130 Public Works hi Travancorc. [No 1 1 , new seuies, 



Mr. Crawford ; they will now be carried on under his superintend- 

 ence, guided by the professional skill of Mr. Collins. 



15. One of the first works to which Mr. Collins' attention has 

 been directed is the construction of a Bridge over the Ponany 

 river, in order to bring the Northern portion of the State of 'Cochin 

 into connexion with the Madras Railway. The Rajah of Cochin 

 had expressed to me his readiness to sanction the expense neces- 

 sary for this Bridge, and for a road to Trichoor, an important trad- 

 ing place at the head of the navigation of the Trichoor Lake. 

 Mr. Collins has fixed upon a site for the Bridge close to the Rail - 

 way Station, and has found the intervening country from the river 

 to Trichoor (20 miles in length) very favorable for a road or Rail- 

 way. Plans will be prepared for a Bridge on the Railway level, 

 and a survey of the country is already in progress with a view to 

 constructing a road on such a plan, that all the drains and culverts 

 shall be suited to a Railway, should one eventually be laid down. 



16. By this arrangement a traveller from Madras by the Rail- 

 way will only have to drive over these 20 miles to embark on the 

 inland navigation which extends, with one interruption only, to 

 Trevandrum, touching at the important stations of Cochin, Alle- 

 pey and Quilon. 



17. To overcome the one interruption alluded to, and to extend 

 the communication from Trevandrum to Cape Comorin, are the 

 works which are now occupying Mr. Collins' attention ; and care- 

 fully prepared plans and sections executed in 1828 by Lieutenant 

 now Colonel) Green, when Colonel Morison was Resident, afford 

 the necessary means of studying the subject. 



18. The interruption at Vurkullay is caused by a laterite hill 

 having a base of 4 miles, and rising to 180 feet. Of the base, 

 three miles, one and a half on each side, consist of terraced rice 

 fields rising from the backwater to an elevation of 93£ feet. 



19. I believe that the measure adopted will be to shorten the 

 interruption by a Canal of one mile on each side, and to reduce the 

 hill by a cutting of 80 feet over the intervening space of 2 miles ? 

 a Railway will be laid having a gradient of 30 yards to the mile 

 or 1.58. Over such a Railway, on suitable trucks, the Canoes 

 used in this country with their cargoes can be easily drawn. 



