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| A wooden pontoon boat. From a Photograph. |
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the boat, they make way for the lashing party, who lash them in place at proper intervals as indicated on the gunwales.
The boat is then pushed into the stream the length of the balks, the hither ends of which are at once made fast to the abutment.
The chess party now step to the front and cover the balks with flooring to within one foot of the ponton.
Meanwhile the boat-party has launched another ponton,
dropped anchor in the proper place, and brought it alongside the first; the balk party, also ready with another bay of balks, lay them for the lashing party to make fast; the boat being then pushed off broadside — to as before, and the free end of the balks lashed so as to project six inches over the shore gunwale of the first boat.
By this plan it may be seen that each balk and bay of balks completely spans two pontons.
This gives the bridge a firm foundation.
The chess party continue their operations, as before, to within a foot of the second boat.
And now, when the third bay of the bridge is begun, the side-rail party appears, placing their rails on the chesses over the outside balks, to which they firmly lash them, the chesses being so constructed that the lashings pass between them for this purpose.
The foregoing operations are repeated bay after bay till the bridge reaches the farther shore, when the building of
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