The Lamar register., 1893-05-27
REMARKABLE VENTURE
ACCOMPLISHED BY ENCiN-
EERINO EXPERTS.
roats Which Were Completed pnder
Dinicu.tics-C -ConssrucsinS Seem
ing Imposs:bnities After
-. Toiiing Years.

supplemented by some brief notes on
few of the greater engineering
works which have been quite recent
ly completed. or which are actually
in progress. with every prospect OF
their being successfully finished IN
due course.
To begin at home. says London
Tid-Bits, the great tower, which owes
its origin to the energies of Sir + w.
Watkin. NJ. p. deserves first place,
as worthy rival to the great Eifiel
tower. the engineering boast oi
France.
This tower. which is being erected
at Wembley park. where special
station has been already opened, four
teen minutes from Raker-street
station. is being actively pushed for
ward. The foundation works have
been completed. and the laying out OF
the grounds is SO far advanced that
it is expected the park, which covers
1870 acres. will be opened this year
The foundations are composed of huge
concrete blocks. which va-y in depsh
from twenty eight feet to sixty feet,
according to the level OF the land
The tower itself will measure $40
feet in circumference at the base. and
!. 100 feet in height. or $50 feet higher
than the Eifel, while il will be larger
than its prototype in every way. Tho
material destined for its erection Is
polished steel The summit will be
l.45J feet above sea le7ol. The tower
itself is expected to take about cigh-
teen months TO build.
The tower bridge Is another great
London engineering venture which Is
rapidly approaching completion. al
though the final date OF opening for
traffic has had to be shifted forward
several times This bridge. which Is
built on the .'bascule" principle. pre-
seuts a novel feature in the center
span. which is 200 feet wide and cut
in halves. whicn are TO be raised and
brought flush with the towers by
machinery concealed within them.
Whom opened for passage of YES
sells, foot passengers may cross by q
lofty foot-path. to which access is
obtained by staircases and lifts with
in the towers. These immense piers
in the bed Of the river are said to be
the la gest in the world.
The total length of the bridge and
approaches is ?. $40 feet About ST.
oJJ.0JJ bricks. 1880 tons cement.
7O.5oD cubic yards of concrete and
5000 tons OF iron and steel will be
utilized in the structure.
When the great Siberian railway
chain-at present being constructed
T. NF
sessing tho greatest railway in the
world. Thl tremendous system will
stretch right across the immense ter
ritory of sibcr a, no less than 1875
miles. or twice the length of tho
Canadian facIiic railway. and the
total cost, inclusive OF rolling stock.
etc. is given as E55. 765. 900. or
E7, $50 per mile
This very !ow cost IS due TO the
favoral lie nature of the ground for
engineering operations. and tho alb
sence Of hGge par iamentary expenses
and compulsory purchase of land.
which have in our country, made
railroads so costly. The first sod OF
the car at YladivOstock, May ..
1891.
On the eastern section as many as
12.O0J men are employed. and pari Of
the line has been already opened for
.-affic.
On the opposite side Of the globe.
,he Transandino railway ia South
America de erves mention. owing to
the tremendous engineering problems
to be solved in eros ing the great
mountain chain forming the back bone
OF the continent
OF this railway. begun twenty
years ago, and reaching from Bueuos
Ayres, on the Atlantic. to Valparaiso.
on the Pacific, a section in the heart
of tho Andes is unfinished The
Andes are crossed by the Cumbre
Pass, IS. 045 feet above sea level
OF this altitude 2.JJ) feet are cut
of by n three-milc tunnel. and alto
gither among the mount sins there
are five tunnels, with total length
o; over ten miles, viii in the noun
tain section the locomotives. for
sixty-fve miles of the line. have
toothed wheels to work on the rack
system when necessary to surmoqnt
tie heavier gradients.
1t may be well imagined that oriv-
ing n tunnel in the heights o. the
Andes is quite a differe matter from
tlie same work performed at ordinary
levels in settled countries.
The workmen. even though accus-
toned to living at great elevations.
have to be acclimatiled to the rariiied
air and this diiiculty IS forcibly ex-