The Sun.
London, England, 1846-08-14 00:00:00

WESTMINSTER BRIDGE.

The piers of the bridge were built on caissons without
bearing piles under them. The bed of the river for a consi-
derable depth under the caissons is loose gravel. The exist-
ing foundations were designed and calculated for much
smaller piers with a light wooden superstructure for a bridge.
The third pier from the centre began to sink, so that two
arches lost their circular figure, and some of their principal
stones fell into the water, before the bridge was finished.
The quality of the masonry is bad, and the superstructure
never can be made a very solid and secure work. In the
course of ninety years however the fabric had comparatively
consolidated. The removal of old London •bridge again dis-
turbed its repose. Between 1823 and 1833 the river fifty
feet below Westminster-bridge bad deepened its chan-
nel six or seven feet by its own action. To a certain
extent, the same operation had been in progress under
the bridge, and the piers being thus deprived of their
liberal support, again became unsteady. In 1844, the 17-
feet east pier had gone down nine inches, and was three
inches off the perpendicular. Between the 7th May, 1845,
and the 19th May, 1845, this pier sunk 13!1 inches; and the
16-feet east pier about 1% inch. In the beginning of July,
the 17-feet pier was found to have sunk 2-10ths of an inch
additional; and the 16-feet pier 1-10th. The continued
sinking of the two piers has affected the stones of the 72-
feet arch which rests upon them ; an open joint is percep-
tible in the soffits, and one of the south-face stones has
dropped down about half an inch. The palliatives recontse
mended by various distinguished engineers are all objecjon-
able ; one would cost 120,000/. ; another would obstruct the na-
vigation; and even were they carried into effect, none of the
proposers will guarantee the stability of the bridge. In
addition to its insecurity the bridge is very inconvenient.
Its inclination is greater than that of any bridge over a tidal
river in England; for 10 yards at each end it is one in 14i,
and about lin 33 for the remainder. The surface of the road
is five steps below the footpaths on both acclivities; and near
the ends of the bridge the carriage-way is only 22 feet. Sir
James M`Adam stated, in 1844, that 6,600,000 horses passed
Charing-cross annually, and of that thoroughfare lie con-
sidered the largest proportion, particularly the heavy car-
riages, passed over the bridge. The annual expense of
management in salaries is 1,4871. ; from sth April, 1810, to
sth April, 1838, 83,097/. were expended in repairs; from
sth April, 1838, to sth April; 1844, 81,341/. ; front
sth April, 1844, to sth July, 1846, 25,782/ ; in all, 190,220/.
There are some arrears due for works during the same period
on the bridge, which will raise this sum to not less than
200,0001. The repairs still remaining to be made, and the
proposed widening of the bridge to equal the width of
London-bridge, would cost 100,0L0/. more. The bridge estate
consists of 10,000/. in Consols, and lands and houses esti-
mated in 1843 at 172,5211.

The following are the resolutions of the Select Committee
appointed to consider the present state of Westminster-
bridge, of the new Palace at Westminster, &c.

" "That the majority of the witnesses who have been
examined on the point concur in the statement, that the
foundations of Westminster-bridge having been originally
vicious, the bridge can never be permanently sound.
"2. That the expense of completing the alterations and
repairs now in progress or in contemplation, according to
contracts and designs under the superintendence of the
Bridge Commissioners, will be very considerable, amounting
at the least to 70,0001.

" 3. That this expenditure will still leave the bridge in a
state requiring constant attention in respect to repairs, and
without any certainty of permanent security; while it will
likewise leave the water-way far less adequate to the re-
quirement of the navigation, particularly when the con-
traction of the stream by the embankment in front of the
New Palace is considered, than would be the case under a
new bridge.
. _ _

" 4. That, irrespective of the approaches, the expense of
a new stone bridge near the site of the present bridge, and
retaining the present bridge for temporary use, would not
exceed 360,0001., according to the highest of the estimates
for that object which have been furnished to the Committee,
either in 1844 or in the present year.
" 5. That the bridgeestatea would probably furnish a clear
surplus of at least 100,0001. in aid of the funds for the erec-
tion of a new bridge.
" 6. That Parliament having by direct grants from the
Exchequer (the remaining expenditure having been pro-
vided by money raised in lotteries, under Acts of Parliament)
furnished a large part of the expense of erecting originally
the present bridge, and having constituted the commission
under which the said bridge was erected, and has since been
administered, and having, by sec. 20 of the 9th Geo. 11.,
c. 29, declared that the said bridge shall be extra-parochial,
and by sec. 21, that it shall not be a county bridge, main-
tainable as such bridges are, by county rates, has recognised
and sanctioned the princip:e that this bridge, which is thus
by law excluded from other support, shall be maintained,
and when needful, repaired, restored, and rebuilt, at the
expense of the State.
_

7. That, in these circumstances, a sufficient case has been
made out to justify this Committee in recommending to the
House, that the present bridge be pulled down, and that a new
bridge be constructed ; and that a Bill be brought into Parlia-
ment next session to transfer to the Commissioners of her
Majesty's Woods, &c., the estates and property of the Bridge
Commissioners, due consideration being bad to the claims of
the officers of the Bridge Estates, if their services should be
discontinued."

BLOCKADE OF FLEET-STREET.
Another blockade of Fleet-street, being the second within
the last twelve months, commenced a day or two ago, and it
is announced that from six weeks to two months will be the
duration of the stoppage. The enormous tide of traffic kept
out of its ordinary course will have to force itself into narrow
and circuitous channels. The little out-of-the-way streets
will be flooded with a stream of public vehicles, brought to a
state of stagnation every now and then by some obstruction,
which will no sooner be removed than they will drive on with
fearful impetuosity, till they find as it were their level
by getting once more into a broad thoroughfare. People
ignorant of the obstructive proceedings of the pavers will get
into a conveyance for the Bank, and find themselves whirled
through the intricate mazes that aboutgel in the neigh-
bourhood of Chancery-lane ; while an occasional " jam-
ming up"will afford the oprortunity of witnessing the process
of emptying, and perhaps weighing, the entire contents of
a coal waggon. As to the unfortunate tradesmen of Fleet-
street, our pity for them is greatly modified by the con-
sciousness of their having been so frequently treated in this
unceremonious manner that they must be now quite used to
it. The owner of a shop between Temple-bar and Farring-
don-street must look to be hemmed in by the pavers once or
twice a year as regularly as the gardeners may expect to
be " frozen out ' in the depth of winter. The seasons
are, indeed, frequently more merciful, and always less
certain, than the city blockaders, who assume a
variety of shapes for the persecution of their victims.
A few months ago the enemy appeared as the genius of sew-
age, whose emissaries were employed in undermining the
street as well as the prosperity of its inhabitants. Sometimes
it is a river demon, who comes to lacerate the heart of the
City tinder the pretext of laying down new pipes for a sup-
ply of water. After two of th,.: elements have sent their
representatives to harass the passengers and householders
they are tormented by the agent of fire, in the shape of
some gas company, which begins to pick to pieces the pave-
ment from which the emissaries of water or the slaves of
earth may have very recently retired. Whatever may be
the necessity for the works of which the City thoroughfares
are so frequently the scene, there can be no doubt that pre-
vious arrangement would prevent the inconvenience that is
caused by a saries of consecutive stoppages of the most
important lines of metropolitan communication. Ad-
mitting that the alteration in the sewers was imperative
last year, surely the authorities might have exercised
sufficient foresight to have seen that the street would
soon require fresh paving. The same time that was occu-
pied in replacing the old pavement would have sufficed for
putting down the new, and thus two birds might have been
killed with one stone—or rather the stone need only have
been laid down once instead of twice, to the great incon-
venience of the public. Perhaps those who under-
stand the mystery of these things may tell us that
the alteration in the sewers is a job of itself, and
that the restoration of the old pavement forms a
regular part of it, while the repaving is another "job of
itself," in which the removal of the old pavement, so that
the business may be done ab initio, is a principal in-
gredient. If this is really a consideration, it would
be for the interest of the inhabitants to pay com-
pensation to the parties who have, by inheritance
or otherwise, succeeded to these several " jobs," so
that the whole nuisance could be got rid of at
once, instead of its being a prolonged operation,
to be repeated at brief intervals. An attempt is made in the
present instance to amuse the public by an intimation that
the pavement about to be laid down is calculated to last for
twenty years; but who is sanguine enough to expect that
the gas or water people—to say nothing of those trouble-
some sons of the soil who represent the sewers—will let it
alone for ore quarter of that period ? It is all very well
to make a "new bottom of concrete," but who can
undertake to say that the agents of the gas or water com-
pany will not abstract the concrete before another month
has expired ? That a pavement might be constructed to
endure for twenty years, if it is allowed to rest from
the pickaxe, has been proved in the case of Blackfriar's-
bridge. This,
however, can scarcely be hoped in a thorough-
fare, where the temporary derangement of a shop-light,
or the bursting of a domestic water-pipe, may afford an
excuse for scarifying half a street, and shutting up one half
of it fur a week or a fortnight. Surely some plan might be
devised for conducting gas and water pipes in such a man-
ner as to prevent the necessity for plucking up the car-
riage pavement and rendering the way impassable
whenever repair may be needed. Why are the light-
ing and other companies to occupy the middle of the
street, to cross and 'recross at pleasure,
and, indeed, re-
ricul its the nlctropt,!i. with an twitPrgr,tin I rirtw.r%
m unog about in every direction so that all traffic
must be stopped where examination is required? The con- J
gut repetitiu of the block/44 irlisow9 =dealt A §criotti