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1867 AD (search for this): entry engineering
eavier trains have led to the invention of the automatic brake worked from the engine, and also automatic couplers, saving time and many lives. The capacity of our railways has been greatly increased by the use of electric block-signals. The perfecting of both the railway and its rolling-stock has led to remarkable results. In 1899 Poor gives the total freight tonnage at 975,789,941 tons, and the freight receipts at $922,436,314, or an average rate per ton of 95 cents. Had the rates of 1867 prevailed, the additional yearly cost to the public would have been $4,275,000,000, or sufficient to replace the whole railway system in two and a half years. This much can surely be said: the reduction in cost of operating our railways, and the consequent fall in freight rates, have been potent factors in enabling the United States to send abroad last year $1,456,000,000 worth of exports and flood the world with our food and manufactured products. Bridge building. In early days the b
1829 AD (search for this): entry engineering
ties. Joseph's canal still irrigates lower Egypt. The great wall of China, running for 1,500 miles over mountains and plains, contains 150,000,000 cubic yards of materials and is the greatest of artificial works. No modern building compares in grandeur with St. Peter's, and the medieval cathedrals shame our puny imitations. Railways. The greatest engineering work of the nineteenth century was the development of the railway system which has changed the face of the world. Beginning in 1829 with the locomotive of George Stephenson, it has extended with such strides that, after seventy years, there are 466,000 miles of railways in the world, of which 190,000 miles are in the United States. Their cost is estimated at $40,000,000,000, of which $10,000,000,000 belong to the United States. The rapidity with which railways are built in the United States and Canada contrasts strongly with what has been done in other countries. Much has been written of the energy of Russia in build
1864 AD (search for this): entry engineering
e of annealed cast-iron wheels. It was soon seen that longer cars would carry a greater proportion of paying load, and the more cars that one engine could draw in a train, the less would be the cost. It was not until the invention by Bessemer in 1864 of a steel of quality and cost that made it available for rails that much heavier cars and locomotives could be used. Then came a rapid increase. As soon as Bessemer rails were made in this country, the cost fell from $175 per ton to $50, and nooduction of iron and steel. Steel, on account of its great cost and brittleness, was only used for tools and special purposes until past the middle of the nineteenth century. This has been all changed by the invention of his steel by Bessemer in 1864, and open-hearth steel in the furnace of Siemens, perfected some twenty years since by Gilchrist & Thomas. The United States have taken the lead in steel manufacture. In 1873 Great Britain made three times as much steel as the United States.
1821 AD (search for this): entry engineering
good mathematicians, and well versed in the art of experimenting. One of the present causes of progress is that all discoveries are published at once in technical journals and in the daily press. The publication of descriptive indexes of all scientific and engineering articles as fast as they appear is another modern contrivance. Formerly scientific discoveries were concealed by cryptograms, printed in a dead language, and hidden in the archives of learned societies. Even so late as 1821 Oersted published his discovery of the uniformity of electricity and magnetism in Latin. Engineering works could have been designed and useful inventions made, but they could not have been carried out without combination. Corporate organization collects the small savings of many into great sums through savings-banks, life insurance companies, etc., and uses this concentrated capital to construct the vast works of our days. This could not continue unless fair dividends were paid. Everyth
1852 AD (search for this): entry engineering
a very ancient type, came into use. The great Forth Bridge, in Scotland, 1,600-foot span, is of this style, as are the 500-foot spans at Poughkeepsie, and now a new one is being designed to cross the St. Lawrence near Quebec, of 1,800-foot span. This is probably near the economic limit of cantilever construction. The suspension bridge can be extended much farther, as it carries no dead weight of compression members. The Niagara Suspension Bridge, of 810-foot span, built by Roebling, in 1852, and the Brooklyn Bridge, of 1,600 feet, built by Roebling and his son, twenty years after, marked a wonderful advance in bridge design. The same lines of construction will be followed in the 2,700-foot span, designed to cross the North River some time in the present century. The only radical advance is the use of a better steel than could be had in earlier days. Steel-arched bridges are now scientifically designed. Such are the new Niagara Bridge, of 840-foot span, and the Alexandra Br
1887 AD (search for this): entry engineering
n done in other countries. Much has been written of the energy of Russia in building 3,000 miles of Siberian railway in five or six years. In the United States an average of 6,147 miles was completed every year during ten successive years, and in 1887 there were built 12,982 miles. They were built economically, and at first in not as solid a manner as those of Europe. Steeper gradients, sharper curves, and lighter rails were used. This rendered necessary a different kind of rolling-stock suitin which men can work in compressed air without injury, and this is not much over 100 feet. The foundations of the Brooklyn and St. Louis bridges were put down in this manner. In the construction of the Poughkeepsie bridge over the Hudson in 1887-88, it became necessary to go down 135 feet below tide-level before hard bottom was reached. Another process was invented to take the place of compressed air. Timber caissons were built, having double sides, and the spaces between them filled wit
1888 AD (search for this): entry engineering
ox, called a caisson, with air locks on top to enable men and materials to go in and out. After the soft materials were removed, and the caisson sunk by its own weight to the proper depth, it was filled with concrete. The limit of depth is that in which men can work in compressed air without injury, and this is not much over 100 feet. The foundations of the Brooklyn and St. Louis bridges were put down in this manner. In the construction of the Poughkeepsie bridge over the Hudson in 1887-88, it became necessary to go down 135 feet below tide-level before hard bottom was reached. Another process was invented to take the place of compressed air. Timber caissons were built, having double sides, and the spaces between them filled with stone to give weight. Their tops were left open and the American singlebucket dredge was used. This bucket was lowered and lifted by a very long wire rope worked by the engine, and with it the soft material was removed. The internal space was then
1885 AD (search for this): entry engineering
centrated loads, and the Howe truss, with vertical iron rods, was invented, capable of 150-foot spans. About 1868 iron bridges began to take the place of wooden bridges. One of the first long-span bridges was a singletrack railway bridge of 400-foot span over the Ohio at Cincinnati, which was considered to be a great achievement in 1870. The Kinzua viaduct, 310 feet high and over half a mile long, belongs to this era. It is the type of the numerous high viaducts now so common. About 1885 a new material was given to engineers, having greater strength and tenacity than iron, and commercially available from its low cost. This is basic steel. This new chemical metal, for such it is, is 50 per cent. stronger than iron, and can be tied in a knot when cold. The effect of improved devices and the use of steel is shown by the weights of the 400-foot Ohio River iron bridge, built in 1870, and a bridge at the same place, built in 1886. The bridge of 1870 was of iron, with a span
1886 AD (search for this): entry engineering
is 50 per cent. stronger than iron, and can be tied in a knot when cold. The effect of improved devices and the use of steel is shown by the weights of the 400-foot Ohio River iron bridge, built in 1870, and a bridge at the same place, built in 1886. The bridge of 1870 was of iron, with a span of 400 feet. The bridge of 1886 was of steel. Its span was 550 feet. The weights of the two were nearly alike. The cantilever design, which is a revival of a very ancient type, came into use. The g1886 was of steel. Its span was 550 feet. The weights of the two were nearly alike. The cantilever design, which is a revival of a very ancient type, came into use. The great Forth Bridge, in Scotland, 1,600-foot span, is of this style, as are the 500-foot spans at Poughkeepsie, and now a new one is being designed to cross the St. Lawrence near Quebec, of 1,800-foot span. This is probably near the economic limit of cantilever construction. The suspension bridge can be extended much farther, as it carries no dead weight of compression members. The Niagara Suspension Bridge, of 810-foot span, built by Roebling, in 1852, and the Brooklyn Bridge, of 1,600 fee
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