were cracked, but no .«tone 

 whatever was broken. This is particularly noticed, because every practical 

 man who inspected the pier was of opinion that the stones would not bear 

 the pressure. 



The cradle was supported on what are termed by ship-builders sliding 

 balks ; that is, the lower side of the travelling beam was convex, fitting into 

 and sliding along the concave surface of the lower beam, which was sohdiy 

 fixed upon the i>ier. These beams were greased with a mixture of soft soap 

 and black lead, to diminish the friction. The sliding beams were connected 

 with the cradle by a framing of timber, which formed part of the moving 

 mass, with the view of saving expense, as it avoided the necessity of raising 

 the surface of the pier to the level of the railway beams. The principal 

 weight of the building was, however, thrown upon the railways, and, com- 

 paratively, nothing of any consequence on the sliding balks. 



Immediately underneath the area of the building the cradle wheels were 

 placed close together, but outside the area of the building they were sepa- 

 rated from each other (Fig. 3.) Each of the wheel plate castings had the 

 under surface covered with a piece of felt dipped in tallow, and it was then 

 secured to the sheave balk by a tapering wedge (Figs. 5, 6, and 7.) By so 



doing, the timber was not injured with bolt holes, and the casting conld at 

 any time be easily taken out and replaced with another, had any accident 

 happened to it. The spindles of the sheaves were very accurately turned, 

 and the sheaves were likewise thrned, to take off all irregularities from their 

 surface. The rails were secured to the timbers by short spikes, formed with 

 a head turned at right angles with the body, which allowed them to be easily 

 drawn without much injury to the timber, when the rail had to be removed. 



The cradle beams were all squared and planed, to distribute the pressure 

 over the whole surface. They were of .Vmerican oak, which is a very solid 

 wood, and, as it could be procured straight in long lengths, it was preferred 

 to any other timber. The rest of the timber employed was Memel red and 

 yellow pine. During the latter part of the operations tlie cast-iron rails 

 were laid upon a plank of African oak, 1 ^ inch thick, fixed upon the rail- 

 way beams, as it was feared that the great weight would press the rails into 

 the Memel timber. 



The method employed in taking the building to the eastward, was different 

 from that which was first attempted in moving it northward. The slow 

 process of drawing the cradle forward by screws, was abandoned, and re- 

 course bad to three ordinary winches. Each was worked by six men, with 

 one man to hold on the tail-rope, which before arriving at the winch, passed 

 tlirougb a twofold and threefold sheave block. The total number of men 

 employed at the handles of the winches was eighteen, and the power of them 

 when so applied, may be reckoned at 562^ Ih. The radius of the handles of 

 the winches being 14 inches, worked a cog-wheel of 4] inches diameter, 

 turning a spur-wheel of 30 inches diameter, and a barrel of 10 inches diame- 

 ter. The additional power of the twofold and threefold sheave blocks makes 

 the whole power of the eighteen men, applied in the manner stated, to be 

 52,480 lb. The gross weight moved was calculated to be 757,120 lb., or 

 338 tons. The distances traversed were determined by the various lengths 

 of the railway beams, which were taken up and relaid forward, to save ex- 

 pense, but wbich of course prolonged the time of taking the building to its 

 destination. The greatest speed with which the mass moved, was at the rate 

 of about 84 feet per hour, the winches beiug advantageously placed ; but the 

 average actual rate was 333 feet per hour. The greatest distance accom- 

 phshed at one time was 40 feet 7 inches; the average distance being about 

 28 feet. The actual time employed in moving the building to the eastward 

 was 13 hours 24 minutes; that distance being 447 feet 1 inch, to which, if 

 28 feet 6 inches be added, what it was taken north, will make the total dis- 

 tance traversed 475 feet 7 inches. 



Fig. e,— Plan, 



On one occasion, an experiment was tried with only two winches at work; 

 it was found, that, with twelve men at the handles, the cradle could be drawn 

 forward, but at a slower velocity than ordinary, and the men were much fa- 

 tigued with their exertions. 



The Americans have been successful in moving houses to a considerable 

 distance, but the weight was generally distributed over a large area of the 

 foundations, which allowed the cradle to run upon slide balks, and saved the 

 expense of wheels and railways. Those who had seen the operation in the 

 United States strongly advised the adoption of the same principle. The great 

 Weight of the light-bouse at Sunderland, however, concentrated into an area 

 of 162 square feet, caused a contrary decision. If reliance bad been placed 

 Solely on the sliding balks, it is very probable the attempt to move the mass 

 would have proved a failure ; inasmuch as even with the internal railways 

 and wheels, it sometimes required the utmost exertions of the men at the 



