The Sun.
London, England, 1845-02-17 00:00:00

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGI-
NEERS, Feb. 11.
The President, Sir John Rennie, in the Chair.
The first paper read was a description by Mr.
Thomas Hughes, Assoc. Inst. C.E., of the method em-
ployed for draining some banks of cuttings on the Lon-
don and Croydon, and London and Birmingham Rail-
ways, also a part of the retaining wall of the Euston
inclined plane. The method adopted was the introduc-
tion of Watson's drain pipes, which were made of the
ironstone clay of Stafford-hire; their surface is pierced
cloggeda n denl enlarging
iwniwt ha
rndul
ym, ewr oh ui :ha
fpoerrmt u
preventsr e s
,sm all
theirexte rbneali nlgy
earth, and allows whatever enters to pass freely into the
pipe. In their application on the London and
Croydon Railway a longitudinal trench, four feet
deep, was dug on the crown of the bank at a few feet
from the edge, and other trenches, about thirty feet
apart, descended from it to the open drain by the side of
the permanent way. On the London and Birmingham
Railway the descending trenches were eighty feet apart,
and varied from three feet to six feet in depth: the pipes
were introduced into these trenches, and the clay which
had been dug out was then laid over the pipes ; from
the longitudinal line of pipes, upright pipes were occa-
sionally introduced for the purpose of ventilation. The
panels of the retaining wall were drained by boring holes
through the brickwork at given distances, with a power-
ful auger worked by a machine, and then inserting cast-
iron pipes of the same form as those of clay. This pro-
cess proved so effectual that the wall which before showed
evidence of water being lodged behind nearly the whole
length, was now evidently drying fast, and the water
oozed out from the pipes at all times, even during the
severe drought of 1844.
The paper induced an animated discussion upon re-
taining walls, in which Mr. R. Stephenson gave an in-
teresting account of his views at the time when lie de-
signed the walls of the Euston incline, the changes
which subsequent experience had worked in his opinion,
and the reasons which had induced him to adopt the
process of staying the walls with cast-iron beams stretch-
ing from one side to the other.
The next paper read was a description of the Ouse-
bridge on the Hull and Selby Railway, by W. B. Bray,
Grad. Inst. C.E. The Act for this railway was obtained
in 1836, and it forms with the Leeds and Selby, which
was opened two years previously, a direct communica-
tion between Leeds and Hull. They were both sur-
veyed and executed from the designs of Messrs.
Walker and Burges. The river Ouse, at Selby' is
196 feet wide and 14 feet deep at low water. The tide
rises four feet at neap tides, and nine feet at spring
tides. The bed of the river consists of silt, resting on a
bed of quicksand, beneath which is a hard clay.- The
foundation of the abutments were formed of piles driven 11
into the clay, and on these longitudinal sleepers and
transverse sills were tenoned, the intermediate spaces
being filled with broken stone, grouted with thin
mortar ; on this platform brick abutments with stone
quoins, string courses, and copings were built : they
were subsequently tied, by wrought iron rods, to heavy
stone piers. There were six piers placed in pairs, which
were founded on piles driven into the clay, and tenon( d
to received the cap sills, on which cast-iron frames were
strongly bolted, the ends being furnished with cut-
waters of cast-iron plates. The superstructure consists of
six ribs of cast iron one-and-a-half inch thick, resting on
transverse girders, one being placed under each line of
rails, and one under each handrail, the rails themselves
being laid on longitudinal sleepers, twelve inches wide
and six inches deep. In the Act there was a clause re-
quiring that this bridge should have an opening arch,
for the passage of steamers and vessels with fixed masts:
this consists of two similar leaves, each keyed on to a
cast-iron shaft nine inches square, with turned ournals
of plummer blocks and brasses. The total weight of
iron-work is 590 tons, and the erection of the bridge
was let to Mr. Briggs, of Ferry. on-Trent, and the But-
terle Iron Company. The communication was
.accom-
panied by a register of the tides at Selby during the
year 1842, and was illustrated by a well-executed model
presented to the institution by Mr. James Walker.
Mr. J. B. Redman exhibited a portion of a fender pile
which had been driven in the works of the New Terrace-
pier at Gravesend in 1843, and in which the terendonavalis
or pipe-worm, had made great inroads. It appeared,
however, that the ravages of this insect were confined to
a space of about three feet above the level of low water
spring tides, and that therefore if wood work was well
defended by copper sheathing or scupper nails, at and
Thein
meeting an situation.
was
below that point, no great injury would be received by
piles
d to Tuesday evening, the
18th inst., when the following paper will be read :
No. 760. " Description of tho Great Britain steam-ship,
with an account of the trial voyages," by T. R. Guppy,
Assoc. Inst. C.E.

ASHEURTON.—A few days since, while a workman
was engaged in cleaving a pollard-tree, at Grange Farm, he
found, concentrated in the trunk, a cannon-ball, weighing
4 lbs.. On the above farm are the remains of some ancient
buildings, which formerly belonged to the old Cistercian
Abbey of Buckfastleigh, which was founded in the year
1137, by Etherwerld, the son of William Pomerai, in honour
of the Virgin Mary. From the appearance of the tree, which
has undoubtedly- stood for centuries, the ball was shot into it
during a bombardment of the abbey, during the monastic
wars.
EXETER HALL.—The Sacred Harmonic Society
repeated Handers Judas dfaccabetts on Friday, under precisely si-
milar circumstances as before: Madame Caradori Allan, Mr. Leffler,
and Mr. Manvars being the principal vocalists. Mies Poulter made
her second appearance, and was heard to much more advantage than
upon her debut, her nervous alarm having in a great measure passed
away. This young lady is likely to be a useful appendage to the
Harmonic orchestra ; for her vocal indications are pr 911213114.
aer voice a soprano a MarelltlY =WWI C9WPOI.