iSoO.J 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



207 



striking the ruililer, by which tlie helm is ofien takpii out of their hands, 

 and they are eitlier thrown overboard or much hnrt. A constant experience 

 of such accidents, during his command of tlie tiiree large steamers. Presi- 

 dent, Lh'frpoul, and Forth, and of the Lady Flora, Indiaman, led Cajitain 

 Fayrer to consider some method of preventing them, and, at last, to this 

 invention. 



It consists in the application to the steering-wheel of a friction-hand 

 similar to that used in cranes, which passes round a projecting circumference 

 inside the wheel, and is brought down to a pedal on the deck, hy pressure 

 on which any amount of friction can he put on the wlieel. It is not desi- 

 rable that tlie lielm should ever be at a ' dead lock,' without the power of 

 yielding a little to the shock of a very heavy sea, as that wonld endanger the 

 carrying away of the rudder; an atljusting screw is therefore provided, hy 

 which the amount o( vltimale friction that can be put on the wheel is regu- 

 lated, and not left in the power of the steersman. A great advantage of this 

 invention is the power which it gives of fixing the ruilders of vessels lying 

 in a tide-way or harbour, and thereby preventing the continual wear on the 

 pintles of the rudder, and, in time, the loosening of the stern framing of the 

 vessel. Letters testifying to the merit of the safety steering-wheel, from 

 eminent ship-builders and naval engineers, were read. It is ijciiis applied 

 to the large steamers .-^sia and Africa, now being built at Greeno. k, for the 

 North American mail service. The communication v»as illustrated by draw, 

 ings, and hy a very well-esecuted model. 



BRUSSELS ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



Prizes are ollVred for tie best papers on the following subjects:^ 



An elaborate exaniiuation of the state of our present knowledge respect- 

 ing rain, and uf the principal causes which serve to modify this pheuomeaa. 

 — Gold medal of the value of tiOO francs. 



To be sent in before September 20th, 1850. 



To give a full account of the different researches which ha^e been 

 undertaken, for the purpose of preserving materials employed fur building 

 purposes, such as stones of difFereut kinds, marble, brick, cement, stuccoes, 

 &c., unalterable by external agents. To poiut out those processes which 

 appear to have been attended with success, and to enter into a discussion 

 of the pruhable causes of that success. Lastly, to point out some methods 

 of preservatiou superior to those already known, which may be employed 

 for the materials above mentioned, tho- e methods being, on suitable theory, 

 on experiments duly authenticated, and in accoi'dance with that theory. — • 

 This prize, to be awarded hy the Government, will consist of l.oJO francs 

 (60/.) and a gold medal, of the value of GOO francs (24/.) 



To be seut in before September 20lh, 18.il. 



UNITED STATES NAVAL DRY DOCKS. 



At the present time the United States Government have in progress four 

 different dry docks capable of docking the largest vessel afloat. From their 

 great size and the many improvements that have been introduced, a corre- 

 spondent of the Franklin Journal says that they are far superior to any at 

 present in use in Uurope. Of the four now building one is at Philadeli>hia, 

 and is known as the floating sectional iiy dock. It is patented by Messrs. 

 Dakiu, Moody. Burgess, and Dodge, who are at present constructing this 

 one for the government, a considerable portion of which is already com- 

 pleted, and the balance in progress. When finished this dock will consist 

 of ten spctiins, each of which has the capacity to raise 800 tons — total 

 power 8000 tons^and will take up a vessel of 350 in length. Six sections 

 will raise a ship of the line, and the four remaining sections will raise a 

 frigate. The sections are placed side by side, and connected by timbers at 

 the top of the tanks. The pumps for exhausting the sections are worked by 

 four steam-engines — two of 20 and two of Ti-horse power. One of each 

 size is used on each side of the dock, and placed so that the two 20-h..rse 

 engines exhaust six sections, and the two 12-borse engines e.thaust four 

 sections, a perfect uaiformity of level being maintained by suitable con- 

 nections. In connection with the dock, there is a large stone basin, the 

 sides and bottom being of granite. This basin is 350 feet long, and 22G feet 

 wide, and contains a sufficient depth of water at ordinary high tide, to float 

 the dock and the vessel it may contain. Immediately adjacent to, and 

 connected with the basin, are two railways on the main land. These rail- 

 ways are to be of the most substantial' character, and fully capable of 

 sustaining any vessel the dock will raise. The operation of the whole is as 

 follows : — The sections of the dock are hauled out into the river, and water 

 let into them until they sink deep enough to allow the vessel to be floated 

 in. As soon as this takes place, and the vessel is properly secured, the water 

 is pumped out of the sections, and the vessel raised out of the water. 

 When this has been accomplished, the whole is floated into the stone basin 

 and allowed to ground on the bottom, when the vessel may be hauled on 

 the railway. This is effected by means of a hydraulic cylinder, of 3G inches 

 diameter and 12 feet stroke, worked by an engine of 40-horse power. If 

 necessary, two vessels may be put on the railways, and a ship of the line 

 and frigate left on the dock, so that the capacity of the dock is equal to 

 four vessels of large class. When required, additional ways may be put up 

 in connection wiih the basin. The whole will be completed during 1851, hut 

 some of the sections will be ready this season. 



NOTES OF THE ESONTH. 



National E.rliibition for 1S51. — Vl'e have to announce that all the 

 designs for the huilrling will be exhibited at the Institution of Civil En- 

 gineers on the lOtb June. The agitation for placing the building in lintter- 

 sea Park instead of Hyde Park is taking a definite form, and is likely to be 

 successful. 



Prizes for Locomotive Enaines in Austria. — An ofBcial notice has 

 been issued by Harun Lionel de iir>thschi!d, thai the Austrian Kovcrnmeut 

 oHeis six prizes for locomotive engines as follow : — A prize of 20,000 im- 

 per:ul ducats (10,000/.) for a locomotive the must suitably conslrncled and 

 iiMiipted to convey g<KKls and pa.^seugers on the i-ai!\vay of t!ie .SiJiMring 

 MMMintains, and five other prizes of the respective value ofKLliOa imperial 

 liocats (5,000/.), 9,000 ducats (.J 500/.), 8,0:j0, 7,000, and (i tiOO ducats 

 (4 1)00/., 3,.'>00/ , and 3,000/.) for live other locomulives, which approach 

 nearest to the first prize iu the points indicated. Plans and particulars of 

 so interesting a coinpetitiou may be had at the Imperial Kojal Austrian 

 Consulate Geiieriil New Court, St Srt ithia's-lane. 



Great Naval WnrJc in Russia. — In the iiiontb of February last, the 

 great uaval basin at Sehaslapol was completed. The largest ships of war 

 ill the Russi'iu navy can now be docked at that port. The basin covers an 

 area of ten acres of ground, and has seven dry docks. The water in the 

 basin is thirty feet above the level of the Black Sea, and the vessels are 

 taken in by means of three locks, the iron gates of which were made l>y 

 Messrs. Rennie, and are 04 feel broad, and 23 feet deep. Kacb uf the 

 docks has a sluice, which can be opened and the water emptied out in a 

 very limited time, without the trouble of pumping — the plan adopted at 

 the docks adjoining basins in this country. The Emperor uf Uussia is re- 

 ported to have fifty ships of war at preseut at Scbaslapol. 



Ai/lesburi/ ^HcvtrA plans for supplying the town with water have 

 been forwarded to the Local Uoard of Health, all attended wilh an esti- 

 mate of large outlay. P. Scott, Ksq., C.E., proposes several plans, one of 

 which is to take the supply from near Walton Mill, and erecting a pumping 

 engine house on the IJierton elevation, the estimated cost of which will he 

 upwards of 5,000/. Mr. Palen proposes a supply from Holinan's-bridge 

 stream, and au erection of steam power at the infirmary end of the town; 

 this estimate is also o\er 5,000/. A IMr. Wrigg, an engineer from Salden, 

 near Manchester, adopts the surface plan, and proposes several separate 

 districts fur a supply of water; each plan is estimated as costing upwards 

 of 7,000/. Mr. Gotto proposes a supply from Stock Lake at a cost of 

 1,800/.; and a Mr. Gardner adopts a supply from the Friarage, and an 

 erection of water-works iu Bull Close, at a cost of 1,445/. A series of 

 useful suggestions from Sir. Bell, of Leicester, was read at the meeting. 

 To each plan there arises very diBicult obstacles, and it is quite certain 

 that if any plan of supplying the town with public water-works be adopted 

 it will have to be done at a very great outlay, 



Dover. — A kind uf square vessel for the reception of machinery to be 

 employed in breaking up and removing the solid rock at the bed of the sea 

 where the lefuge harbour is being built, whose motive power is steam, has 

 been launched frum the yard belonging to the harbour contractors, and 

 which has been built by Mr. Cullen, ship builder, by order of Mr. Lee, the 

 contractor of the new works. The vessel was afterwards towed into the 

 inner harbour, alongside Mr. Cullen's yard, wdiere it will remain until it 

 shall have received the engines. The whole of the machinery is expected 

 to be completed and ready for work in a short time. 



Devonport. — A second attempt was made al the Keyham New Steam 

 Docks, on the 14ih, to raise the caisson, when the dam burst, and the works 

 became inundated. The contractors, Messrs. Baker and Son, will have to 

 repair this at their own cost. The dam was a temporary one erected for 

 the purpose of trying the caisson, to confine the water to the lock or spoiled 

 dock, and so to prevent the other portions of the work from becoming inun- 

 dated during the trial. The accident, however, has obliged the parties to 

 postpone further trial for a fortnight. Of the caisson, the r/mes correspon- 

 dent gives the following account, but he has said nothing about the burst- 

 ing of the work, for which the contractor was responsible: — "The water, 

 for the fitst time, was let into the entrance lock on Saturday. The caisson, 

 which is made of strong p'ate-iron, and is provided wilh a tidal valve aud 

 four sluices, measures 80 feet wide at lop, 02 ft. 8 in. at the bottom, 

 is 43 feet deep, and when imniersed, gives a roadway across of 13 ft. 6 in. 

 The weight is about 300 tons, tnd 150 tous of pig-iron ballast had been 

 placed at the bottom to throw her upright. This quantity proved, how- 

 ever, totally inadequate, and labourers from the dockyard have been since 

 employed throwing iu additional ballast. It has been calculated that, 

 taking the length of the caisson as 70 feet, breadth 14 feet, depth 41 feet, 

 and weight 300 tons, her light draugit, when upright, would be 10 ft. lOiu. ; 

 and that 300 tons of ballast would make her load di aught 21 feet, al which 

 point the centre of gravity would be sufficiently reduced to place her under 

 command for bringing her to the grooves. 'This mode of closing docks is 

 quite new in England. There is a caisson at Malta which answers well 

 the desired object.' " The latter part of the statement is absurd, there are 

 lots of caissons in England, as the eminent constructor of them, Mr. Fair- 

 bairn, well knows. 



South Wales Railway.— Iha works are proceeding rapidly, and it is 

 expected that a single line of rails will be completed betvfeen Chepstovf and 

 Swansea about the 10th of this month, and that this portion of the line will 

 be ready for traffic early in July. 



