480 



the line indicated on our working sections. The intended result is 

 expected to he gradually arrived at by the steady operation of the 

 pump attached to the great well, and it is hoped that the relative 

 proportion of land and water contemplated in the arrangement of 

 this part of the design will, in the course of a few months, he com- 

 pletely secured. 



For the safety and accommodation of pedestrians, archways 

 under the carriage drive have been introduced at a few prominent 

 points in the general plan of the park. Of these the Enterdale, the 

 Meadowport, the Nethermead, and the Eastwood Arches had been 

 completed at the date of our last report ; and a design was in prep- 

 aration for the Cleftridge Span, which was intended to jienetrate 

 Breeze Hill, and thus enable visitors coming from the main entrance 

 to reach the Concert Ground and Lake shore on foot, at an easy 

 grade by a protected line of approach. 



This archway, in accordance with our advice, was at first designed 

 to be formed of granite and brick, and working plans and estimates 

 were prepared accordingly. But before any contracts were made 

 the Beton Coignet Company offered, on favorable terms, to con- 

 struct the whole archway of their patented material, which had been 

 used successfully, for some years past, on large public works abroad, 

 and which, it was represented, would allow of a considerable increase 

 of artistic character in the details of the design without additional 

 cost. 



In the architectural treatment of archways for park purposes, 

 the most serious difficulty lies in the arrangement for the soffit or 

 ceiling, the surface of which is always so large, that its elaboration 

 in brick, stone, or wood, is only admissible in very prominent 

 situations, on account of the cost involved. The advantages prom- 

 ised by the new material in this direction were obvious, and its 

 sufficiency in other respects being maintained by General Gilmore, 

 the president of the company, the evidence in its favor was con- 

 sidered by your Board sufficient to justif a trial of it on the 

 park. 



Under these circumstances, we felt that the soffit of the arch 

 ought to be the key note of the fresh study, and, in consultation 

 with Dr. Goodridge, the vice-president of the Beton Company, we 

 prepared a design that received the approval of your Board, and 

 which has since been partially executed. 



The object to be reached was to reduce the number of moulds 

 or separate castings to a minimum, because every additional mould 



