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Article TO SIR GEORGE STAUNTON, BART. ← Page 5 of 6 →
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To Sir George Staunton, Bart.
As the intention of this experiment was to ascertain , first , the practicability of the construction , and , secondly , what degree of strength any o-jven quantity of iron would have when thus formed into an arch , I employed in it no more than three tons , which is as small a quantity as could well be used in the experiment . It has already a -weight of six tons constantly lying on itwithout any effect on the
, strength or perfect curvature of the arch . What greater weight it will hear cannot be judged of ; but , taking even these as data , an arch of any strength , or capable of bearing a greater weight than can ever possibly come upon any bridge , may be easily calculated . - The river Schuylkill , at Philadelphia , as I have already mentioned , requires a single arch of four hundred feet span . The vast quantities
of ice renders it impossible to erecta bridge on piers , and is the reason why no bridge has been attempted . But great scenes inspire great ideas . The natural mig htiness of America expands the mind , and it partakes of the greatness it contemplates . Even the war with all its evils had some advantages . It' energized invention and lessened the catalogue of impossibilities . At the conclusion of it every man
returnecl to his home to repair the ravages it had occasioned , and to think of war no more : As one among thousands who had borne a share in that memorable revolution , 1 returned with them to the reenjoyment of quiet life , and , that I mig ht not be idle ,, undertook to construct a bridge of a single arch for this river . Our beloved general had engaged in rendering another river , the Patowmac ,
navigable . The quantity of iron I had allowed in my plan for this arch was 520 tons , to be distributed into thirteen ribs , in commemoration oC the thirteen united states , each rib to contain forty tons : but although strength is the first object in works of this kind , I shall from the success of this experiment very considerably lessen the quantity of iron I had proposed .
The Academy of Sciencesin their report upon this construction say , " There is one advantage in the construction of M . Paine ' s bridge that is singular and important , which is , that the success of an arch to any span can be determined before the work be undertaken on the river , and with a small part of the expence of the whole , by erecting part on the ground . " As to its appearanceI shall give you an extract of a letter from a
, gentleman in the neighbourhood , member in the former parliament for this county , who in speaking of the arch says , " In point of elegance and beauty , it far exceeds my expectations , and is certainly beyond any thing I ever saw . " I shall likewise mention , that it is much visited and exceedingly admired 'by the ladies , who , though they may not be much acquainted with mathematical principlesare
cer-, tainly judges of taste . I shall close my letter with a few other observations naturally and necessarily connected with the subject . That , contrary to the general opinion , the most preservative situation in which iron can be placed is within the atmosphere of water , whether it be that the air is less saline and nitrous than that which arises
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To Sir George Staunton, Bart.
As the intention of this experiment was to ascertain , first , the practicability of the construction , and , secondly , what degree of strength any o-jven quantity of iron would have when thus formed into an arch , I employed in it no more than three tons , which is as small a quantity as could well be used in the experiment . It has already a -weight of six tons constantly lying on itwithout any effect on the
, strength or perfect curvature of the arch . What greater weight it will hear cannot be judged of ; but , taking even these as data , an arch of any strength , or capable of bearing a greater weight than can ever possibly come upon any bridge , may be easily calculated . - The river Schuylkill , at Philadelphia , as I have already mentioned , requires a single arch of four hundred feet span . The vast quantities
of ice renders it impossible to erecta bridge on piers , and is the reason why no bridge has been attempted . But great scenes inspire great ideas . The natural mig htiness of America expands the mind , and it partakes of the greatness it contemplates . Even the war with all its evils had some advantages . It' energized invention and lessened the catalogue of impossibilities . At the conclusion of it every man
returnecl to his home to repair the ravages it had occasioned , and to think of war no more : As one among thousands who had borne a share in that memorable revolution , 1 returned with them to the reenjoyment of quiet life , and , that I mig ht not be idle ,, undertook to construct a bridge of a single arch for this river . Our beloved general had engaged in rendering another river , the Patowmac ,
navigable . The quantity of iron I had allowed in my plan for this arch was 520 tons , to be distributed into thirteen ribs , in commemoration oC the thirteen united states , each rib to contain forty tons : but although strength is the first object in works of this kind , I shall from the success of this experiment very considerably lessen the quantity of iron I had proposed .
The Academy of Sciencesin their report upon this construction say , " There is one advantage in the construction of M . Paine ' s bridge that is singular and important , which is , that the success of an arch to any span can be determined before the work be undertaken on the river , and with a small part of the expence of the whole , by erecting part on the ground . " As to its appearanceI shall give you an extract of a letter from a
, gentleman in the neighbourhood , member in the former parliament for this county , who in speaking of the arch says , " In point of elegance and beauty , it far exceeds my expectations , and is certainly beyond any thing I ever saw . " I shall likewise mention , that it is much visited and exceedingly admired 'by the ladies , who , though they may not be much acquainted with mathematical principlesare
cer-, tainly judges of taste . I shall close my letter with a few other observations naturally and necessarily connected with the subject . That , contrary to the general opinion , the most preservative situation in which iron can be placed is within the atmosphere of water , whether it be that the air is less saline and nitrous than that which arises