100 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[March, 



Larcoii, whicli, restricted as it necessarily is, still shows enough to 

 enabli' us to appreciate the character of tliat amiable man. 



Tie first, second, sixth and seventh papers are on subjects purely 

 militiry, which prevents us, on the present occasion, from making any 

 comment upcn them. 



The third paper, by Lieut. Nelson, R.E., is on the important sub- 

 ject of shot furnaces, a question in the consideration of which the con- 

 struction of iron steam vessels should also enter. In this paper we 

 are glad to see an acknowledgment of the valuable suggestions of Sir 

 John Guest and Mr. Evans. 



Lieut. Caflin's description of a new steam apparatus for drying gun- 

 powder, shows that he has introduced an important improvement, 

 which we trust will be adopted by the authorities. 



The memoranda on blasting rock, by Major General .Sir J. F. Pnir- 

 goyne, form a work, and a most valuable one, in themselves ; we cor- 

 dially recommend them to the attention of our engineering readers of 

 every department. 



Major Harry Jones's paper, the eighth, gives an account of the well 

 in Fort Regent, Jersey, a work of great difficulty and great success. 

 A[ajor Jones also gives his personal testimony to having witnessed the 

 successful operation of the water finders with the bagttetle divhialoire. 

 it is curious, but we do nc^t know what to say to it. 



Captain Brandrelh's report in the Island of Ascension is valuable 



and interesting, but does not fall within the scope of our observations. 



The tenth paper is by Major Bolton, R. E., and is descriptive of the 



dam constructed across the waste channel at Long Island, on the Ri- 



deau Canal. 'i"o tliis we may afterwards have occasion to refer. 



Lieutenant Nelson has contributed a series of notes which he calls 

 engineering details, a memoir which must be useful, both as an ex- 

 ample and a lesson to the younger members of his corps. 



The description of the New Victualling Establishment at Devon- 

 port bears ample testimony to the ability of the two Kennies, under 

 whose direction many of the works have been executed. It will be 

 seen, by other examples, that the civil engineer has full attention paid 

 to him in this work. 



Mr. Howle'tt, the chief draughtsman of the Ordnance, describes an 

 ingenious plan of his for connecting a locomotive engine and tender to 

 a passenger train, in which we only see one difficulty— how it would 

 work on sharp curves. 



Lieut. Denison, the able editor, is author of the fourteenth paper, on 

 a new weigh bridge, lately erected at Woolwich Dockyard, and also 

 of the next, containing an account of another new work in tlie same 

 establishment, a single cofier-dam. 



The sixteenth and seventeenth papers on injecting cemeut into 

 leaky joints of mas(;nry, and on the cuiploytner.tof sand for foundations, 

 are translations from the French. 



The eighteenth paper is on the rolling bridge at Fort Regent, 

 Jersey. 



The nineteenth paper brings us again to a contribution of the editor, 

 describing the mode adopted for restoring the roof of Woolwich 

 Dockyard Chapel, on the failure of the principals. 



The twentieth pa])er is on the wharf cranes made by the Butterley 

 Company, coninnuiicated by Joseph Glynn, Esq., F. R.S., and the 

 twenty-first on Mr. Woodliouse's cast iron liridge over the River 

 Trent, at Sawley, on the Midland Counties Railway. 



Reports, SpeciJicaUonii and Eslimates of Pitblic fFoikii of the United 

 Stales of jlmtrica. Edited by W. Strickland, Architect, C. E. ; 

 Edward H. Gim., C. E.; and H. R. Campbell, C. E. London: 

 John Weale, 1S41. 



When the " Public Works of England " first appeared, we expressed 

 our approbation of the superior manner in which Mr. Weale had 

 brought out that valuable work, an opinion which was fully borne out 

 by the countenance of the public, and the satisfaction of the profession. 

 It is at once a proof and a result of the success of Mr. Weale's exer- 

 tions, that our Transatlantic brethren have entrusted to his care a 

 similar volume on the Public Works of America. It affords us double 

 pleasure to see that they have commenced so well, and that thev have 

 taken such an effiictive step to do justice to their works. The |)resent 

 is a companion to the former work, and is fully eepial to it, it shows 

 the same careful selection of subjects, the same fulness of details, and 

 the same splendour of execution. We have no doubt of its success 

 with the profession, for every exertion has been made to deserve it, 

 and it has our heartiest wishes, not less for its intrinsic merits than 

 for the good it is calculated to do the profession. We know nothing 

 better adapted to promote ])rofessional studies, and to elevate the 



character of such pursuits among the public, than the productions of 

 works like these, which are the best monument to the old practitioner, 

 and the best lesson to the beginner. This, we are sure, is but part of 

 a series, for the success of the result we trust will embolden Mr. 

 Weale to give us also the Public Works of the Continent, and thus 

 lay the foundation of a museum of practical information, to which 

 every department of the profession may have recourse. 



We shall now proceed to detail the contents of the first two parts 

 of the work before us. The first 13 plates represent the Phila- 

 delphia Gas Works, constructed in 1S35, under the direction of Mr. 

 Merrick; the following extracts will show their extent: 



The works are laid out in eight distinct sections of ten " benches," or thirty 

 retorts each, making an aggregate of two hundred and forty retorts. Each 

 bench yields U]ioii an average 10,000 cubic feet of gas daily, or, when in full 

 action, an aggregate of 800,000 feet. 



To each section is a distinct washer, purifier, condenser, and station meter. 

 The two retort-houses are each 200 feet long and 50 feet vride, located in the 

 centre of the square, having between them a passage of 40 feet, which is e.v- 

 cavated as a cellar and floored ovrr water-tight. This passage and the arched 

 cellars under the retort-houses serve as coal stores. 



Each retort-house contains one stack and four sections of retort benches, 

 built back to back down the centre of the building on each side of the chim- 

 ney. The apparatus for cleansing the gas is located to the north and south 

 of each retort-house respectively. Two sectious of retort benches are now 

 completed and in action, and a third is now in the course of erection. 



The retorts are the broad or York D's, 20 inches by 7^ feet in the clear, 

 set upon an original plan. 



The gas is washed in two waters through washers of simple construction, 

 with valves so arranged as to use either as the first, the most pure water being 

 used as the seeond. The condensers are of ordinary construction, modifie<l 

 so as to enlarge the receptacle for the residuum at the base of the columns. 

 The purifiers are constructed for dry lime, with a hydraulic seal for shifting, 

 by which the use of valves in the purifying house is avoided. 



After passing the meters, the gas from all the sections mingles in the gaso- 

 meters or gas-holders. 



Appended to the description of the Gas Works there are some valu- 

 able reports upon the construction of the works, the cost of making 

 gas, &c. 



The next plate is a drawing of a Reservoir Dam across the Swatara. 

 Plates 15 and Iti exhibit the construction of the Twin Locks on the 

 Schuylkill Canal at Plymouth (U. S.) Plates 17 & IS the bay of 

 Delaware and the Breakwater in progress ; the following extract from 

 the report describes its magnitude ; after examining into the con- 

 struction of the Breakwaters at Cherbourg and Plymouth, the 

 report recommends ; 



The inward slope at 4 J', the top 30 feet in breadth, and at 5^ feet above 

 the highest spring-tide; the outward slope of 39 feet altitude, and of lOof 

 feet base ; both dimensions measured in relation to a horizontal plane passing 

 by a point taken at 27 feet below the lowest spring-tide. The base bears to 

 the altitude nearly the same ratio as similar lines in the profiles of Plymouth 

 and Cherbourg Breakwaters. 



The jiart comprehended between the sea bottom and a horizontal plane 6 

 feet below tlie lowest spring-tide, the mass to be formed of stones weighing 

 from J to 2 tons, those of 2 tons comprising three-fourths of the mass. The 

 slopes of tliis part to be covered with blocks weighing from 2 to 3 tons. 



For the part comprised between the latter horizontal ])lane and the lowest 

 spring-tide, the mass to be composed of stones weighing from ^ to 2.i tons ; 

 those of 11 to 25 tons forming three-fourths of the mass. The slope of this 

 part to be protected liy l)locks weighing 3 tons. 



For the part comi)rehcnded between the lowest and higliest spring-tide, the 

 mass to be formed of blocks weighing from 4 to ."> tons, and laid as regularly 

 as practicable. The slopes of this part to be formed of the largest blocks 

 and to be laid headnise. 



The estimate submitted by the Board was as follows : — The profile of the 

 work rests on a bottom of 29^ feet, on an average, below the lowest sjiring- 

 tide, and has a superficies of 535,472 square yards; which, being multiplied 

 by 1 700 yards (the whole length of the work), gives for the capacity of the 

 mass 910, 302^^; cubic yards. 



Plates 19 to 24 exhibit the construction of the Philadelphia Water 

 Works, the following description will give an idea of their ex- 

 tent:— 



It has been from the commencement determined, for the present, to erect 

 only three wheels and pumps, which are now completed, (there are now six), 

 and with them the most important part of the duty of the Committee. The 

 first of the wheels is 15 feet diameter and 15 feet long, working under 1 foot 

 head and 7 feet fall. This was put in operation on the 1st of July, 1822, 

 and it raises 1 ', uullion gallons of water to the reservoir in twenty-four hours, 

 with a stroke of the pump of 4 \ feet, a diameter of 10 inches, and the wheel 

 making 1 1 \ revolutions in a minute. The second wheel was put in operation 

 on the Uth of September. 1822, and is the same length as the first, and 16 

 feet diameter; it works under 1 foot head and 7.; feet fall, making 13 revo- 



