Category: Primary Source Materials (Page 4 of 5)

Account of Patrick Miller’s Steam Vessel Experiments

November 23, 2020 / iron_steam

From the Gazette of the United-States, October 14, 1789

EDINBURGH, JULY 5 (1789)

It is with pleasure we learn, that Mr. Midlar [sic – Patrick Miller] of Dalswinton has lately completed his experiment for ascertaining the steam engine in moving ships. The success fully answered his expectations, and afforded very great pleasure to the spectators present. The result of this experiment must be of the greatest utility to society in general, but more particularly to trading countries which abound in coal or wood.

Source: Gazette of the United-States. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]), 14 Oct. 1789. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030483/1789-10-14/ed-1/seq-2/>

Mr. Weed Through the Thames Tunnel, July 17, 1843

November 21, 2020 / iron_steam

Extract from Letters From Mr. [Thurlow] Weed . . . No. X., Correspondence of the Albany Evening Journal

From the New York Daily Tribune, August 19, 1843

Monday, July 17

I have been through the Thames Tunnel. This is to London what the Croton Water Works are to New.York, the great achievement of the 19th century. There is nothing at either entrance of the Tunnel, which indicates that you are in the vicinity of this extraordinary improvement. We passed over it in a steamer in the morning, without being aware that other masses of fellow beings were quietly walking through a subterranean passage below us! The visitor is directed “This way to the Tunnel ” by a board on the corner of a street. You descend a winding stone stairway 100 steps, and enter into the Tunnel, which is well lighted with gas, and afforded us a cool pleasant walk, after four hour’s exposure to the sun. The Tunnel has two avenues, each wide enough to allow 12 or 16 persons to walk abreast. Half way through, a printing press is stationed “By Royal Authority,” which is throwing off sheets containing an account of the Tunnel. I told the man I would purchase two of his sheets provided lie would allow me to “pull” them myself. This, upon learning that “I knows the ropes,” as they say at sea, he consented to. I have, therefore, an account of the Thames Tunnel, printed by myself, standing midway between the London and Surry sides of the river, seventy feet below its bed, with Steamers and ships passing directly over my head!

Second Reading of the Great Western Railway Bill in the House of Lords

October 14, 2020 / iron_steam

House of Lords Debate, 25 July 1834

Lord Wharncliffe moved the second reading of the Great Western Railway Bill.

The Earl of Cadogan rose to oppose the Motion. He observed, that the road front Windsor to London was the first which had been projected through this part of the country, and this road, which on that account deserved their Lordships’ favour, would be materially affected, and its projectors injured by this Bill. There were roads extending along different parts of this line, which only required to be connected together in order to render them perfect. That object might be effected at less expense, and with greater advantage, than the road which was called by the high-sounding appellation of the great Western Railway. This project had been so altered in the Committee in the Commons, that it was no longer capable of performing the promise at first held out, but would, at least at the London end, leave the parties at a distance of three or four miles from London, to bring their goods hither how they could. The road was now to terminate at Brompton, which would have the effect he had stated. This was his first objection. His next objection was, that the line now contemplated was not a complete line, as the road came from Bristol to Bath, but left goods between Bath and Reading to be brought by the Kennet and Avon Canal Company, and from Reading to Brompton by the Rail-road. The third objection he had was, that the number of the assents was not so great, nor was their property so considerable, as that of the dissents; and the fourth objection was, that their Lordships had already given their assent to the London and Southampton Railway Bill, which would be rendered almost good for nothing, for at least a considerable part of the distance, if this Bill should be carried. Under these circumstances he should move, “That the Bill be read a second time this day six Months.”

An Account of the Thames Tunnel

September 25, 2020 / iron_steam

By Marc Isambard Brunel

The Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, 1837

April 11, 1837

Mr. Brunel gave an account of the Thames Tunnel. Having described the nature and difficulties of the undertaking, and the previous attempts which had been made by others to effect a similar work, he explained, by reference to sections, the nature of the strata below the river. He had adopted the rectangular form of the present excavation, because the work would set better than if it had been of any other form, and it also had a better sustaining surface. The necessity of supporting the ground, and of having a sufficient shelter, had led to the adoption of the shield, respecting which so much had been said. The construction of this would be most easily understood, by conceiving twelve books set side by side on their ends. These would represent the parallel frames which, standing side by side, but not in immediate contact, filled up the excavation. Each frame was divided into three boxes or cells, placed one above the other, the adjustment of the floors of which, and other details, were minutely described by Mr. Brunel.

Each frame was furnished with two large slings, by which it might derive support from, or assist in supporting, its neighbours; it had also two legs, and was advanced, as it were, by short steps, having for this purpose an articulation which might be compared to that of the human body. The frame rested on one leg, and then one side was hitched a little forward; then resting on the other leg, the other side was hitched a little, and so on. Hence the shield might be called an ambulating coffer-dam, travelling horizontally.

The brick-work was built in complete rings, and the advantages of this system of building had been fully proved, by the fact of two dreadful irruptions of the river having produced no disruption. Such was the violence of the irruption, that the brick-work had in one part been suddenly reduced in thickness by one-half, and in one place there was a hole, as if pierced by a cannon-ball. At a few feet beneath the tunnel was a bed of quicksand 50 feet deep, and above it were strata of most doubtful consistency, some of which fell to pieces immediately they were disturbed. Still, however, the progress was certain, and only required patience, to allow the ground above to acquire sufficient density. He found gravel, with a mixture of chalk or clay, extremely impervious to water; in some cases he contrived to let out the water from the sand above, and thus obtained ground of sufficient density. The progress had been considerably retarded by land springs, which produced cutaneous eruptions, and destroyed the finger-nails of the workmen.

April 18, 1837

Mr. Brunel continued his description of the works of the Tunnel. He explained how the ground above had suddenly sunk down, owing to the run of at lower stratum of sand. This running sand, which was a great annoyance, consisted of five parts of water to one of sand. Bags of clay and gravel were not so effective, where there were many stones, as the interstices did not become properly filled up; in such cases the coarsest river sand was a better material; the water ran through it at first, but it soon stopped ; a mixture of gravel and clay was nearly impervious to water, but not so impervious as gravel and pounded chalk.

The Ventilation of the Tunnel was provided for by a pipe 15 inches square, passing out under the fire-place of the steam-engine boiler.

Mr. Gibbs stated, that he had found bags filled with clay and tow-waste, exceedingly impervious to water. Being called upon to build a sluice, in a place where piling was impossible, in consequence of the stony nature of the ground, he had formed a coffer- dam, by laying down bags full of clay and tow-waste, in tiers, on the top of each other, up to the surface of the water.

Notice Concerning the Thames Tunnel

September 24, 2020 / iron_steam

By Richard Beamish, M. Inst. C.E.

The Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, 1837

April 4, 1837

The paper states that several attempts had been made in former years to effect a communication betwixt the opposite shores of the Thames by means of a tunnel, all of which, however, failed. In 1798, Dodd proposed a tunnel at Gravesend; in 1804, Chapman projected one at Rotherhithe; and in 1807, Vazie commenced the construction of a shaft, II feet diameter, at a distance of 315 feet from the river. With Vazie was associated Trevethick, a man of great practical knowledge as a miner, and by indefatigable labor, a drift-way 5 feet in height, 2 feet 6 inches in breadth at the top, and 3 feet at the bottom, was carried 1046 feet under the river. In the spring of 1808, having first ascended from under a rocky stratum, though with a depth of at least 25 feet betwixt them and the bed of the river, the Thames broke in upon them, and not a single brick having been laid, the work was irretrievably lost.

In 1823 the subject of a tunnel was again agitated, and a company was formed, to carry into execution the plans of Mr. Brunel. The first proceeding was to sink a shaft. Twenty-four piles, with a shoulder on each, were first driven all round the circle intended for the shaft. One side of a wooden platform, or curb, was then laid on this shoulder, whilst the other side rested on an iron curb, having an edge below to which it was attached. Through this curb ascended forty-eight wrought-iron bolts, 2 inches diameter, to the height of 40 feet, the height to which it was proposed to raise the shaft. The regular building of the tower on the curb, with bricks laid in cement, was proceeded with, and yet farther bound together by twenty-six circular hoops of timber, half an inch thick, as the brick-work was brought up. At the top of the tower was placed another curb, and the long iron bolts passing through it, having their ends formed into screws, the whole was screwed solidly into one mass, and completed in three weeks. In a week after it was finished sixteen of the piles having been driven, two by two, opposite each other, the whole structure was sunk half an inch, carrying down with it the remaining eight piles, on which it was brought to a rest uniformly and horizontally, thus permitting the sixteen piles to be abstracted by opening the ground at the back. The whole weight supported by these eight piles was about 910 tons (the weight of the shaft). Having been left for three weeks to dry, and gravel having been heaped under the curb, the remaining eight piles were removed, two by two, till the mass rested on a bed of gravel. The machinery, viz., the thirty-horse high pressure steam engine, with gear for raising the excavated soil was now fixed on the top. The miners were placed inside, and by excavating from around the bottom, the whole descended by its own gravity.

Mr. Beamish then describes the peculiar difficulties which were experienced, previous to the first irruption.

The chasm in the bed of the river, formed by the irruption of 1827, was stopped by bags filled with clay, with hazel rods passed through them, the interstices thus formed being filled with gravel. The irruption of 1828 was met by similar means; but the funds of the company not being then sufficient for proceeding with the work, the shield was blocked up with bricks and cement, and a wall 4 feet in thickness was built within the Tunnel.

The work was then abandoned, and remained untouched for seven years. In 1835 a Treasury loan was granted, subject to the condition, that the most dangerous part of the Tunnel should be executed first. On resuming the works, the first object was to provide a drain for the water from the shield, for which purpose two reservoirs were formed under the middle pier, from which drifts were formed to the bottom of the great excavation and shield. The water was abstracted from the shield at the lowest point, and the pipes of two pumps, worked by the steam engine, being brought into the reservoir, all the difficulty of the drainage was overcome.

The removal of the old and the introduction of the new shield, was a work of no ordinary difficulty. The bricks and cement had, by the strong oxide of iron which the water contained, been converted into a mass harder than most rocks ; and not less than 1646 feet of surface, 342 feet of which constituted the ceiling, had to be supported, on the removal of the brick-work, previous to the introduction of the new shield. The means, however, adopted by Mr. Brunel, and which are described in the paper, were perfectly successful.

Obituary of William Froude

September 23, 2020 / iron_steam

The Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, 1880

William Froude, LL.D., F.R.S., the fourth son of the Ven. R. H. Froude, Archdeacon of Totnes, was born at Dartington Parsonage, on the 28th of November, 1810.

He was educated at Westminster School, and went thence to Oriel College, Oxford, being for some time a pupil of his elder brother, R. Hurrell Froude, an advantage to which he often referred. He took a first class in Mathematical Honours in 1832.

In the beginning of the year 1833, he became a pupil of Henry Robinson Palmer, V.P. Inst. C.E., then Resident Engineer of the London Docks. Mr. Froude was afterwards employed under Mr. Palmer on some of the early surveys of the South Eastern Railway and on other undertakings.

In 1837, Mr. Froude joined the engineering staff of Mr. Brunel, V.P. Inst. C.E., upon the Bristol and Exeter railway, where he had charge of the construction of the line between the Whitehall Tunnel and Exeter, and remained until it was opened in May, 1844.

Engineer’s Report, West Cornwall Railway, 29 July 1852

September 14, 2020 / iron_steam

From The Royal Cornwall Gazette, Falmouth Packet, and General Advertiser (Truro, England), Friday, August 27, 1852)

ENGINEER’S REPORT.
18 Duke-street, Westminster, 29th July, 1852

Gentlemen,

Since my last report, the works between Redruth and Truro, have been proceeding with such vigor, that l have no doubt that portion of the Line will be ready for opening to the public, by the time of your next half-yearly meeting.

The relaying of a portion of the old line, between the top of Angarrack and bottom of Penpons, with Barlow’s rails, has been completed and taken into the company’s hands.

The contractor is at present re-laying the portion of the old line, between Camborne and a point near Redruth, and it will, no doubt, be completed in a few weeks.

Upon the new lines already opened, the works are in good condition, and the traffic will no doubt require some additional small sidings at various stations.

Additions to the carriage end waggon stock, necessary for the anticipated increase in traffic, are being made, and two locomotive engines have been purchased on favorable terms.

Considerable progress is made with the station at Redruth, and a temporary station will be provided near Truro.

I am, gentlemen,
Your obedient servant,
l. K. BRUNEL
To the Directors of the
West Cornwall Railway Company

Obituary of William Pole

September 13, 2020 / iron_steam

The Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, 1901

William Pole was born in Birmingham on the 22nd April, 1814, his father being Thomas Pole, of that town.

At the age of fifteen he was articled for six years to Mr. Charles H. Capper, an Engineer in Birmingham who represented the Horseley Company, at whose extensive works the pupil was enabled to lay the foundation of the extensive knowledge of engineering which he afterwards attained.

One of his early experiences was a visit paid to the Horseley Company by the Princess Victoria, then eleven years of age, who was much interested in seeing one of the old copper coins, weighing an ounce, forged to an ingot and then rolled out to a strip nearly 25 feet long, with a thickness of about inch. In 1836, a year before the Princess became Queen, young Pole came from Birmingham to London, and, as he died three weeks before Her Majesty, there was a marked coincidence in the duration of their life-work.

Obituary of William Bell

September 2, 2020 / iron_steam

The Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, 1892

William Bell was born at Leith on the 21st of September, 1818. He was educated at the High School, Leith, and afterwards at Edinburgh University, where, in 1839, he gained the gold medal and prize for Natural Philosophy, and was second in Mathematics.

On leaving the University in the following year, he became a pupil of the late John Hammond, then Resident Engineer on the Great Western Railway at Reading, where William Bell had many opportunities of making practical experiments on the working of locomotive engines, and on other subjects connected with mechanical engineering.

In 1842 he was placed by Mr. Hammond with the late John Thornhill Harrison on the Bristol and Gloucester Railway, and was subsequently Resident Engineer on the Cheltenham extension and on the Dawlish contract, which he measured up.

Journal Entry of I. K. Brunel on the January 1828 Flooding of the Thames Tunnel

September 1, 2020 / iron_steam

From a handwritten diary held by the Brunel Institute

I have now been laid up quite useless for 14 weeks and upwards, ever since the 14^th January. I shan’t forget that day in a hurry, very near finished my journey then; when the danger is over, it is rather amusing than otherwise – while it existed I can’t say the feeling was at all uncomfortable. If I was to say the contrary, I should be nearer the truth in this instance. While exertions could still be made and hope remained of stopping the ground it was an excitement which has always been a luxury to me. When we were obliged to run, I felt nothing in particular; I was only thinking of the best way of getting us on and the probable states of the arches. When knocked down, I certainly gave myself up, but I took it very much as a matter of course, which I had expected the moment we quitted the frames, for I never expected we should get out. The instant I disengaged myself and got breath again – all dark – I bolted into the other arch – this saved me by laying hold of the railrope – the engine must have stopped a minute. I stood still nearly a minute. I was anxious for poor Ball and Collins, who I felt too sure had never risen from the fall we had all had and were, as I thought, crushed under the great stage. I kept calling them by name to encourage them and make them also (if still able) come through the opening. While standing there the effect was – grand – the roar of the rushing water in a confined passage, and by its velocity rushing past the opening was grand, very grand. I cannot compare it to anything, cannon can be nothing to it. At last it came bursting through the opening. I was then obliged to be off – but up to that moment, as far as my sensations were concerned, and distinct from the idea off the loss of six poor fellows whose death I could not then foresee, kept there.”

The sight and the whole affair was well worth the risk and I would willingly pay my share, £50 about, of the expenses of such a ‘spectacle’. Reaching the shaft, I was much too bothered with my knee and some other thumps to remember much.

If I had been kept under another minute when knocked down I should not have suffered more, and I trust I was tolerably fit to die. If, therefore, the occurrence itself was rather a gratification than otherwise and the consequences in no way unpleasant I need not attempt to avoid such. My being in bed at present, tho’ no doubt arising from the effects of my straining, was immediately caused by me returning too soon to a full diet at Brighton; had I been properly warned of this, I might now have been hard at work at the tunnel. But all is for the best.