The Sun.
London, England, 1865-10-21 00:00:00

Blackfriars Bridge.

Sixteen months ago a huge traffic of men, horses,
and vehicles of every description was daily passing
over old Blackfriars-bridge. Since then a well-
constructed temporary bridge has been erected by
Messrs. Rennie and Logan ; and, now, after much
trouble and outlay in preliminary preparations for
the removal of the old and the construction of the
new bridge, Messrs Thorne and Co. have at last been
enabled to make a visible commencement of New
*Blackfriars-bridge. The chief engineer superin-
tending the great and important undertaking is Mr.
Bryant, who is skilful, assiduous, and experienced,
having spent several years at Westminster-bridge,
and also been connected with the formation of piers,
docks, &c., elsewhere. The first step taken by
Messrs. Thorne was the construction of gantries
—as they are technically called—which present to
non-professional eyes the appearance of double
scaffoldings, on which travellers run. Here for the
first time a new style of traveller is used, which
works a small cart backwards and forwards so
as to command the whole work, the engine
being stationary. On account of the great width
required for the oonatruotion of the new bridge, it
was found necessary to have each of these two gan-
tries of a span of 55ft., which, with a gangway of
sft. between them, makes the total width of the
wooden superstructure 115 ft. To cross the neces-
sarily wide openings, a sort of girder, novel in ap-
plication and ingenious in device, is used. This is
not easy to describe without a drawing ; but it is
different from and cheaper than the old box-girder,
and would have a tendency to buckle were it not
that its centre of gravity is below the bearings on
which it rests ; its upper side is horizontal, and .its
lower is an inverted arch. There is another novelty
in the modus operandi of carrying out this great and
important contract. On the Surrey side, a new kind
of dam is made of a single row of piles, which is
rendered perfectly water-tight by caulking the in-
terstices with oakum, precisely as ships are caulked.
The usual method is to drive two rows of piles, some
feet apart, and to fill in the space between them
with mud or stiff clay. But by Mr. Bryant's plan
the time, trouble, and outlay usually spent on the
second row is saved.
After the above preface, we shall now proceed to
state the present condition of the works, which are
progressing rapidly, several hundreds of men being
employed, and will probably be completed in two
years. There are to be four piers and two abut-
ments under the new bridge, instead of the eight
piers and two abutments which sustained its pre-
decessor. Let us commence at the Surrey abut-
ment, from which follow Nos. 1,2, 3, and 4 piers
in succession, No. 4 being the last on the Middle-
sex side, the bridge ending with the northern abut-
ment. At the Surrey abutment, where the foun-
dation-stone of the bridge was laid by the Lord
Mayor, on the 20th of last July, 15 or 16 feet be-
low high water-mark, the work is now brought up
to withiff a couple of feet of that mark. It is faced
with granite, backed by brickwork and concrete.
It may be as well here to state that the Cor-
nish granite taken from the old bridge is being re-
dressed and made available for the new, as far as it
-will go. The additional stone required will be of
the same kind, and from Cornwall also.
Pier No. 1 of the new bridge will occupy the same
site as the second pier of the old one. Here plat-
forms, erected on piles, and made capable of sup-
porting any weight of stone, iron, or workshops,
have been constructed—they are technically deno-
minated "stagings." Those now alluded to are
meant to receive caissons ; they- are nearly eum-
plete, and some of the caissons have been fixed.
At No. 2 pier most of the caissons are down ; one
is quite so, and is having concrete filled in. No 3
is to have its " staging" shortly commenced, and
No. 4 comes, like No. 1, on the site of one of the old
bridge's piers.
At the Middlesex side the tidal dam is nearly
finished; its object is to enable the workmen to
excavate down to the proper level for the founda-
tions. This space will be filled in with Bft. of con-
crete at the bottom, on which will rest the masonry
forming the abutment. The arches—the centre one
of which is 185 ft. span, the two on either side of
that 175 ft. each, and those next the land on the
north and south sides 155 ft. respectively—are to be
formed of wrought iron ribs.
All the old bridge has been removed except three
piers, which are temporarily used for " staging."
The timber taken out from the old foundation is as
sound as when first put in.

The foundations of the new piers consists of four
rectangulars and two cutwater caissons, which are
to be sunk from 18 to 23 feet into the bed of the
river, and filled in with concrete and brickwork. On
this the pier will be carried up. They will be built
of Cornish granite, surmounted by red polished
granite columns, with bases and capitals of Portland
stone, in the Venetian gothic style. The wrought-
iron arches are being made by Messrs. Lloyds, Foster,
and Co., of Wednesbury, Staffordshire, and it is
expected that some of them will be fixed early in
the ensuing year.
Mr. Cubitt, of Great George-street, Westminster,
is engineer for the corporation, and, as we have
already said, Mr. Bryant, for the contractors, Messrs.
Thorne.