1842.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



105 



THE INCLINED PLANES OF THE MORRIS CANAL, NEW 

 JERSEY, UNITED STATES. 



(With an Eiigradtig, Plate IV.) 



This canal is situate in the county of Morris, through the principal 

 part of which it passes, and connects the two important rivers the 

 Delaware and the Hudson. It is chiefly used for the transport of an- 

 thracite coal, which abounds in the Pennsylvanian mountains, to New 

 York and other states. It was commenced in the year ls2.J, and 

 finished in lS3iJ, when it was opened. The construction is a work of 

 considerable magnitude ; it is in length 101 miles, and passes over an 

 immense elevation of country, the summit being upwards of OH feet 

 above the Hudson, and 'liO ft. above the Delaware. To overcome 

 this great elevation, it would have been necessary to have had at 

 least 2<K> locks, a number that would have occasioned great delay in 

 the transit; it was therefore deemed advisable to have recourse to 

 another mode of conveying the boats on those levels where there was 

 a considerable acclivity in the section; for this purpose inclined 

 planes were adopted, having an inclination, on the average, of one in 

 11, upon which are laid tram-ways for transporting the boats on 

 trucks from the lower level to the upper level. 



To show the magnitude of the work, we will give a few particulars 

 of its construction. There are IS locks on the Hudson side, having a 

 total rise of 160 feet, and 7 on the Delaware side, 6'.l ft. rise ; the 

 locks are cased with stone, and are '8 feet long and feet wide. 

 Besides, there are 23 inclined planes, 12 on the Hudson side, total rise 

 r4"5 ft., and 11 on the Delaware side, 001 ft. rise, there are also four 

 flood gates at its junction with the two rivers, 5 dams, 30 flashes, 

 20(1 bridges, and 12 aqueducts, one that passes over the " Passaik" is 

 of stone with an arch SO feet span, and another of wood over the 

 Pompton, 230 ft. long. The breadth of the canal at top is 32 feet, 

 at bottom 20 ft. and in depth 4 ft. The works were first com- 

 menced under the direction of Capt. Beach, and afterward undertaken 

 by Major Douglass, formerly Professor of the Military Academy at 

 West-Point, who executed the inclined planes. One of the inclines 

 ^i ft. high, cost 17,000 dollars, which is at the rate of 315 dollars ;«r 

 fool high. 



We will now proceed to describe the inclined planes and the 

 machinery, the object of our present notice : — 



At the top of the inclined plane two chambers or locks are constructed of 

 itone ifigs. 1, 2. and 3) into which the boats are conveyed for the purpose of 

 being lowered, or for tUcir reception after they are drawn up ; the upper end 

 is divided from the canal T, by gates O, (ligs. 7 and 8.) and the lower end by 

 the gates ; the upper gates are opened and closed by the aid of a small 

 water wheel S', whose axis is prolonged and passes under the floor of the 

 chamber to the partition N, and then turns two bevelled cog-wheels, e,f, 

 each twelve inches diameter 'see fig. II) ; by the aid of a lever these wheels 

 nuT be made to turn in either direction, they work into another bevelled 

 wheel at right angles, which transfers the motion to the bevelled gear /, at 

 the other end of the aiis A, which also turns in cither direction the two 

 bevelled wheels *, /, upon the axes /' of these two wheels arc small pinion 

 wheels m, which work into the racks n on the face of the gate, and raise or 

 lower the gate as may be desired. The gates O', ("figs. 9 and 10,) at the other 

 end of the chamber open upon a horizontal hinge joint, when open it lies 

 flat upon the floor, and when shut it rests against the slanting pieces or 

 stops 0. For the purpose of Ijlhng the lock, the upper gates are lowered, 

 which allows the water to flow over the floor of the chamber, and lift the 

 lower gates, and as the water rises, so the gales are closed; when the 

 lock is emptied, as the water lowers, so the gales O' drop down on the floor. 



The emptying of the chambers is cfrcctcd in the following manner: On the 

 back of the upper gates arc axles *' and i', to which a chain /i is attached, 

 and fastened at the other end to a moveable board, p, ten inches high, con- 

 nected to a bar r, attached to a horizontal sluice t, and in the floor of the cham- 

 her, which covers the outlet, P. If the upper gate O be raised, it prevents the 

 water of the upper level flowing in, and at the same time the chain p is coded 

 round the axis /', and consequently the l»oard ij and the sluice » arc drawn 

 forward, and a communication opened to the chuiDcl below V", through 



which the chamber is emptied. When the upper gate o is lowered, the water 

 rushes over, and by it( force pushes forward the board p, and therewith the 

 horizonUl sluice », and closes the aperture, at the same time closing the 

 lower gates. 



The machinery for mo%ing the boats is under the floor of the chamber, 

 and is set in motion by the aid of an overshot wheel (S, tigs. I, L', and 3) 26 

 feet diameter, and H feet broad, made of wood, with a cast-iron shaft ; upon 

 this shaft is a cast-iron pinion wheel d. (i»c feet diameter, which works into 

 a cog-wheel d', 1 feet diameter; upon a prolonged axis of this last wheel are 

 two bevelled cog-wheels, .•> feet diameter, E E', i shown more at large in fig.C) 

 by means of the lever arrangements, either of these wheels may be made to 

 revolve cither way, as may be required to turn the horizontal cog-wheel 6, 7 

 feet diameter, the axle of which is under the centre wheel that divides the 

 chambers ; upon the top of this horizontal wheel is fixed the pulley 9 feet 

 diameter a, round which the chain d passes, for the purpose of raising or 

 lowering the truck. 



Upon the i[ic)ined plane \ X' are laid two pair of raUs z, x', 31 < 1 for the 

 trucks to travel upon, and in the centre of each truck way is a pair of guide- 

 pulleys, upon which the chain d runs. 



For the purpose of conveying the boats there are two trucks (figs, i and 5 

 are a plan and elevation of one of them), the framing rests upon four longitu- 

 dinal bearers w" upon which are laid 15 transverse bearers ; on each side 

 there are three vertical standards n", fixed above by cross-stays n, and below 

 by bolts and iron stays. They are supported upon four pairs of wheels, two 

 pair / are placed close to each other, and have in the centre a moveable 

 axis, upon which the trucks can turn ; at the end is a horizontal wheel a, 

 round which the draw-chain d passes. Wien it is required to convey a boat 

 from one level to another, it is generally done by having one truck at the top 

 of the incline, in one of the chambers, and another at the fool in the lower 

 level of the canal, the trucks stand in the water, and the boats are floated 

 over and secured to them by a chain d' to the side-bar /. The boats are 

 then drawn up by the aid of a strong chain d, (figs. 1, 2, and '■>,) fastened at one 

 end at 4, and at the other at a, to a, sills fixed to the floor of the chambers, 

 from i it passes down one side of the inclined plane X between the rails, then 

 round the puUey a', attached to the end of the truck, thence up again belweeu 

 the same rails to the chamber, where it passes through the floor L at A, to 

 the underside, round the horizontal pulley a, and emerges again at c, it then 

 passes down the other truckway X' round the ptdley a' of the truck, up 

 again, and terminates at c', where it is fixed to the sill ; thus when the truck 

 is descending the chain is lengthening, and at the same time it is shortening 

 with the ascending truck ; by this arrangement the trucks nearly balance 

 each other, and ihe only work for the watcr-whcel is to overcome the fric- 

 tion and the small difference in the weight of the up and down truck. There 

 is also another help-chain fastened to the side of each truck, and which 

 passes down the centre of the railway, over guide-pulleys, round a pulley at 

 the foot of the incline-plane, which is for the purpose of drawing the ascend- 

 ing trucks up to the end of the chamber ; as by the winding apparatus the 

 ascending truck is only just brought to the top of the inchne. 



Fig. 12 shows the lever and break for regulating the speed of the water- 

 wheel. 



The boats weigh from seven to eight tons, and carry from 20 to 30 

 tons, the time occupied in passing up the longest incline of 1100 feet in 

 length and 100 feet rise, is stated to be fifteen minutes, including stoppages. 

 On account of their shorter length, the boats are not so long in passing over 

 the other inclines. It is generally reckoned that about six boats can pass 

 each way per hour. The machinery can be managed by a single person, the 

 boatman having nothing to do but to fasten the boat on to the truck. 



MEASUREMENT OF BRIDGES. 



Sir — Will you allow an old friend to ask, through the medium of your very 

 able Journal, some of your very valuable correspondcnti the best mcthoil of 

 measuring a stone bridge = taking the ditfcrcnt parts of the works separately, 

 and yon will much obhge. 



Yours very sincerely, 



Duilin, March 12, ltJ12. Primus. 



