New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-10-22
! Gnbmnrane sEnnneles
PROJECTS FOR TFsEssaI4Na THE ENaIIsHs "a ASEEI

&Azp3kG1s FOR s1E SasiaIHa THE ENGLISH OH NNEL
Two ciyil engineers in England having recently
put forth several projects for the construction d
submarine railway from Dover to Calais, q
writer ii Chambers Journal goes back to the
records ot half century ago, To show that the
ldea u an old one, and that half b dozen plans
hare been suggested for channel railway. we
article
The irHt project was announced BY a French
man named Matthew, iDtne diately after the peace
OF Anlians time when railroads were I'M
knoWn---so that Matthew proposed nothing more
Than the establishment Of q line Of digances, to
gun nader the water from France TO England
through lighted and ventilated tunnel. Bona
Il paEte and Fox discussed this project during the
visiof the latter TO Paris in 1907 bat the resump-
ton of hostilities put an end to it.
Anew years later, two other Frenchmen, lIessrs
kTanchot and Tessie de mattray, revived the plan.
They proposed to place cast iron tubular tunnel
on the natural he'd Of the sea. An amended plan
followed suggested BY a; Payerne, who proposed
% lay aowna smooth and regular causeway Of
concrete on the sea bottom, and to build upon it
Z q tunnei of brick or masonry.
Soon tier the introdue ton of railways, French
engineer named Fayre eaused soundngs to be-
made in different parts Of the Straits of Dover, and
fhan made the frat proposition for the construc-
sion o. submarine railway. He asserted that
submarine raisNaT ould be safer than one built
In the open air, as 1t would be free from SNOW
ice and destructive agencies Of various kinds y he
estimated tie cost al about $40 900 0O0 allowed
forty per cent. fol working expenses. and pro-
fessea 70 see bis y clear 10 dividend of fifteen
per cent. yearly. ZIG vas unable toconyinee cap
atalats pf the feasibility Of his plan,
Then came Two Engshmen, named Nieol and
Austin hose projects were announced at differ
emit dimes with propositions for putting down an
iron tube and for bqil5sng three distinct tnnnels.
Nothing came OF these. In 1857 another French
man took up the problem. His name was Thome
do Gamond, and d qnarto volume of two hundred
pages was required for the description and illus
Erationsof his plan. 10 gained the earof Napo
leon H., who appointed seientifc commission
ID make geological Investigations ia the bed Of
fhe channel Eminent geologists we're consulted,
and By Paris displayed q lively interest in3what
the Steele called s'oe beau fege-sshis beautiful
dream. Gamond proposed series Of shafts,
towers, lighthouses, granite qnays, brick tunnel
with oonlcal Yentilat9rs, and a come cton with all
The railway lines of England and the continent
and estimated tie cost Of his work at about $780,
U09, COO. II II related that friend inquired Of
Ganlend what would result if England and France
were 81 Nat; would the international tunnel rail-
Hay Big used BY the troops Of each country to IN
4 wade the ether No. was The reply; the whole
tunnel could speedily BE- flooded from the Yarne,
and the water be pumped out again when the war
had ended
IN 1861, MI. ]. n Smith, an Englishman an
nonneed new plan--a gigantic wrought.ran
suhe, large enough TO contain railway trains, at
4 level OF abont twelve yards below the surface
Of the water. u would float, because it would
have air within and water without. itwould be-
&eDb EfplH fsEi2E Ea0OFlnB SnhllS anu ulaSuAat5
gods il various directions. 1t would be kept from
sWRBing To ana fro leterally BY masonry piers,
built up at mile or SO apart, embracing the sides
Of tie tube, and eteaaied by cross rods over and
undeg it. The tube Would be made in lengths of
d hundred feet each, and would be fnated out to
their place. The runnf the tube would be two
inches in thickness. Spiral staireases at each
shore would lead down to the level of the tube,
which, for some distance from the shore, would
be ignbedded id solid emhankment This was
b novel idea, and the cost Of carrying 1t out5was
put down at $50 900 600; the expenses increase
as the projects multiply
In alt. six different schemes were proposed be
fore the. engineers now engaged in estimates and
calculations entered the lists. These gentlemen
are Mr. Hawkshaw, engineer of the Ghafing Cross
ana Cannon street stations aud railway bridges n
Iond0n and Mr.. Fowler, engineer of the Metro
politan Underground Railway in the same city.
means Of herings, Of the strata beneath the Eng
lisli Channel the latter proposes floating bridge
on a curious plan, which is thus deseribedi
SIT VIII. ID fact be an ocean ferry. Fatlong
afeallers of peeuiiar build would be provided With
rails laid down On deck, Docks would be built at
or near Dover and Calais, to receive these steam.
fra Inclined ptatforfns, with rails on them, would
connect the land railways with the steamers, the
platform being hinged so az to take 9 gradient
Varying with the state Of the tide. train start
ing from London would upon reaching Dover,
descend The inclined platform leading So the
steamer or foating bridge, would steam across the
;s,sgeseI wopid ascend platform at Calais, and
s5YOnId attain The level Of the French railways.
ACCORDING To this scheme, there would be no
transhipnent no break of gauge. no disruption OF
continuity, no padding naloppy piers, or wiring
ling with railway porters; you would sly aaleuy