The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1854-09-20
From the Montreal Pilot
sR,nGp OVER THE ST. LAWRENCE.

BRIDGE OVER THE ST. LAWRENCE.
marty. consisting of the Hon Robert Spence and the
Hon Henry Smith accompanied by SIR ousaeh hohey
visited and inspected the progress oil tins wonueu
ses,erday The Victoria bridge the ST Lawrence
viii certainly be the most remarkable WORK OF Tue hu "
the Canadas--we might say in the whole word. ~ ~
minds Of some OF the old Roman ~ 't hs
Gent aqueducs which span the valleys OF ltayi III he
Grand and gigantic proportons-more than OF an oIu
bridge over a river We know OF nothing on the CONT
nent of Amerea-nothing on the continent Oh huioP
which approaches this work in the grandeur ana greatness
Of its design , c.oi, proun
The chain pier Brighton, erected by Captain prov g
and strechag from the cliffs out into me sea @ nm
memory serves us rightly, OF the nrst Oh tnos.
and beautiful structures The suspension pruge a" =.
mersmh by the engineer and the p", zee IA m
Paris followed and about the same tune le Me' ~ Az
over he straits of that name connecting the ishu VI
lssee with the Welsh main. The Hungerofd SUSPENSION
bridge over the river Thames, by the younger
foot passengers followed but IL renamed iol o M
or irhenson TO devise bridge which should carry INC
naarons weight of locomotives passenger Carriages lug
& ns and mineral and cattle trucks across an arm OF
the sea. still broader river -, 60, ,s,ou .orc,,
Mr. Stephenson adopted the tubular form aier saieu
;,nsn "a the one best calculated to sustain the I'M
anse pressure to which the bridge would be exposed
cot when the tubes hoated up the straits TO the
nroposed Site of the Britannia bridge upon hugedecked
h,rpes how impossible it thought it would prove 10
rase them from the 4evel of the water to an altitude
greater than that of the highest mass OF the largest ship
RAJ nayqaed that inlet of the sea but the work ac-
opshed by the calculations OF science without the ana
Of The tabled of Archmedes and the ponderous
another aScenueu
way was formed over the mighty chasn.
The success of the engineer in the building OF the Brit
ANNA bridge has fully justified him in deciding upon the
adoption of the plan for the Victoria bridge which
will be constructed tweny-four piers, with spans Oh
for the navigation, exclusive of the two abumen
from whence the tubes spring ON either SIDE Inc cent
space span will be $50 feet wide ana ech OF Inc S'e
two piers nearest each abntment will he fifteen ieet anc
az the piers approach the centre span the width ahe
strength of each win be increased until they reach h'
a twill pirh
obntmens from which the tubes spring waf W each ~
them 24o feet long and 90 feet wide ana from le horu
shore Of the St Lawrence TO & o ops masonrv uste sa
Nc ISL Used like an s,s6cal rock to resist the current
,ens sons embankme.t leading from the south shore o.
M r N the snpn abutmcnt will DC half this length, OF
Wy r a. III length of the bridge ITSELF from abutmen
wv and its total length, from river bank to river
va VIII be ten thousand two hundred and cightyyio
net or about fifty yards less than two English miles.
rnese enumerations may seem tedious but they
ccssary-especally for those disanceo enable tht
mind TO grasp the magnitude OF this mighty causeway
The summer average depth of the ST Lawrence varies from
IA feet near the centre to feet The banks and tn,
current runs in this part at the rate OF from to 10 miles
an hour The clear distance between the under surface
is to be go feet and the height will diminish toward either
side with grade at the rate of in 1870 l0 feet in thu
mile that at the outer river edge OF each abutment
the height will be SO feet above the summer level
On the cath July last received an invitation to thu
laying of the first stone in the bed of the river for the
sucon of the first pier of the bridge and now, on thu
ath September when write pier NO las nrisea qef
ra feet above the leyei of the river and the process
binding the blocks may be and understood Eaci
stone the structure is clamped to its fellow by bands
ron and the interstices filed with molten lead and thu
strongest Roman The result viii be the construc
ton Of masonry durable that of the Coliseum or thu
Appan Ways which have stood the and tear of time
and of traffic for than two thousand years and which
still continue exist monuments of the skill and in
dustry Of man. 1t is thing worthy of note, that in
and rising country, only known to civilized men fol
Two three hundred years monm1nt3 should arise Z
mark the progress Of the age and compete In the worlds
esteem with similar works constructed two three thou
sand years ago. and if the rapid and mighty St Lawrence
is mastered by such works. then indeed is the achievement
one worthy to be chronicled.
Unless unforeseen difficulties arise the FIRST railway rair
will pass tho broad ST. Lawrence by the
1853 The commercial advantages will consist in the fac
ton without break of gauge b1k the exhanstlsxs w;
consin and the western States in the Union Recpro
CITY will have opened the doer Of International communi
cation and the requirements of traffic will be chepy AM
e4pediousy met by the iron road and its tubular bridge
years hence and this very bridge will become
The greatest attractions to the tourist and the traveller
The Colossus of Rhodes under which the pigmy shalop
Of former ages could pass esteemed of the wonder
OF the Old World. But iron bridge spanning rive
two miles III width giving safe passage to hundreds
of weight between its iron sides and permitting ship
of the largest tonnage 10 pass beneath its elevated arches
is achievement still remarkable for the Ne,
World, and is worthy of the young giant rising in tn
West If the Coliseum, and the Pantheon and the prus
and the Pyramids haze attracted visers from every land
10 in future days will the Victoria bridge; and Montrea
viii hereafter reap much of the benefit which must folio,
the completion of so mighty a work.