xl 



As illustrating the activity and energy with which railway enter- 

 prise was carried on at the time, it may be mentioned that the 

 Tnnbridge Wells Branch, which forms the first portion of the 

 Tanbridge and Hastings line, was carried into execution by consent 

 of the landowners and occupiers before the Act of Parliament which 

 authorised its construction was obtained. 



In 1858 Mr. Barlow investigated in great detail the construction of 

 bridges of large span, especially with the view of stiffening the road- 

 ways of suspension bridges, and in pursuance of those studies he went 

 to Niagara, in order to examine personally the great railway and road 

 bridge erected there by Roebling. 



Mr. Barlow's latest public engineering works were the Lambeth 

 Bridge, which has since been purchased by the Metropolitan Board of 

 Works, and the Tower Subway, the latter work having attracted much 

 attention from the originality of its conception and the cheapness and 

 rapidity of its construction. This subway is formed of cylindrical 

 rings of cast iron, and by forcing forward a cylindrical shield, it was 

 constructed from the north to the south side of the river (900 feet) in 

 fourteen weeks. Although of small dimensions, and only adapted for 

 foot passengers, it is extensively used by the working classes, who were 

 formerly entirely dependent on the ferry. 



After the completion of these public works, he erected an iron 

 bridge on the River Lea, and had surveys made for a tunnel under 

 the harbour of Rio de Janeiro for the Brazilian Government. 



In 1881 he suffered under an attack of cataract, which entirely 

 deprived him of sight for several months. A successful operation 

 restored the use of one of his eyes sufficiently to enable him to read. 

 He was, however, no longer able to pursue his professional career with 

 the zeal and energy which characterised the earlier part of his life. 



Mr. Barlow was the author of several scientific papers, among which 

 the following may be mentioned : — 



" An Investigation of the Laws which govern the Motion of 

 Steam Vessels," " Phil. Trans.," 1834. 



" On the Strains to which Lock Gates are subjected," " Civ. Eng. 

 Inst. Trans.," 1836. 



" Investigation of the Power consumed in overcoming the Inertia of 

 Railway Trains," " Proc. Roy. Soc," 1846. 



" On some Peculiar Features of the Water-bearing Strata of the 

 London Basin," " Civ. Eng. Inst. Proc," 1854. 



" On the Mechanical Effect of combining Girders and Suspension 

 Chains," " Brit. Assoc. Rep.," 1857. 



" Observations on the Niagara Bridge," " Frank. Inst. Jour.," 1861. 



He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1845. He joined the 

 Institution of Civil Engineers in 1827, and at the time of his death 

 was the oldest Mjmber of that Institution. W. H. B. 



