The life of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Civil Engineer Part 23

At Kidwelly and at Haverfordwest there are wrought-iron lifting bridges, the former of 20 feet, and the latter of 30 feet span. Each of these turns on a horizontal axle like the Bullo Pill bridge; but, instead of being lifted by levers overhead, it has a narrow, heavily-weighted tail end, beneath the planking of the viaduct, which is pulled down with a chain worked by a crab. The portion which carries each line of way is made to open independently. In this form of bridge no wedges or adjusting arrangements are required for the bearings of the overhanging end.

Over the river at Caermarthen is a skew bridge of three girders, each 116 feet long, for a double line of way. It occupies two spans and rolls back, so as to leave a 50-feet opening for the navigation. The swing bridge at Bristol, already described, was at first intended to be a rolling bridge, and to be furnished with wheels to run back on fixed rails, but the difficulty of forming a good foundation for the wheel path led to the design being altered. At Caermarthen the same difficulty was overcome by putting wheels turning in fixed bearings on the pier and abutment of the bridge. The undersides of the girders carry inverted rails, and run back on the wheels. The bridge, when shut, is on an incline of 1 in 50. When about to be opened it is made to a.s.sume a horizontal position by turning a supporting cam to lower the overhanging end, and the tail end then rises sufficiently to pa.s.s clear above the part of the railway over which it runs back.

By this arrangement the bridge, while in motion, moves along a level path. It is opened and closed by hydraulic machinery.

All these opening bridges have worked satisfactorily since they were constructed.

_Trussed Bridges._

When the timber viaduct over the river Usk, at Newport, was burnt down,[98] Mr. Brunel decided to form the new superstructure of the centre opening with three iron trusses, for the two lines of way.

These are bow and string girders, of 100 feet span, and were made of considerable height, not only to reduce the strain on each of the members of the framework, but also in order that the rib or upper portion of each truss might be braced diagonally to the corresponding portion of the other trusses, and headway left for the locomotive chimneys to pa.s.s underneath. This bracing counteracts any tendency of the ribs to bend sideways under the compressive strain. The form of the trusses is shown in fig. 1, Pl. IV. (p. 206). Each truss is a wrought-iron polygonal arch of triangular section, from which is suspended a horizontal girder supporting the roadway. This girder also forms the tie which connects the feet of the arch and counteracts its thrust. The diagonal braces shown on the elevation of the bridge prevent the arch from being distorted by the unequal loading caused by a pa.s.sing train. The middle truss is twice the strength of each of those at the outside, being made so by increasing the thickness of the plates.

One of the outside trusses was tested with a distributed load of 1 tons per foot-run of its length.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Scale of feet._

Fig. 10. Truss of Windsor Bridge.

_Transverse Section._]

At about the same time that the Newport viaduct was reconstructed, Mr.

Brunel designed the bridge over the Thames on the Windsor branch of the Great Western Railway. This is a very large example of the bow and string girder, the span being 202 feet, and the height of the truss 23 feet. The trusses are three in number, for two lines of way, the middle one being twice the strength of the outside trusses. The elevation of the Windsor bridge is shown in fig. 2, Pl. IV. (p. 206). The bridge is oblique to the river, being 20 off the square. To steady the arched ribs sideways a system of diagonal bracing extends over the whole of the top of the trusses, except at the ends, where headway has to be left for the trains.

A section of the arched ribs and of the roadway girders in the centre of one of the trusses is given in the woodcut (fig. 10). The arched rib, to resist compression, is of triangular section.[99]

The borings to ascertain the nature of the ground at the foundations of the piers were made in 1846, but it was not until 1848 that the works were commenced. Each abutment consists of six cast-iron cylinders, 6 feet diameter, which were sunk by excavating the gravel from their interior by hand dredging and by placing weights on the top so as to force them down.

When each cylinder had been by this means sunk low enough to ensure a good foundation, it was filled with concrete in the following manner. A mixture formed of Thames ballast and Portland cement, in the proportions of 8 to 1, was put into a canvas bag; this was lowered inside the cylinder to the bottom, and, by pulling a rope, the mouth of the bag was opened, and the concrete deposited under water in the bottom of the cylinder. Whenever the work was interrupted, great care was taken before recommencing it to clean off any deposit, in order that the new concrete might adhere well to the old. When the cylinder had been filled to such a height that there was no danger of its floating up when emptied, the water was pumped out. The inside was then filled with concrete in the ordinary manner. On the top were placed oak platforms, which support the trusses of the bridge.

One of the outside trusses was tested at Bristol in July 1849, by loading it gradually with iron rails, beginning from one end, until the whole truss was uniformly weighted with 270 tons, or 1 tons per foot-run, observations on the deflection of different points of the bottom girder being made both during the loading and unloading. The results of this test were perfectly satisfactory.

The superstructure of the bridge was erected on scaffolding, and the line was opened on October 8, 1849.

It will be desirable here to notice one or two important features in this as in almost all Mr. Brunel's bridges.

The ordinary permanent way was laid over the bridges with ballast of sufficient thickness to enable the road to be kept in repair in the same manner as the other parts of the line. As there was no change in the nature of the support given to the rails, no concussion was caused on a train entering or leaving a bridge. The ballast took off from the structure the vibration of the train; and, in the event of carriages or even engines getting off the line, it helped in a great measure to prevent their ploughing through the flooring. Where the flooring was of timber the ballast protected it from fire. Also in long bridges there was no necessity for any contrivance of sliding rails to allow for the effects on the structure of changes of temperature. On the other hand, the ballast added to the weight on the bridge. With the timber viaducts this was an advantage, since it kept the various parts of the framework in close contact, and prevented sudden jars being brought on them by the rapidly applied load of a pa.s.sing train. Even on the large bridges the cost of the extra material requisite to support the weight of the ballast was more than compensated for by the advantages above referred to.

Mr. Brunel employed timber flooring, as being the safest in the case of carriages getting off the line, and also as being the cheapest. This flooring in the iron bridges was generally laid diagonally on wrought-iron cross girders, which were placed not at right angles to the line, but obliquely, in order that the two wheels of the same axle of an engine or heavy waggon might be on different cross girders at the same time. By this arrangement the cross girders could be made of less strength, and a saving effected in their cost and weight.

The bridge over the Wye at Chepstow, and the Royal Albert Bridge over the Tamar at Saltash, are the largest and most important of Mr. Brunel's bridges.

They are remarkable not only for their dimensions, but also for the economical character of the designs, the form of their superstructures, and the methods by which the foundations of the piers were made.

At the part of the river Wye where it is crossed by the Chepstow Bridge, a cliff of limestone rock rises on the left bank to a height of 120 feet above the bed of the river, forming the precipitous edge of a broad table-land; while on the right bank the ground slopes gently for a considerable distance, rising only a little above high water, and is composed partly of clay and partly of loose shingle interspersed with large boulder stones. As it was necessary to leave a clear headway of 50 feet above high water for the navigation, the line on one side of the river is on an embankment of great height, and on the other side it penetrates the cliff about 20 feet below the top. The whole s.p.a.ce to be bridged over, 600 feet wide, was divided into a river span of 300 feet, and three land spans of 100 feet each (see fig. 3, Pl. V. p. 206.) At one end of the great span a secure abutment was offered by the cliff of limestone rock; but at the other end, and under the piers of the smaller spans, the ground throughout was soft, and full of water. There was, however, rock at a depth of 30 feet below the bed of the river.

To reach this foundation with masonry, by means of a coffer dam, was almost impracticable, as it was 84 feet below high water.

The plan of building a stone pier on a foundation of piles was considered, and abandoned on account of the expense.

The method of sinking the cast-iron cylinders of the Windsor bridge has been already described. The pneumatic process of sinking cylinders had been introduced with great success at the Rochester bridge.

In this process the cylinder is closed at the top and air forced in by pumps until the water is expelled at the bottom. Workmen in the interior excavate the ground and remove any obstacles which prevent the cylinder from sinking, weights being added to force it down. As the air within is at high pressure, the workmen enter, and the materials are pa.s.sed in and out, through an intermediate chamber, called an 'air lock,' fitted with air-tight doors. The pneumatic method was ultimately employed at Chepstow, to a.s.sist in sinking the cylinders.

Before he decided on the plan for the foundations, Mr. Brunel had an experimental cylinder made of cast iron, 3 feet in diameter, at the bottom of which was an exterior screw f.l.a.n.g.e 12 inches broad, and 7 inches pitch, making one complete turn. This screw cylinder penetrated the ground like an ordinary screw pile. In one instance it was rapidly sunk to a depth of 58 feet, through stiff clay and sand, in 142 revolutions;[100] yet, on another trial, when boulders were encountered, there did not appear to be sufficient penetrating power. In one of these trials, the screw, having got into a bed of running sand, had no hold, and failed to descend. Mr. Brunel then had the cylinder partly raised, and another screw added at some distance above the lower one. It was then successfully screwed down.

Mr. Brunel, however, ultimately decided on forming the piers of cast-iron cylinders forced down by loading and afterwards filled with concrete, and the work was commenced in the spring of 1849.

With this form of construction all uncertainty of obtaining a secure foundation was removed, as the pneumatic method was in reserve, in case of excessive influx of water, to sink the cylinders to the rock, if it could not be reached by simpler means; and additional cylinders could be added, so as to obtain any amount of area of base that might be thought necessary.

The land piers for the 100 feet spans consist each of three cylinders, which are 6 feet in diameter, joined together in lengths of 7 feet. The main pier, which supports one end of the great truss, consists of a double row of cylinders, six in all, the lower parts of which are 8 feet in diameter, joined together in lengths of 6 feet. The bottom of each cylinder was made with a cutting edge, so as to penetrate the ground easily.

Most of the cylinders were sunk by the process of excavating the ground within them and weighting the top, the water being kept down by pumping.

As the ground consisted chiefly of wet sand and shingle, danger was apprehended from its tendency to run in from the outside, while the excavation was in progress. This would have diminished the lateral stability of the cylinders; and great care was taken not to excavate too near the bottom, but merely to loosen the ground round the cutting edge and to force the cylinder down by weights. Stiff clay was sometimes used to prevent the wet sand and gravel from being squeezed in from the outside. When the cylinders had been sunk to the rock, and it had been dressed off to form a level foundation, they were filled with concrete in the same manner as at the Windsor bridge.

In sinking the cylinders of the main pier, much greater difficulties were encountered than with those of the land piers, owing to large boulders and pieces of timber being met with near the bottom. When still at some distance from the rock, a length of one of these large cylinders cracked, from its having met with an obstruction. Timber struts were then fixed within it, until the obstacle was pa.s.sed, when it was strengthened by a strong wrought-iron hoop, and forced down to the rock.

In April 1851, when the greater number of the cylinders had been sunk, it was apparent that, from delays due to the influx of water and other causes, some of them could not be completed by the time that the superstructure would be ready. Mr. Brunel then decided to employ the pneumatic method, and by means of this apparatus some of the remaining cylinders were sunk. In the main pier four auxiliary columns, formed of 7-feet cylinders, were placed close to the others. They were connected to the 8-feet cylinders by strong brackets, and supplied a great additional bearing surface. Any slight inaccuracy of position in the cylinders was corrected by adjusting cones at the level of the ground; on these cones 6-feet cylinders were built up to the level of the railway.

The depth to which the cylinders were sunk and their position are shown in fig. 3, Pl. IV. From this drawing also the general form of the superstructure will be understood.

The bridge is for two lines of way; each line is carried between two longitudinal girders 7 feet deep, of the section given in the woodcut, fig. 11 (p. 208). Each girder has a triangular top f.l.a.n.g.e with a plate iron vertical web, and a slightly curved plate for the bottom f.l.a.n.g.e.

The roadway girders over the three land spans of 100 feet are in one piece, and are therefore continuous girders, 300 feet long, supported at two intermediate points. Those across the main span are also 300 feet long, and are supported by the main truss.

[Ill.u.s.tration: IRON BRIDGES]

The truss for each line of way consists of two suspension chains, one on each side of the roadway, hung from either side of the ends of a horizontal circular tube, arched slightly for the sake of appearance, which rests on piers rising about 50 feet above the level of the rails.

The pier at the land end is of masonry, and the upper part of the middle pier is of cast iron, resting on the cylinders already mentioned. Each pier has two archways for the trains to pa.s.s through. The chains carry the roadway girders at four points, and the tube is supported at two intermediate points in its length by upright standards resting on the chains. Thus, while the weight of the structure is supported somewhat in the same manner as in a suspension bridge, the inward drag of the chains is resisted by the tube. To prevent the framework from being distorted by unequal loading, it is made rigid by diagonal chains connecting the upper and lower ends of the two upright standards.

The main truss may be described as an inverted queen truss. The tube which has to resist the compressive strain due to the inward pull of the chains is 9 feet in diameter, and is made of boiler plate and ? of an inch thick, stiffened at intervals by diaphragms. The chains are like those of suspension bridges, each formed of 12 and 14 links alternately, these being 10 inches deep, and varying from to 11/16 of an inch thick.[101]

At the ends of the tube, where the chains are connected to it, there are several thicknesses of plate, between which the links of the chains are introduced, and a round pin, 7 inches in diameter, pa.s.ses through both plates and links. The strain is thus conveyed from the chains to the ends of the tube.

Though the trusses for the two lines of way are completely distinct, the tubes are braced together horizontally, to increase their stiffness sideways.

The woodcut (fig. 11) represents a transverse section of the truss for one line of way, and shows the circular tube with the internal diaphragms, the upright standards which support it, the roadway girders, and the chains.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Scale of feet._

Fig. 11. Truss of Chepstow Bridge.

_Transverse Section._]

In consequence of the great depth of the truss, which is about 50 feet, or one-sixth of the length, the strains on the several parts are comparatively small for such a large span.