The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1877-08-31
BRIDGING ACROSS THE SEA.
The Schc',,r fog ConuccIInE England and
France ny Bridge.


The >chco,r fo5. Connecting England and /
France ny Bridge
The Geneva Continent of a recent date |
says: The scheme for connecting Eng /
lard and France by means of a tunnel |
under the Straits Of Dover appears to |
have been definately abandoned. The /
work OF boring lately undertaken has, it |
appears, verified the torebodings OF those |
who believed iu the existence of assures
in the stratum of such a character as to /
offer Il most serious obstacle to the under
taking. UndeB these circumstances a
new idea has been broacded-to unite the !
two coasts by gigantic way halt bridge, |
half isthmus This scheme hes been
fully set forth by VI. Nerard de st. Anne
an eminent FrcnCc engineer, and is thus
descnb q in the Examiner of Saturday
NJ. Chevalier's tunnel was to have been
dug at a depth OF 40 feet below the chan
mel, and WAS TO have been about thirty
four and one-halt miles in length, where
a NJ. Nerard de St Anue's bridge,
starting from Folkestone to Cape Grisnez,
will be only twenty-one miles. Besides,
between the two points lie the Narne and
the Calbart two banks much dreaded by
navigaJOrs, formed of very strong and
resisting calcareous ground. and covered
b. water ranging from three TO twelve
feet in depth. In consequence of the
shallOwness of the water covering it and
the great sOlidity of the rock composing
it the Narne Will form the pivot of the
undertaking. It's distance from Fslke-
stone is about eight miles, and the depth
| of the intervening channel about twenty
six iathom-. Taking, theIefCre, the
extent of bank at six miles, the distance
thence to Cape Gri,nez is about eight and
one halfmlles. In this distance a depth
of water about twenty-five fathOms pre-
walls for some three miles, the remainder
having a depth of about thirteen faith
oms, and the average depth throughout
| being about sixteen fathOms.
1t Is proposed that the foundations of
| the bridges should be constructed on the
newly improved system, consisting of
| rockwork made of large blocks of quarry
! stone of sufficient size and weight not 10
| be displaced by the regular flow and ebb
! currents of the tides, those being the
/ only influence likely to affect detriment-
/ ally the substructure within a certain
| depth, as the action of violent storms Is
| known not to be felt below a certain dis
/ tance from the surface. 4 fortunate &C
/ cident of the situation, moreover, is that
| both coasts of the straits can furnish in
! abundance sufficient stone and cement for
/ the whole construction.
NJ. Nerard st. Anne, unueterred by the
| gigantic nature OF an undertaking which
| should furnish an easy road of intercOm-
municatien between the two countries,
affording a means Of transit for railways,
| for carriages and equestrians, and even
| pedestrians, by means of n continuous
and solid open-air route, without bidding
| good bye to the light OF day for a dread
| full hour and three-qUarters, as would be
! the case with the tunnel of NJ. Cheva-
! lier. goes still further, and proposes to
construct a haven of refuge on the
! Varne, thus regularly turning tables on
! the elements, and substituting safety for
! danger Such an undertaking would be-
| likely to possess in itself the elements of
a commercial success independently of the
! bridge; and the one being the compile
ment of the other, both undertakings
would mutually contribute to form an
| enormous revenue, such as to encourage
! those who, believing in the practicability
| of the bridge, have doubted its COM
mercial success to support the proposal
| Should the most sanguine expectations
never be realized, still there can be no
doubt that, in comparison with the tun-
mel scheme, the bridge scheme has bv
far the greater ground for hope, especially
if the relative expenses are compared
with one another. The modest sum
asked by the promoters of the tunnel
scheme tor preliminary expenses alone is
set down from 81, 100000 to 81 100, 900,
and the period of time to be expended in
purely preliminary experiments may be
from five to eight years, and at any mo-
~. IL
through, should unforeseen obstacles be
met with or any accident occur when
under mid sea. So much for the pre-
liminary part, formidable enough in
itself. But when we come to the ex-
penses of the enterprise itself, we find
go, 600, 900 to be the approximate esti-
mate. ~ the side of these figures the
demands of the bridge scheme seem
insignificant, for 100000 only is the
sum set down for preliminary invcstiga-
tions and preparatory scientific worlds
and the time to be expended thereon
| is estimated at less than a year
| while the total cost for the
| whole work is calculated to fall
in connection with the bridge can be car
ried on in full daylight, and all tests and
| experiments made under ordinary condi-
tions-a consideration of some import
ance, as likely to inspire the confidence of
the public, and the more readily to enable
physical obstacles to be overcome. There
are gigantic obstacles to be opposed no
doubt, but in such a progressive age as
this great idea, although its realization
bristles with difficulties, is seldom
allowed to be lost. The march of science
carries everything before 1T, and so great
a power has it become that the successful
surmeunting of natures most gigantic
obstacles comes to be regarded as
simple mechanical problem, the solution
of which is sure to be found in the
archives of science. Who would have
or who would have had the hardihood to
cherish in the last century so wild
conception as bridging across the sea
1t belonged to the first half of this CEN
turv to hold the idea in embryo, and
since modern engineers aided by modern
science, have gone far toward eliminating
the word impossible from our vocabu-
larry, it should be for the second half to
eliminate, so far as regards the passage
of the Straits of Dover ~ railway, the
word E" impossible" also.
The annual income of the church of
England is $50, 600, 900. The church
has l6 900 religious ediices, including
thirty caJhedIals, 10000 glebe- houses,
thirty-one Episcopal palaces, and 1,OOO,-
coo acres of land, much of it in good con-