The Sun.
London, England, 1850-01-02 00:00:00

GREAT SUSPENSION-BRIDGE IN

RUSSIA.

Considerable interest has been excited in St.
Petersburg') by a remarkable model of a suspension-
bridge across the river Dnieper, at Kieft, one of the
principal cities of Russia. This model was made in
London, where it was exhibited to most of the prin-
cipal engineers and architects. It has since arrived
in St. Petersburgh, and has been put up in one of
the grand saloons of the 'Winter Palace, where it was
formally presented to his Imperial Majesty on his
fete day, the 6th (18th) of this month (December),
by Mr. Vignoles, the English engineer, from whose
designs, and under whose immediate directions, this
bridge is now constructing.
The Dnieper is one of the largest rivers in the
Russian empire, rising in the vicinity of Smolensko,
and flowing in a southerly .direction it enters the
Black Sea, to the eastward of Odessa. In a broad
geographical sense the Dnieper may be considered as
the easternmost boundary between Russia Proper (or
Muscovy) and the great kingdom of Poland, which
once extended westward nearly to the Giant Mountains
of Bohemia, southward to the Carpathians, and north-
ward to the Baltic. The principal city entered by the
Dnieper in its long course to the sea is Kieff, cele-
brated in history as the first spot whereon Christianity
was planted among the barbarous hordes then leading
a nomadic life over the steppes of Russia, is well
known also as an important military frontier post,
al'ernately possessed by the Poles and the Muscovites,
and at present rising into great importance as the
capital of the south of Russia.
Kieff is most picturesquely situated on the right or
southern shore of the Dnieper; it covers a great ex-
tent of space, with numerous public buildings crowning
the many heights of the undulating ground on which
the city is built. The general aspect of the city is
very striking, and the impression on a traveller from
the western parts of Europe is that which he would
expect to receive on first viewing some Asiatic capi-
tal. The commercial part of the town, called the
Podol, list on a low plain at the western extremity;
the rest of Kieff is elevated from2oo to 300, and even
400 feet above the leVel, overlooking all the left or
northern shores of the Dnieper, which are low and
flat marshes, extending for many leagues above and
below Kieff, and from one to two leagues wide. In
the spring the whole becomes a lake, as the waters
rise, and the only approach from the north to Kieff is
along a causeway raised above the level of the floods.
It is from the end of this causeway that the suspen-
sion bridge is thrown across the Dnieper to the foot
of the steep acclivities on the right bank. The river,
which, for several leagues above, has spread through
numerous lateral channels, here unites into one deep
bed, and presents the narrowest passage. This passage
is, however, still half an English mile in breadth, the
depth of the water in a dry autumn being upwards
of 30 feet in the streamway, and sometimes more than
50 feet after the melting of the snows in the spring.
Over this chasm, which once formed the barrier for
Poland against the invasions of the Muscovites, the
necessity-of internal commdnication and the general
march of improvement has called for the erection of
a permanent bridge, and with enlightened policy
the Emperor of Russia has ordered such a bridge to
be constructed.

The soil of the bed of the river being wholly of
sand, and the current often changing its channel,
considerable difficulties presented themselves, while
the tremendous breaking up of the ice after winter,
followed by the melting of the snows in the more
northern districts, swelled the stream to an extent
scarcely comprehensible to the inhabitants of Great
Britain. It became, therefore, a necessary condition
that the number of piers of any bridge to be built
there should be the fewest possible, with the largest
openings between them. Hence it seemed most na-
tural that, with the given limit of expense, the prin-
ciple of a suspension bridge should be preferred, and
the designs were so prepared accordingly, and sub-
mitted to His Imperial Majesty. On Mr. Vignoles'
urgent recommendations, the use of wire ropes as the
means of suspension was negatived, and the adoption
of wrought iron chains with broad flat links was
decided on. Such was the system employed for the
Menai and Conway Bridges in Wales, by Telford, at
several places in England, and also in Hungary, at
Pesth, across the Danube, by Tierney Clarke. All these
bridges, however, hare but one central opening. The
suspension bridge at Kieff has four principal openings,
each of 440 feet, and two side openings of 225 feet
each, and also a passage of 50 feet on the right
shore, spanned by a swivel bridge, opening for the
passage of the steamboats and other river craft. There
are, therefore, five suspension piers in the river, one
mooring abutment on the left bank, another mooring
abutment on the Kieff side of the stream (which, on
account of the passage for boats beyond it, is actually
an island of masonry in the river), and an abutment
for the swivel bridge on the right bank. Each of
these have required a coffer-dam of unusual size—
particularly the two last mentioned. The architec-
ture of the river piers is rather novel, and of a strik-
ing character, harmonizing with that used in the
extensive range of first-class fortresses which crown
the heights of Kieff. The ways through the piers
have a clear breadth of 28 feet and: a height of 35
feet to the soffit of the semicircular arches. The
platform has nearly 53 feet of extreme breadth, of
which 35 feet are exclusively devoted to the car-
riageway ; the platform is suspended by chains,
all on the same horizontal plane, two on each
side of the road; the footpaths project beyond the
chains, and are carried by cantilevers round the piers
exteriorly, so that the foot passengers are completely
separated from the horsemen and carriages. The chains
are composed of links twelve feet long, and each
weighing about four cwt.—eight links form the
breadth of each chain, and the total length measured
along their curves being about four English miles.
For the swivel bridge the iron employed is almost
exclusively malleable; the breadth of the platform is
nearly fity-three feet, and the weight of iron employed
scarcely exceeds 100 tons. The bridge is moved
horizontally (on the same principle that locomotive
engines are sent round on the large turntables at a
railway station), and by the efforts of four men only,
acting on a very simple apparatus. The construction
of the platform of the bridge presents several novel
combinations of wood and iron, and is of extreme
stiffness, to resist the violent action of the eddies of air
in violent winds, which have so often injured and even
destroyed the ordinary platforms of suspension bridges
in other places. The balustrade is remarkably light
and elegant, in ornamental pannels of wrought iron.
Indeed, cast iron has been carefully excluded from
every part of the whole bridge, except where its use
was really preferable or absolutely unavoidable. The
total weight of iron used in the construction of the
bridge is about 3,300 tons, including the machinery
used in the various stages of its construction. The
whole was made in England, several of the most
celebrated ironmasters and manufacturers having been
engaged upon it. It required 15 vessels to bring the
iron to Odessa, whence it was taken up to Kieff in
small waggons drawn by oxen, over the wild steppes,
almost without roads, or none that deserve the name.
The quantity of machinery of every kind employ ed
in the construction of the Kieff bridge is most enor-
mous, and not less than nine steam-enginee are in
use. Two of these are large stationary ones, each
capable of working up to a power of 50 horses; the
rest are from four to eight-horse power, and can be
moved about as required. These engines pump water,
drive piles, grind mortar, hoist timber, iron, &c., draw
loads, and perform a variety of other operations, in
substitution of manual labour.

A temporary bridge, carrying a railway, has been
thrown across the whole breadth of the Dnieper, and
is connected by a self-acting inclined plane with the
heights of Kieff, whence the great blocks of granite
and masses of iron are sent down from the depots
above to the works on the river. The great provision
of granite, bricks, timber, cement, lime, field-stones,
&c., is very extraordinary, covering many acres of
ground. A whole village of warehouses, offices,
shops, sheds, dwelling-houses for the superintendents,
and comfortable cottages for the numerous workmen
have been erected on the left hank of the river, on
ground expressly raised for the purpose above the
flood level. A regular commissariat is attached to the
establishment, and the whole organisation of service
is very complete. The bricks employed are very
hard, and of a beautiful pale colour. Extensive
quarries of granite were opened in a great
many places, solely for these works, but the
principal supply and the finest and largest
blocks are found nearly 100 miles from Kieff, and
are brought thither on bullock-carts, through a
rough country, destitute of roads. Not the least re-
markable part of the establishment is that for the
manufacture of the hydraulic cement required for
the foundations and masonry. It is, in fact, an

artificial Pozzolano, made fro-m
a peculiar clay found
_ . _

in the Kieff hills, and prepared on the principles laid
down by the celebrated French Engineer Vicat, in
his recent publication. The buildings for this pur-
pose are very extensive, being gigantic laboratories,
where the operations are carried on day and night.
Eight large roasting ovens, besides numerous grind-
ing mills, are in constant action ; the quantity ma-
nufactured is upwards of 300 bushels (or about 500
cubic feet) in every 24 hours.
It must be reserved for a technical publication to
enter into all the engineering details of construction
of the Kieff- bridge, as there can only be given here
a merely general idea of the principal features of this
very magnificent bridge, which will be the largest in
Europe, the length being fully half en English mile,
and covering an area of 100,000 square feet, being
considerably more than three acres. The works were
first commenced in April, 1848. The ceremony of lay-
ing the first stone took place in September of the same
year. Eight large cofferdams were completed by the
early part of 1849; two of these having been destroyed
or damaged by the spring floods, have since been entirely
reconstructed. The foundations of the abutments and
of two of the river piers were safely got in before the
winter began, and all the foundations and cofferdams
have been secured by an extensive system of pro.