440 MERITS OF THE TUBULAR BRIDGE. CHAP. XIX. 



best men to work out his idea, himself watching, con- 

 trolling, and testing every result, by independent check 

 and counter-check. And finally, he organised and 

 directed, through his assistants, the vast band of skilled 

 workmen and labourers who were for so many years 

 occupied in carrying his magnificent original conception 

 to a successful practical issue. As he himself said of 

 the work, " The true and accurate calculation of all the 

 conditions and elements essential to the safety of the 

 bridge had been a source not only of mental but of 

 bodily toil ; including, as it did, a combination of abstract 

 thought and well-considered experiment adequate to the 

 magnitude of the project." 



The Britannia Bridge was the result of a vast combi- 

 nation of skill and industry. But for the perfection of 

 our tools and the ability of our mechanics to use them 

 to the greatest advantage ; but for the matured powers 

 of the steam-engine ; but for the improvements in the 

 iron manufacture, which enabled blooms to be puddled 

 of sizes before deemed impracticable, and plates and 

 bars of immense size to be rolled and forged ; but for 

 these, the Britannia Bridge would have been designed 

 in vain. Thus, it was not the product of the genius 

 of the railway engineer alone, but of the collective 

 mechanical genius of the English nation. 



CON WAY BRIDGE FLOATING THE FIRST TUBE. 



