276 



ENGINEERING. 



and 40 thousand cubic metres of masonry. The 

 centres, supporting plates on which the wood- 

 en and macadam pavements are laid, are of 

 wrought-iron, and have a radius of 135 metres. 

 The designs for the bridge were by S. Guion, 

 & Co., of Paris. 



An iron bridge has recently been constructed 

 over the river Douro, in Portugal, whose sin- 

 gle span is an arch 520 feet long, with a rise of 

 138^ feet. 



It awakens a feeling of sadness to learn that 

 one of the triumphs of English engineering art, 

 a work built as solidly as the pyramids, must 

 be removed, because the rocky cliff on which 

 it is founded is shattered and tottering. It is 

 intended soon to take down the Eddystone 

 lighthouse, Smeaton's great work. The rea- 

 son is that the western wall of the reef is so 

 undermined by the action of the waves, that 

 there is constant danger of the lighthouse be- 

 ing precipitated into the sea with the portion 

 of the rock on which it stands. The plan is to 

 erect a new lighthouse, 120 feet to the eastward 

 of the present one. It is believed that the site 

 of the lighthouse considerably overhangs the 

 base of the rock. The editor of the Engineer 

 advocates, as a surer and better precaution than 

 the building of a new lighthouse, that the 

 whole reef be razed, by charges of dynamite 

 inserted in its top, to the depth of 8 fathoms 

 or more under water. 



The Philadelphia & Atlantic City Kailroad 

 was commenced on the 1st of April, and was 

 ready for the running of trains on the 7th of 

 July. The length of the line is 55 miles; the 

 deepest cut is 30 feet, the deepest fill 35 feet ; 

 one of the excavations was 40 thousand cubic 

 yards, and there were embankments of 20 to 30 

 thousand cubic yards, one, 1,800 feet long, hav- 

 ing been made in one week. There are more 

 than 100 bridges and culverts, the 3 longest hav- 

 ing a combined length of 1,300 feet, one of them 

 with a 100-feet draw. The directing engineer 

 was T. F. Wurts. The cost of grading and em- 

 bankments was 10 cents per cubic yard ; to- 

 tal cost of the road, $770,000, including equip- 

 ments. The gauge is 3^ feet. A number of 

 the Centennial buildings have been turned into 

 the depots and offices of the road. 



The Billerica & Bedford Railroad, connect- 

 ing at North Billerica with the Boston, Lowell 

 & Nashua line, was first tried on August 31st. 

 It has the remarkable gauge of only 24 inches. 

 The sharpest bend is 127 feet, with a radius of 

 45 degrees; the steepest grade is a rise of 158 

 in 2,600 feet. The rails weigh 25 Ibs. per yard. 

 It has two Hinkley locomotives, of 11 tons 

 weight. The cost was $6,000 per mile, includ- 

 ing equipments. 



The commission appointed, in 1875, by the 

 Russian Government to decide upon the best 

 railroad route from Orenburg into Central 

 Asia, have decided upon oTRTfrom Orenburg 

 to Orsk and Djita Koul, on Lake Kouiouk ; to 

 divide at that point into a northern branch, 

 passing Troitsk, and a southern one to Tash- 



kend, by way of Kouhaldjar and Djulek. Such 

 a line crosses a well wooded and watered coun- 

 try, capable, in its southern portions, of produ- 

 cing cotton and silk ; the route is free from 

 quicksands and marshes. It would connect at 

 Ekaterinburg with the Siberian railway. The 

 European division of this long-projected Cen- 

 tral Asian route consists of the completed road 

 from Moscow, through lower Novgorod, to 

 Samara, on the Volga, 600 miles, and the road 

 to be built from that point to Orenburg, on the 

 Ural River. The route runs from Orenburg, 

 along the Ural, eastward to Orsk, and thence 

 southeastward to Tashkend ; there intersect- 

 ing with the contemplated route from Ormus 

 in the Persian Gulf, across Afghanistan into 

 Kashgar, whose objective point will be Peking. 

 The construction of the Central Asiatic road 

 involves gigantic engineering undertakings 

 bridges, tunnels, and excavations in the divi- 

 sion between Orsk and Tashkend, of 800 miles. 

 The length of the proposed route is 1,800 versts 

 600 versts from Orenburg to Lake Kouiouk, 

 and 1,200 from there to Tashkend; that of 

 the Troitsk branch 300 versts in all 2,100 

 versts, or about 3,150 miles. 



Among the new railways, built for strategic 

 purposes by the Russian authorities, is one 

 running from Berder to Galatz, first in a west- 

 erly course to Formosa, then southward to 

 Reni, and westward to Galatz, connecting with 

 the Roumanian railway. The total length is 

 200 miles. The Pruth is crossed by a wooden 

 bridge. A railroad is to be built from Lasy to 

 Ivangorod, to connect the Warsaw and Vienna 

 line with the Weichsel branch. 



The Government of Nicaragua intends to 

 build a railroad from Corinto, on the Pacific, 

 to a point on Lake Managua, via Realejo, Chi- 

 nandega, and Leon. It will pass through a 

 fertile, healthy country. The wagon and boat 

 traffic over the proposed route is now consid- 

 erable. The road will be a 3^-foot gauge, 70 

 miles long, and will be calculated for a maxi- 

 mum speed of 25 miles an hour, and a load of 

 three tons per wheel. 



The Brazilian Government is zealously en- 

 deavoring to bring about the long-desired rail- 

 way connection with the western coast of South 

 America. A first-class railway is now being 

 built along the Madeira River, from the village 

 of San Antonio, situated at the head of naviga- 

 tion, 1,300 miles from the Atlantic coast, to a 

 point on the Rio Mamora. When completed, 

 it will afford direct communication with Boli- 

 via. The road is 180 miles in length, and, be- 

 sides being of great immediate value, is an im- 

 portant link in the interoceanic connection. 

 The materials have been shipped from the 

 United States. The Brazilian Government has 

 devoted $6,000,000 to the construction of the 

 road. The contractors are Philip and Thomas 

 Collins, and the engineers and laborers are 

 Americans. After the completion of this road 

 and of the 'tunnel through the Andes, which 

 has been commenced, railroad connection with 



