The Davenport gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa) 1841-185?, 1853-10-27
The Tubular Bridge.


Straits in Wales, and we give from one {
the capital letters OF Mr.. Paine, Editor {
the n. Y. Observer, the most intelligent an
satisfactory description Of that noted struc
Iture, we have ever met with. Mr.. Pain
gsaFs:
The Tubular Bridge over the Mena
Straits regard as the greatest mechanica
wonder OF the world, and if my admiration
Of it had been great when reading the man.
and graphic descriptions we have had Of il
my wonder and pleasure were greatly in
I creased when came to see it. The car
swept through fifteen hundred and thir
teen feet in length, and We had no othel
sensation than that of passing through
another covered bridge, but as soon as
I'VE reached Bangor, and the train passed
i | left it. and let it 90 on without me, while
returned to study this stupendous work
The problem to be solved by the architect
was this-to build ridge 1900 feet ever
/ an arm Of the sea. SO high in air as to permit
the loftiest mast to pass under it, and with
out piers to obstruct the navigation. The
+ point on the straits selected for that purpose
vas fortunately provided with rock rising
from the water and nearly in the midst oi
! the straits. This was the base of pier, but
then the bridge. without draw, must stretch
472 feet to one shore, and $50 to the other
and at the height Of at least 100 feet above
the sea. Mr.. Stephenson, the architect, de-
vised, and under his superintendent was ex-
ecuted this work, which premisesto stand as
an enduring monument of ingenuity, enter.
prise and perseverance, under difficulties the
most dsheartening, and to ordinary minds
iinsurmountable. To the work he brought,
as the first and chief element Of success, his
own genius and courage, and to these he
added 800 men, for whom cottages were
built along the shore, as the labor of years
was before them The bridge is to be Of
iron. nothing else, It is to hold itself up with
out an arch. and without steel cables to
bind it to the rocky shores. 1t is to be built
on the shore, to be foated OH the water, and
then raised perpendicularly, and stretched
horizontally from land to land. Can it be
done! The world laughed and wise men
said, no, it could not be done. and it would
fall OF its own weight if it were done The
man of science pushed on the mighty work.
Plates of iron were riveted together, and
tube, not round, as most people suppose, but
square, or rather rectangular, being thirty
feet high and fourteen feet wide, was built.
The labor of this army extended through
four and a half years. Two millions Of riv-
cts hold these iron plates in their tenacious
grasp, and the tubes weigh no less than
eleven thousand three hundred and sixty-six
tons! During these years, these shores pre-
sented the busiest and most exciting of
peaceful scenes. Schools and churches
were built for the families gathered here
The arts of life were drawn around the set
tlement. and it was as if new city had
been suddenly planted on the Straits OF Me-
mai. Sickness was rare, for the air is pure
and healthy, but when it did come, and
death with it, the consultations OF religion
were not wanting to the dying or the living.
More were born than died. Th4 work went
on, and at last it was done. Hydraulic
presses were made to raise the mighty
weights, and inch by inch they rose, till in
three weeks from the time they began to as
ccnd, they were planted on the lofty pier
and stood sublime. They did not break of
their own weight. They didnot bend. But
would they bear the pressure Of a train load
ed laundering over this awful chasm, or
would the mass of iron crush and fall in ru-
ms. like rent world, when the first train
of rail cars with its living burden should
thrust itself on the treacherous bridge
The train was ready, not with burden Of
living men and fair women, to re-enact the
Norwalk tragedy, Gan event that dishonors
our country in the eyes Of Europe but load
ed with iron and stone, to four tmcs the
weight Of any train would ever be required
to pass over the trembling structure. Mr..
Stephenson, the architect, mounts the loco
motive himself, the engineer and solitary
passenger. He moves on, and reaching
midway of the longest tube, he arrests the
trin and pauses thera. that the heaviest
pressure may at once be felt, and the grand
experiment be tested at once for all. 1t
was not rash and hairbraned feat, 1t was
the calm confidence of a man Of calculation.
who knew what he was doing. ard that he
was safe. The sinking of that long line,
with the tremendous weight to which it was
there subjected, was less than halt an inch!
The experiment was tested. 1t cost five
millions o. dollars, aud was cheap ar that.
walked through it, and then by fight
/ of narrow steps ascended the top Of it and
walked out on the fiat roof on which the
strain comes, ard when | saw the power Of
those concatenated plates, twas impossible
to have the sensation Of fear, while felt
sure the structure will stand till some
eonvulsion of nature shakes the sea and
earth.