The Sun.
London, England, 1864-10-20 00:00:00

The Thames Embankment.

Yesterday morning the foundation-stone of the
second portion of this magnificent work was laid by
Mr Bazalgette, its chief engineer, in the presence
of the chairman, the members of the Board of
Works, and other gentlemen connected with the city
corporation. The ceremony was conducted so
quietly as to be almost a private one—in fact, it
would be difficult in the extreme to devise any
method by which originality could be imparted to
these formal events. There is a sameness which
cannot be got over in laying foundation stones of
all kinds, and the mere simple formula which was
gone through yesterday win the foundation stone
of a Thames Embankment would have to be repeated
in all its dry detail to-morrow if a lamp post or
parish pump was publicly begun. though
there is little to say of the commencement itself,
the occasion offers a good opportunity for noticing
the progress which this stupendous undertaking now
makes so rapidly.
The length to which the present Act of the
Board now enables them to take the Embankment
is only from Westminster to Blackfriars.bridge, a
distance of about a mile and a half. That its beauty
as the finest roadway in the world for its length and
its enormous value to the public as a thoroughfare
will soon after lead to its continuation to South-
wark-bridge, at least, is almost certain. But, for
the present, it cannot go further than Blackfriars ;
and, in consequence of the improvements connected
with the new street and new bridges there in pro-
gress, the work of completing the Embankment to
that part of the river has to be divided
into three sections. For the first section of
3,800 feet in length—that is to say, from Westmin-
ster-bridge to east of Waterloo, the contract hae
been let to Mr Furness, and the works are con-
siderably advanced, more than 700 feet in length
of the caissons are fired and ready fJr the granite
facing, and in a short time the masonry which is to
form the river wall will be commenced. Two years
it is expected will witness the completion of this
portion of the great work. The mode of construction
is of the simplest kind, yet the mere quantities of
materials required and work to be done on this first
portion of the Embankment alone give colossal
proportions to the whole scheme. Nearly 800,000
cubic yards of earth have to be excavated, and
650,000 cubic yards of concrete laid in for the
foundations, 600,000 cubic yards of earth have to
be filled in behind the wall, 400,000 cubict feet of
granite will be required for the facing, with 42,000
cubic feet of brick in which to set it, and 350,000
cubic feet of brickwork for the low level sewer
and subway for gas .and water mains beneath the
road. These, with nearly 3,000 tons of wrought
and cast iron and some odd thousands of tons of
cement and stone of various kinds, and tons of orna-
mental bronze eastinge, make the chief items in this
first part of the contract, which has all to be finished
for £520,000, and in two years from the present
time. The mode of construction is, as we have
said, very simple. It consists in forcing down the
cast iron caissons, which are elliptical in shape and
12ft long by 7ft wide, along the line of the outer-
most edge of the works down far into the bed of
the river till the London clay is reached. The depth
of the foundation therefore varies, for, no matter
what the depth attained, down the caissons must be
carried till they go no further, which only happens
when the blue clay has been struck and penetrated
a few feet. The caissons, which are water tight,
are then pumped out and dredged out from the shore
side, the concrete poured in, and on this last the
masonry commenced inside and afterwards on the
caissons theniselves. Once the granite with its
brick backing has been begun, it is a mere question
of piling stone on stone and tier on tier of
brickwork till the whole is completed. The granite

is continued 2ft below the lowest low•water mark,
- -

and below the water is the ordinary Ross of Mull
granite, of a dull red colour. Above the water it is
of a whiter colour than grey, and is got from the
Kirkconnell and Dalbeattie quarries in Scotland. All,
the blocks used aio large, averaging throughout two
tons each. The width of the first length of the Em-
bankment will average 300 ft, its greatest being at
liungerford, where it is 430 ft wide; its narrowest

part where it joins the second length of the work
east of Waterloo-bridge. Here it is only 200 feet.
But though the work to be done in construcling the
Embankment varies in width, yet the roadway
which it is intended to carry out will be of uniform
area from end to end—namely 100 feet. This will
be divided into a roadway of 70 feet (the width of
th 3 widest port of Cannon-street) and two footways
of 15 feet each. The Embankment mid will be con-
tinued across the end of new Blackfriars- bridge-
road, and thence by the new thoroughfare from Earl,.
street into Cannon-street. From the unequal widths
of the Embankment and the equal width of the
road which will be near the river side it follows that
the Board of Works will have at their disposal in
many places magnificent plots of land for building
on. Along the whole length of the structure will
run the low level sewer, and above it age in the sub-
way. The sewer will be a plain massive circular
shaft of brickwork of about nine feet in diameter,
and built of great strength, having its lowest cir-
cumference below the level of low water. Three
feet above the crown of this sewer the subway
be built. This will be an arched passage with a flat
floor nine feet wide by seven feet high, the crown of
its arch being three feet from the base of the granite
paving of the road above. All gas and water pipes
era to be laid here, so that the endless pulling up
of pavements, which, in the inconveniences they
occasion, almost make one wish that gas was
out of the city altogether, will in the Embank-
ment be done away with for ever, and the trees
with which our great boulevard is to be planted
will flourish with their roots at least undisturbed.
Tne portion of which Mr B3zllgette laid the foun-
dation stone yesterday is that section which comes
from near 'Waterloo-bridge to the east of the

Tempe-gardens. This, in length, is only about
2,000 feet (1,970.) Here the width of the general
works is not, nearly so great as the first part,
though kullleient in some few places to allow of
frontage for building. Mr Ritson, who has taken
thisportion of the contract, has commenced his work

with a cofferdam on the old stye, and in this the
foundation stono of yesterday was laid. It is not,

however, intended to continue the work by means

of cofferdams, but resort to iron cylinders with iron

girders crossed between, and iron plates rivetted

over them, behind which, as behind the caissons, the
masonry will be laid. Here, as elsewhere, the foun-
...

dation will be carried into the clay, and the clear
height of the granite parapet above the water will
be 24ft. The quintities of work which have to lfe

done at this mid section are as large in proportion
as those enumerated as belonging to the first part,
but the cost of this latter portion is only .C 229,000.
Yesterday, when Mr Bdzalgette laid the stone in
the cofferdam he was loudly cheered, and in the few

words in which he replied to these greetings he
pointed out forcibly what might have been effected
had a m)re liberal scheme been entertained by the

Legislature, and money spent in buying property
instead of paying owners large sums for permission
to improve it for them. With the simple ceremony

of laying the stone the proceedings terminated, and
in this quiet manner the second part of the great
Thanes Embankment was peaceably begun.
It is to be wished that the promoters of the
Thames Embankment underground line would so
far hurry forward their preparations as to enable

the two works to go on simultaneously. As it is,
we are threatened with seeing when the bank is

nearly complete all the works pulled up again for
the formation of the railway. Such mal.adroitnes2

as w .uld disturb new made ground supporting the
heavy pressure of the river wall leaning back

against it would not only make the railway works oi

extra difficulty, and diereforo of extra cost, bu!

might probably injure the bank itself, and would
be almost certain to affect injuriously the new math

tunnels for the low level sewer and subway.

SOUTHAMPTON, Wednesday. —The Hamburg.
American Company's screw steamsh:p Germania, Capt. 11.
Ehlers, sailed at 2 p.m. to-day for Now York, with Ger.
man, French, and English mails, 143 saloon. and a large
number of steerage passengers, jewdlery from llavre,value
5,000 f, and a fair amount of cargo from this port. The nex,
steamer of this line to arrive from New York is rot
Saxonia, Captain 11. N. Trautman, which is expected off
Cowes, on the 26th, with mails from New York of the
15th.