The Sun.
London, England, 1859-05-04 00:00:00

OPENING OF THE ROYAL ALBERT
BRIDGE BY THE PIINCE CONSORT.

But a little time ago each briste across a petty river was
a work of difficulty, the completica of which attracted atten-
tion and elicited praise. Now-.-days, however, ordinary
bridges have got to be things of io account, for the country
has become accustomed to see the most stupendous difficul-
ties overcome, and viaducts haze arisen everywhere more
worthy of our admiration than he purposeless and uncouth
mountain columns of the Egyptans which we travel to see.
Of such a kind, but surpassing arboth in skill and magni-
tude, is the Albert Bridge, wlich year by year has been
approaching completion, unvoiced and unknown, till its
opening by the Prince Consort his suddenly announced that
the most difficult engineering vork which has ever been
attempted in this or any other country is completed. On
seeing the working drawings of ;he bridge some time since
the Prince Consort was so impressed with the ingenuity of
the design that we believe he determined to have a small
copy of it erected at Balmoral, aid at the same time signi-
fied his intention of opening the bridge at Saltash himself.
The occasion was quite worthyof this honour, and it is
only to be regretted that the great engineer who designed
and carried out the work (Mr. Brand) was prevented by ill
health from being present at suca a ceremony. It is not
often that Plymouth has an opportunity of paying its re-
spects to Royalty, so this occason was made the most of.
The great gathering was of cease around Saltash, where
the fields and hedgerows were ;hronged with spectators,
and where enterprising agriculttrists reaped an unexpected
harvest by charging for admission to the meadows which
adjoined upon the bridge. Altogether at this point, what
with the crowd, the flags, some evergreens, a battery of
artillery, and a few companies of the 96th, the scene was
animated enough, and the only anxiety was on account
of the weather, which was dui and lowering, and which
the delicate attentions of a south-west wind hourly threat-
ened to make worse. Fortunately, however, the rain
held off, and beyond the disappointment of the outsiders
who couldn't see the " ceremony' and the disappointment
of those who could, and found that it was not much after
all, the day passed off smoothly and pleasantly enough
At the temporary station on the eastern side of the bridge
the most distinguished of those who were to receive his
Royal Highness awaited his arrival. Among others were
the Marquis of Abercorn, Earl Mount-Edgcumbe, Viscount
Valletort, M.P., Major- General Eden, Vice-Admiral Sir
Barrington Reynolds, the Earl of Morley, Sir Erskine
Perry, M.P., the High Sheriff of Cornwall, R. Collyer,
M.P., J. Wilson, M.P., &c. To these in the course of the
morning were added the Mayors d Plymouth, Saltash, and
Devonport, each in their robes of office, and each attended
by those dread symbols of corporate authority, the antique
maces, and their scarcely less antique macebearers. The
latter constituted the pageantry of the affair, and displayed
enough gold lace almost to warrent their being considered
in the light of a procession. Bat without such gorgeous
accessories as these there was more than enough to occupy
the mind and please the eye of the visitor in the scene be-
neath, when the Tamar was covered in every part with
ships of war, with boats and steamers ; and when high
above all, in two huge arches, the Albert bridge bestrid like
another Colossus this arm of the sea, stretching across into
the hills of Cornwall, amid which the line was hidden till

constructed
valleys
it emerged again on it bridge of the frailest-looking wood-
work over the Coombe Lake. The line for which this mag-
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dwworhkichh,acsrobsseineng
even county, of course presents a continued series of engi-
neering difficulties. In a distance of 60 miles there are no
less than seven tunnels and upwards of five miles of via-
ducts, besides cuttings, curves, and gradients almost innu-
merable. The viaduct of all ethers is of course the Albert
bridge at Saltash, which is unsurpassed by any in the
world. Perhaps the shortest way to describe its dimen-
sions is to say that the whole structure consists of 19 spans
or arches. Seventeen of those spans are wider than the
widest arches of Westminster-bridge, while two, resting
on a single cast iron pier of four columns, cross the
whole stream of the Tamar at one gigantic leap of upwards
of 900 feet, or a greater distance than the breadth of the
Thames at Westminster. The total length of the structure
from end to end is 2,240 feet, very nearly half a mile, and
300 feet longer than the entire stretch of the Britannia-
bridge. Its greatest width, as formed only for a single pair
of rails, is 30 feet at basement, but its height from founda-
tion to summit is no less than 260 feet, or more than 60
feet higher than the monument. The Britannia-bridge,
both in size, purpose, and engineering importance, seems
to offer the best comparison with that in Cornwall, but the
similarity is far from being as great as might he at first
supposed. Each is built on a different principle, and the
engineers of each had most peculiar difficulties to overcome.
Each bridge, in fact, surpasses in its way, and is best
adapted to the duty it has to perform and the obstacles it
was necessary to surmount.
The Prince Consort was expected at Saltash at 12.20, and
precisely at that time arrived the heavy boom of guns from
the flagship apd citadel announced that ho had reached the
junction of the Cornwall line, about two miles from Saltash.
His Royal Highness was accompanied by General Grey
and Colonel Ponsonby. The chief personages on the plat-
form having been duly presented, the Mayor of Saltash,
attended by the other members of the corporation, presented
the following address, which was listened to by the Prince,
without alighting, at the door of the Royal carriage.
The address was as follows :
"May it please your Highness, we, the mayor, aldermen,
and free burgesses of the borough of Saltash, in the county
of Cornwall, welcome with intense satisfaction the first visit
of your Royal Highness to this ancient and loyal borough,
and would have hailed with delight also, our most gracious
Queen, had the auspicious occasion been graced with her
august presence. We are
_particularly gratified by this
further proof of your Royal Highness's support and encou-
ragement to works of art in condescending to honour with
your presence the opening of the Royal Albert Bridge, that
noble work of engineering skill which has united the
important counties of Cornwall and Devon, and made our
borough the main entrance into the county of Cornwall—a
work destined in our opinion to be a memento to genera-
tions yet unborn of your Royal Highness's name and
memory, as also of the skill and perseverance evinced by
the eminent engineer in the construction thereof. We fur-
ther tender our sincere interest in the welfare of your eldest
son, whom we hail with pride as holding the dukedom of
our county. We humbly pray that the lives of our beloved
and most gracious Queen and of your Royal Highness may,
through Divine Providence, be long spared to receive in-
creased marks of the loyalty and affection entertained and
felt by all her Majesty's subjects, but by none more de-
votedly than by ourselves and the inhabitants of this an-
cient borough.
To this the PRINCE, bowing as he received the address,
replied—" Mr. Mayor and gentlemen, it has given me much
pleasure to attend here this day, at the opening of the
bridge which is to connect the important county of Corn-
wall with the. rest of the kingdom, and most heartily do I
thank you for your kind address, and for the cordial wel-
come which has marked my coming among you. I have'
also to acknowledge on the part of the Queen and of my son,
the Duke of Cornwall, the gratifying assurances of your
loyal and affectionate attachment,- and I am sure that they
will join cordially with, me in the hope and trust that this
noble work, which does so much credit to the enterprising
men by whom it has been planned and executed, may be
productive of increased prosperity to your town and
county."
A second address was also presented by the Chairman and
Directors of the Cornwall Railway, though the majority of
the directors were unfortunately 'prevented attending on
this most interesting occasion, inasmuch as their engine
broke down halfway between Saltash and Truro, and the
train only arrived exactly as the proceedings terminated.
Immediately after the delivery of the addresses and his
Royal Highness's reply, the Royal train moved forward,
and entered the Albert Bridge. The pace was very slow, in
order to give his Highness an opportunity of surveying the
extraordinary work. As the train went on, a slight vibra-
tion was perceptible, yet, strange to say, much less than
was observed when a company of soldiers, tramping in re-
gular step, crossed it a few minutes before to the Saltash
side. As the engine passed under the standard of the centre
pier, a Royal salute was fired from a battery of artillery on
the hill. The train then continued its course through the
Saltash station, where some thousands were assembled, who
gave his Royal Highness a most enthusiastic welcome, and
passed on to the Coombe Lake viaduct. This viaduct is
of wood, though in its way quite as curious as the colossal
iron span of Saltash. Its height from the water is abut
120 feet, and so slight looks the web of neatly-arranged
beams, which, rising one upon another, carry the roadway
high over all, that it taxes the passenger's confidence in Mr.
Brunel to the very utmost to venture on it in a heavy train.
It has, of course, been properly tested, and, before proof,
was known to be strong enough for what it was required to
bear; yet, in spite of all, the Coombe viaduct is one which
the public will never feel much confidence in from merely
looking at. Yet this bridge, we are told, is nothing to one
higher up the line, at St. Austell, where the same kind of
structure spans a tremendous ravine at a height of 156 feet
from the ground. Returning over the Coombe viaduct,
the train stopped at Saltash station, and his Royal High-
ness alighting, proceeded on foot to examine the wonderful
proportions of the Albert Bridge in detail. For this pur-
pose he was attended by Mr. Brereton, Mr. Brunell's super-
intendent engineer, and Mr. Woolcomb, one of the direc-
tors of the railway. Accompanied by these gentlemen,
the weights and dimensions of the bridge were briefly and
clearly explained to his Highness, together with the unex-
ampled nature of the difficulties which Mr. Brunel had
almost day by day to overcome during the progress of the
work. A description of this fine work appeared in the
columns of The Sun last autumn, while the earlier span
was still in course of being raised to its lofty resting place ;
but a brief recapitulation of the chief points of the structure
will not, we are sure, be without intetest to our readers,
especially as this will, perhaps, be the best mode of showing
the difficulties that existed, by explaining how they were
actually overcome in the every-day progress of the work.
The whole structure, as we have said, contains 19 spans.
The smaller spans, or arches, if we may so term them, were
made with comparatively little difficulty. These lead from
the hills at either side to the edge of the Tamar, and consist
of massive double columns of solid masonry, 11 feet square,
with wrought iron longitudinal beams of boiler plate, to
carry the roadway on either side. The main stone piers
are at the water's edge, and support the ends of the great
spans crossing the river. These two of course are of the
most solid kind, and more resemble the massive columns of
Egypt than the works of modern engineers. Each is of
granite, 29 feet wide by 17 feet thick, and.no less than 190
feet from foundation to summit. It is, however, on the
main pier, in the centre of the river, on ich both the great
spans rest, that all the pressure and vibration comes, and
for this was required a tower of such proportions that
nothing short of the solid rock itself would suffice for its
foundation. But to reach this was a matter of no ordinary
difficulty, inasmuch as some 70 feet of sea water, with 20
feet of mud and concrete gravel, lay between Mr. Brunel
and the stone on which he wished to build. A cofferdam
for such a depth, and in such a tideway, was out of the
question; yet, by a most ingenious application of the
cofferdam principle, what seemed an insuperable obstitcle
was at last overcome. An immense wrought-iron cylinder
of boiler plate, 100 feet high and 37 feet in diameter,
and weighing upwards of 300 tons, was made and sunk
exactly on the spot whence the masonry was to rise.
From this water was pumped out and air forced in ; the
men descended, and working as in a gigantic diving bell at
the very bottom of theriver, cleared out the mud and gravel
till the rock was reached and hewn into form to support the
cylinder evenly all round. Powerful steam air-pumps were
necessary to keep the labourers supplied below, and, as a
matter of course, they worked at an atmospheric pressure of
upwards of 351 b. to the inch. At first this affected them
severely; many were constantly seized with cramps, faint-
ness, and insensibility, but this was only at the commence-
ment, and after a time 40 labourers could remain at once in
the large diving apparatus with apparently little inconve-
nience. But it was always dangerous and unpleasant la-
bour, and all were glad when the first great difficulty was
over, and the noble column of granite, built inside the
cylinder, rose above the water's edge at last. On this mas-
sive pile the iron columns for the centre pier are raised.
Until these ponderous masses were cast metal works of such
dimensions were seldom dreamt of. There aro four octagon
columns, 10 feet in diameter and 100 feet high. Each
stands 10 feet apart from the other in the centre of the
granite, forming a square of about 30 feet, and all bound
together with a handsome massive lattice-work of wrought
iron, which checks vibration, and prevents any lateral