130 GASOMETERS. 



GASOMETERS. 



THE simplest and most general kind, consist of an iron vessel, open at the 

 bottom, and inverted into a tank of water below the surface of the ground, 

 having perfect freedom to rise and fall, and guided by upright rods fixed at 

 several points in the circumference. The diameters and numbers of the ves- 

 sels will vary according to the magnitude of the works to which they are at- 

 tached, and the space to be occupied by them. If the works are situated in 

 a town, where ground is too valuable to allow an increased extent, " Telescope 

 Gasometers" are used. 



The constructions and management of gasometers I now propose to explain. 



Plate XVI. represents the section of a gasometer, capable of containing 



1 50,000 cubic feet, the diameter being eighty-seven feet six inches, and height 



twenty-five feet. The sides A A are made of No. 16 iron-plate (Birmingham 



wire-gauge), weighing 2-j pounds to the square foot, riveted together; the top 



B, of plate weighing about three pounds to the square foot, or No. 14 gauge. 



C C, etc. are rings of three-inch T iron, placed five feet asunder, and riveted 



strongly to the sides ; the rivets ought not to be more than three inches 



apart. The top and sides are secured together by three-inch angle-iron, 



rolled to fit the curve, as shown in the cut. 



d d are rings of bar-iron, about half an inch thick and three inches deep, fast- 

 ened to the top by clips, which are riveted ; these rings are placed about 

 six feet apart, and strengthened further by diagonal bars, from one to 

 another, breaking-joint. 



E are stays formed of wrought-iron pipe, about 1^ inch diameter fixed in the 

 situations represented in the Plate, their ends being bolted to the T iron 

 at the sides, and the rings on the top. 



G are vertical rods, fixed at their upper and lower ends to the brickwork of 

 the tank, and being passed through eyes fast to the bottom of the side of 

 the gasometer, serve to guide the vessel in its rise : their positions are 

 between the standards S, on which are also guide-rods acting in like man- 

 ner. The eyes serve as stops to prevent the vessel rising out of the water. 



