The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-27 00:00:00

E WS PAP' E it
10.RIA (ST. LATVBENC. ;
Thefollowing letter has been addr e,S4 ..! -
-temporary :--
: - <7 4,
-
Sir,—lt maybe interesting to the pu b. Jearg, S
through the medium of your columns, t h one-cif
the greatest works of engineering sci6nc 0- =the
toria (St. Lawrence) Bridge, at I.llentrearr now
within a very short stage of completion, and the
close of the present "fall" will witness. the c Pening
of that magnificent bridge.
The Grand Trunk Railway, whith ',verses
1,200 miles of the richest parts a Upper on;'. Lower
Canada, connecting as it does the different, .dePcl3-.,_
dencies of the British crown, is indeed a grc:a t boon
to that country, yet without the connecti n.g, • link
between the north and south shores of, the St ..24qw-
rencei this railway is very imperfect. - - - - -
The St. Lawrence is for five mouths out of the
year frozen up, and all communication with ( Canada
by ships or steamboats is entirely suspended . hiring
that period. The intercourse with the United
States, at that 'period also, is of the most frigid
character • but when this all-important bi idge is
opened; the -Grand Trunk Railway- will-ee. ouwaid.
tne whole external intercourse of Canada.

>
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The tide of immigration which sets iii t hiefly
,
through the United States will then pass alon.:g that
railway. In fine, the Victoria-bridge will t e the
means of Changing the hitherto almost in Lin!!isoned
and frigid life of the Canadian to one of freedom
and geniality.
For a long time -the difficulties of bri lging the
St. Lawrence were deemed all but insurrn ountable;
the width between its shores, even at the narrowest
crossing, being very considerable, the velocity of
the current very great, and the headway and water-
way required for the navigation of st gam vessels
and huge rafts of timber were also extnisive ; but
far more formidable than all these Was the effect of
the " breaking up of the ice." This p likriemenon,
in itself one of the most wonderful operations in
nature, has been the theme of various writers, and
sad are some accounts of its terrible force. The
whole field of ice, extending nine mil( !s in length
and of the entire breadth of the river, 1-,o a depth of
from three to five feet, becomes one fleeting mass.
Its velocity, though slow at first, in erases .to a
frightful extent through the influence of the melt-
ing snow, until it " breaks up,.".when the detached
masses are driven with fearful violence against any
impediment, and, when effectually obstructed, it
" packs" layer upon layer to the heig tit of fifty to
sixty feet. Buildings are prostratted by the
" shoves," and disasters of a most alarming nature
frequently occur ; indeed, so rapidly d ices the pack-
ing take place that vessels near the shi ire have been
frequently buried and crushed.
This, then, was the force that the piers of the
bridge would have to withstand. Yet, in spite even
of this difficulty, a bridge hes been de .rised, and is
now just about to be completed, with perfect suc-
cess too ; and in two or three months fl:om the pre-
sent time a ceremony will probably t ake place in
Montreal that will ever be rememoeree L Prepara-
tions on a grand scale are in contemplation for the
opening, and the city, it is expected v‘ ill be inun-
dated by visitors from the States, alp! many also
are expected from this side the Atlantic. •

While reflecting on the magnitude of this im-
portant work, and the skill that must have been
brought to bear upon it, we turn natui!,ally towards
the author of so great an undertaking, and we find
that the same mind that conceived :a, means of
overcoming the difficulties of bridging, the Menai
Straits has also solved thedifficulties . of the
.St.
Lawrence. To Mr. Robert Stephenson is due the
honour not only of designing the 'Victor ia-bridge,
but of determining the possibility and applicability
of a bridge at all across the St. Lawrence. He
visited Canada in 1853, on purpose to ME ke him-
self
conversant with all the facts necessary to form
an opinion, and he decided that a bridge was prac-
ticable, and having disposed of the more Tit iimpor-
, taut difficulties enumerated, he did not that: h from
the task of contending with the ice. He well con-
sidered the different schemes proposed by various
parties to resist this moving mass, most of twhich
were similar to those adopted in Norway, the struc-
tures tieing composed of framed timber ; but Mr.
Stephenson rejected them, because be had d eter-
mined—while
.designing such a stupendous bridge
as that across the St. Lawrence must of -tileces sit`*
be—to make it durable in every sense, and th are-
fore ice breakers of timber were discarded en ac-
count of the perishable nature of the material, rind
the belief he had that timber would offer but a frail
resistance to the moving ice. In this last'kespzet
his views have been carried out to a verity, for in
the timber temporary breakwaters and coffudams
used by the contractor during the construction of
the bridge, the effect of the ice has been singulaily
destructive. Whole balks have been disintegrated
into mere fibres, and the pores of the timber have
been frozen through and impregnated with ice.
Mr. Stephenson determined upon the adoption of
stone for the piers and icebreakers, the lattor_form-
int; a part of the forer, and being in the fmn of
sloping cutwaters on the up-stream side;' their
fronts presenting an angular face to the ice'. The
object of this arrangement was not to stoptgp,defy
the ice, but to co ix it as it were, to clinib.to the
top, when the overbearing sides of its mass 'would
gravitate, parting it in the middle, and the two
halves would pass harmlessly away through the
openings. This very effect has already taken place
proving Mr. Stephenson's theory to be again cor-
rect, and during the four years the bridge has been
in course of construction the stone ice-breakers
have stood the severest test of the " breaking-up"
without injury.
The superstructure, which is to the spectator the
most interesting object, is similar in construction in
almost every respect to the Britannia-bridge, the
difference being that while the centre Britannia
tube is 460 feet span the central span of the Vic-
toria-bridge is 330 feet, all the others being 212
feet. The Victoria tubes also differ from the Bri-
tannia in not being constructed on the cellular
principle; indeed tey are the largest tubular
beams ever constructed without cells. But the
great total length of the Victoria-bridge is its
striking peculiarity. There will be a line of iron
tubing a mile and a quarter in length, stretching
from shore to shore. This immense iron viaduct,
even in its present incomplete state, viewed om
either side, or better still from the river, is truly
magnificent.
The effect of these twenty-five strides across the
broad St. Lawrence is difficult to realise—and is
alone worth a voyageiacross the Atlantic.
One peculiar circumstance connected with this
great work, which is worth bringing before your
readers, as it forms-tufexample of the advancement
of science at the present day, is, that all the details
were arranged here, the designs being made under
Mr. Robert Stephenson's own eye, and the whole
being carried out under the supervision of his
relative, Mr. George Robert Stephenson, who at-
tended not only to the designs and construction of
the tubes, but even to the manufacture of the
iron at the various ironworks. Elaborate drawings
were made by that gentleman, and the dimensions
and strains for every plate and piece of iron were
calculated and given by him. The tubes were made
at Birkenhead, every plate being punched in
readiness, in fact all being done in this country ex-
cept the permanent rivetting, so that nothing but
skilled labour was required in Canada to sort out
the parts already marked, and permanently rivet
them together.
So determined was Mr. Stephenson to carry out
this work successfully that he undertook the
management of it in all its details in this country,
indeed so much so that neither contractors' nor en-
gineers' accounts in Canada or in England were
paid by the board of directors without his or Mr.
George Robert Stephenson's signature, so that the
world will have to look to Mr. Robert Stephenson
as being responsible for the success of this great en-
terprise; and it is believed that the world by this
time is sufficiently acquainted with .him to place
implicit trust in his skill and judgment.
Regarding the proportions of the bridge thus de-
scribed perhaps a few figures may be interesting,
and your readers will probably be startled at the
vastness of the following quantities in the 'Arne-
are.

piers, ice breakers,
The masonry in the
abut-
ments, amounts to nearly
quantity which would corer an acre o
solidly to a height of about 64 feet, weightafndgroitusnd
3,000 000 cuic feet, a
.and
220,000 tons. The iron in
piled
the tubes, weighing
about 9,000 tons, is held together by upwards of a
million and a half of rivets. inted
resident engineer to the bridge, great credit is.due,
To Mr. Alexander M. Ross, who was appo
he having specially devoted himself to the masonry •,
to Mr. Hodges also, who has most efficiently and
honourably, from the commencement, represented
the contractors, Messrs. Peto, Brassey, and Betts,
and on whom has devolved the principal responsi-
bility of the work; likewise to Mr. Stockman, who
in the early part of the present year went to
Canada, accompanied by Mr. S. P. Bidder, to
make a full inspection and report upon the works
—a duty which w9.s performed in a manner emi-
nently calculated to satisfy the minds of the engi-
neers and the public.
It may be thought by some of your readers that
this statement is somewhat premature, as the bridge
is not actually completed ; but though incomplete,
it is of such vast importance that this notice of its
approaching opening will afford a great opportunity
to those who may be able and desirous of making a
transatlantic voyage in time for that ceremony ;
and a voyage to America coupled with such an ob-
ject would be to many too great a treat to lose, and
the opportunity, if let slip, would be ever after re-
gretted.—l. am, &c., CIVIL ENGINEER.
London, 26th August.