190 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[JtTna. 



I AUST SUSPENSION BniDGE. 



S[R I observe in your number of last month a letter signed " Francis 



Giles," relating to the Aiist Suspension Bridge, to wbicli is appendt^d a 

 diagram aud eome calculations respecting it. On these latter it is not my 

 intention at present to offer any remarks, beyond expressing my satisfac- 

 tion that Mr. Gil'-s llius publicly makes known an opinion, which I before 

 tnew he entertained, of the perfect practicability of erecting a bridge upon 

 the suspension principle, suitable for railway purposes across the river 

 Severn, between Beaobley and the Aust Cliff. It is the general inference 

 from Mr. Giles's letter to which I wish to direct attention : as I feel, though 

 it may not be designedly intended, it 13 calculated to incline those who may 

 peruse it to the impression, that the idea of erecting a bridge at this lo- 

 cality originated with him. 



It will be found upon reference to the evideDce given before the same 

 Committee upon the South Wales Bill in the Session of 1845, to which 

 Mr. Giles refers, that I had previously expressed a decided opinion upon 

 this important subject ; and that prior to this, James AValker, Esq., had 

 made the following mention of my views in his Report to the Lords Com- 

 inissioners of the Admiralty as to the crossing the River Severn as pro- 

 posed by the South Wales Railway Company, viz., " Mr. Fulljames, 

 county surveyor of Gloucester, considers that a Suspension Bridge, 120 

 feet above high water mark, at the Old Kerry, or Aust Passage, is pradi- 

 cable. He thinks the piers might be placed on rocks which are bare at 

 low water; but being particularly dangerous at some states of the tides, 

 would have their situations defined by the piers." These views were 

 based upon the results of observations and soundings taken by me at 'he 

 Old Passage in the year 1838. Whilst engaged upon this, I found that in 

 the year 1 825, Mr. Telford, the late celebrated engineer, was consulted upon 

 the improvement of the communication across the River Severn at the Old 

 or Aust Passage, and the New Passage three miles to the southward ; 

 and though his attention at that time was specially directed to ascertaining 

 and reporting upon the best situations and mode of constructing landing 

 piers for the convenience of the steam boats, the peculiar inducements 

 and natural facilities for the erection of a suspension bridge at the Old 

 Passage did not escape his acute and comprehensive observation; and 

 though foreign to the subject on which he was called upon to report, so 

 strong was his conviction of its desirableness, that he gave a most decided 

 opinion in favour of a suspension bridge at the Aust; particularly advert- 

 ing (as the reasons for so doing) to the great height of the banks at the 

 Old ''assage, to the fact of the bed of the river consisting wholly of solid 

 rock, and to the circumstance that suitable materials for the work could 

 be procured within a reasonable distance. 



During the summer of last year I have been professionally employed by 

 the Bristol and Liverpool Junction Railway Company to report upon this 

 site, and the kind of bridge best adapted for it, both as regards their pro- 

 posed railway and the navigation of the river, and under their directions 

 have prepared designs for this bridge, on one of which, the opinion ex- 

 pressed by James Walker, Esq. (to whom it was referred by the Admiralty 

 ■to report as regarded the interests of the navigation), has induced the 

 Lords Commissioners of that Board to consent to the principle of the 

 bridge proposed. The reports and plans have been published, together 

 with the design approved by the Admiralty ; of these I enclose you copies, 

 by which you will perceive that Mr. Giles is not the only party whose at- 

 tention has been directed to this truly national and most important subject. 

 I beg to remain, 



Yours obediently, 



Gloucester, May 25th, 1846. Thomas Fulljames. 



FOREIGN PUBLIC VtrORKS. 



Recen t Prizes proposed by the French Institute (accessible to all nations). 

 —Prize of Mechanics, founded by M. Montyon, gold medal of 500 francs, 

 for the discovery or perfecting of instruments useful in the mechanical 

 arts, sciences, or agriculture: term of competition, April 1, 1847. — Prize 

 of Hygiene, for the discovery of a remedy for making any art or trade less 

 insalubrious : term, the same. The Prize of mechanics of last year, as 

 well as the great one of 6000 francs on the application of Steam, has been 

 adjourned, and that on the insalubrious arts decreed to M. Cbausserat. 



Expulsion 0/ Foul Air from Mines. — An engineer (M. Halaud) has 

 forwarded to the Academy of Sciences at Paris, a very interesting mtnioir 

 on the expulsion of foul air from mines, pits, cellars, and similar places. 

 It consists in the pumping of steam into places thus contaminated, which, 

 if the foul air consists of hydrogen gas, acts merely as a forcible expeller; 

 but if it be carbonic acid gas, the steam will also absorb that substance. 

 As most places where deep excavations are now made, are near steam en- 

 Itines, the pumping of steam into mines, &c., becomes the easier. It is to 

 be done ihrougli elastic tubes covered with india-rubber. The inventor 

 £tates, that in a deep pit, where the work had been suspended by necessity 

 for several days, the emission of sliani purified it to that extent, that the 

 Workmen were able lo go down as usual. 



Public Works in France. — A report of M. Oger has lately been dis- 

 tributed at the Chamber of the Freuch Deputies, to be laid before the 



commission appointed to examine the fill foe the completion of several 

 public edifices. The first of these struclures is the Palace of the Archivia 

 of the realm. The commission, in lamenting the mistakes and disappoint- 

 ments to which the erection of this edifice has hitherto given rise, propostB 

 a grant of COO.OOO francs, on condition that the stuccoes, gilding, and paint* 

 ings of the original project should be replaced by cases more adapted lo a 

 dep6tof archives. It further alludes to the dangers of the steam engine 

 of the Royal printing oBices being so near this invaluable collection of na- 

 tional records. — The Conservatory of Arts and Trades (C. des arts et 

 mftxers) figures for a sum of 1,411,000 francs, which is to employed in the 

 restoration of such portions of the edifice, which have been completed 

 in augmenting the number of its halls of exhibition, and opening a princi- 

 pal entrance in the Rue Saint Martin by the j'urcbase and demolition of 

 two houses.— 250,000 francs is to be expended on works of the Royal 

 Veterinary School, at Alforl; 050,000 francs at that of Lyons; 89,000 

 francs at the School of Arts and Trades of Chalons* ; 180,000 at the bui!d« 

 ing of the Ro>al Observatory of Paris. — 180,000 francs are proposed for 

 the Palace of the Chamber of Deputies. The ancient chapel, says the 

 report, is in the worst possible state, and although used but very rarely, 

 its restoration is desirable as a matter of public decorum.— The offices of 

 the secretary of state for agriculture and commerce require a sum of 

 43,000 francs ; and, finally, 45,000 francs are to be expended in the demo- 

 lition of the belfry of the north tower of the church of St. Denis, whicU 

 menaces ruin. 



Archaological Society of Rome, — At the auniversaiy lately held, Dr, 

 Biiiun slated the present prospects of the great publication undertaken by 

 the Association — the Monumenti inediti. Cavaliere Canina spoke of the 

 discovery of the eleventh mile-stone of the Via Laurentina, which has 

 thrown much light on the position of the laurentine villa of Pliny and 

 the city of Lanrentium. The elucidation of some ancient inscriptions of 

 Cora was also alluded to. 



Munich. — Independent of the great progress which inrentire art is con- 

 stantly making here, the multiplyiug of objects of art is equally advancing. 

 The great engraving of Professor Amsler, after the picture of Overbeck— 

 " Triumph of Religion in Arts," — which was begun four years ago, is near 

 its completion. Kaulbacb's great picture of the destruction of Jerusa- 

 lem, has also been begun by M. Charles Waagen. 



The Architectural Drawings in the late Art F.xhibition of the LoHtere— 

 are not much praised, as they consist mostly of restorations, of good ap- 

 pearance — at least on paper — of ancient, mediaeval, and renaissance 

 structures. I he only specimen of interest bearing on a practical subject is 

 the plan for uniting the Louvre and Tuilleries by M. Badenier, of which, 

 the artist had already exhibited some studies in 1844 and 1845. It is, 

 however, not probable that amidst the many plans of a really practical 

 nature, the French government will embark an immense sum in a plaa^ 

 after all, but ornamental. 



French Architectural Exploration ttf the Island of Cyprus.—^, Mas 

 Latrie, commissioned by the Secretary of Public Instruction for the above 

 undertaking, has addressed the following remarks to His Excellency: — 

 " Everywhere in this island I have found traces of the former sway of 

 France. There is scarcely a town or village which does not contain either 

 a church, or abbey, or castle of the French occupants in the Middle Ages. 

 I have made careful tracings of the slabs best preserved of the sepulchral 

 monuments of her once great families, the Ibelins, Brunswick, &c. The 

 Gothic edifices constructed by the French in Cyprus can be divided 

 into two classes — military, and religions. I have especially studied ia 

 each of those the modifications which ojiyaj architecture has undergone 

 in Cyprus, compared with the Gothic in France at the same period. I 

 have ascertained the position of the principal castles aud monasteries, and 

 laid down by the compass many points and localities important lo mediae- 

 val geography. I have also somewhat swerved into the domains of Classic 

 antiquity, and have discovered several iuedited Greek inscriptions, and, 

 by the means of excavations made at Dali, brought to I'elit several frag- 

 ments of statuary, &c. I have ascertained the real position of ancient 

 Larnaca and C'itium, the birthplace of Zeno the Stoic. In excavating a 

 place near the high city of Larnaca, we have found a basalt slab of 7 feet 

 high, 21 feet broad, and 1 foot thick. It is covered with cuniform in- 

 scriptions, and the figure of a king or priest, bearing the garment of those 

 figures discovered by Mr. Botta in Mesopotamia. I think this to be a 

 tomb, and one of the rarest monuments of the dominion of the Assyrians 

 in Cyprus." M. Mas Latrie proposes, in fine, that some of the speci- 

 mens should be deposited in the Museum of National Antiquity at Cluny. 



Model Raihvay in France. — It seems that Aries, the place where Roman 

 structures 1800 years old exist in such perfect preservation, is prompting 

 French engineers to similar exertions. The following is a short extract of 

 the projects for the present buildings. — The viaduct of the railway of the 

 Durance River, will hare a length of 493 moires between the abulmentSj 

 besides 20 mfeires of abutment at each side, which will give it an absolute 

 extension of 533 mclres. Its height is to be 9 30 metres, computed from 

 low-water mark to the level of the rails ; its breadth 8 metres between the 

 parapets. It is to be supported by twenty pier.-i of 3,50 metres thickness, 

 combined together by Iwcniyone elliptic arches of 20 mdtres opening. 

 Thcclpg.iiici' of the piers, ihe gracious opening of tlie arches, and the im- 

 posing mass of the Viaduct, wid make it one of Ihe finest siruciures of 



* Our readur* will |icrceiK Ibittitli tbeu puliiii: Ju«tiiuUoi.» ait umiiit-ineil b/ puU.C 

 money. 



