Reports on the Philadelphia International Exhibition of 1876.

Date:
1877-1878
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Reports on the Philadelphia International Exhibition of 1876. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    373/446 page 275
    Eepokt on Architecture and Engineering, as displayed at the International Exhibition, Philadelphia, 1876. By Sir John ITawkshaw, C.E., F.R.S. 33, Great George Street, Westminster, Sir, 14th December 1876. In accordance with your request I have now the honour to report, for submission to the Lord President of the Council, the broad features of my particular section of the Philadelphia Exhibition. In the capacity of one of the judges my functions at the Exhibition were Civil Engineer- confined to Civil Engineering and Public Works, and in the division of labour ^rkl?Pub agreed to among the judges of that class it fell to my lot to report on so much of it as related to the United States and to Great Britain, the works of other countries being allotted to other judges. The following is the complete list of judges for Section XXVI:— Judges. General William B. Franklin, President, Hartford, Conn., U.S. Edouard Lavoinne. Secretary, France. J. M. Da Silva Continho, Brazil. James B. Eads, C.E., South Pass Jetty Works, 122, Common Street, New Orleans, La., U.S. T. G. W. Fynje, Netherlands. Sir John Hawkshaw, C.E., F.R.S., Great Britain. Richard M. Hunt, 49 West 35th Street, New York, U.S. Lourenco Maheiro, M.E., Portugal. Colonel George E. Waring, Junr., Newport, R.I., U.S. Some branches of Engineering as Motors, Railway Plant, &c. were classed Preliminary under other heads and allocated to other gentlemen who will, I presume, report remarks- upon them. Civil Engineering and Public Works could not without great labour and expense be fully illustrated in any Exhibition, and engineers who have to deal with such works have usually their time too fully occupied to say much about them either during their progress or afterwards. Partly perhaps from these causes Great Britain, though not unduly represented in the Exhibi- Great Britain, tion in some other departments, was, as it regards Civil Engineering and Public Works, hardly represented at all. Some other countries, Holland for Holland, example, owing probably to the public works of that country being more under the control and supervision of the Government, were at its instance much more amply represented. The superintendence of engineering works in the United States is of a more United States, mixed character; while some of the largest and most important works in that country are performed by Civil Engineers, there are many works on the coast and in its rivers which are executed by the Corps of Engineers of the United States army. This appropriation of engineering work to military men arises probably from the circumstance that, though the number of rank and file in the United States army is small, there is a desire to maintain a large staff of officers, many of whom are thus employed. From this circumstance probably a more copious illustration of engineering works was exhibited by the United States Government. The civil engineers of that country in some cases sent to the Exhibition no account of some very important works, but after my labours at the Exhibition had ceased, I took the opportunity of visiting and inspecting some of those works, and the remarks which follow therefore must be taken in some cases to illustrate what I observed on the spot, or on which I acquired information in other ways as well as what I examined in the Exhibition. Rivers. Under this head the operations for the removal of the reef at Hallett's Point, Hell-Gate. Hell-Gate, New York, are remarkable for originality and boldness. The reef projects into the channel at Hell-Gate about 300 feet. The depth over it for the distance of 270 feet from the shore is at low water less than 12 feet. The channel there being narrow and crooked, the object of this improvement 40609. r
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