Roman Engineering Works and their Aesthetic Character

Many years ago it was the fortune of the writer to be present as a listener at a conversation between the architect, Sir Rowand Anderson, then at the height of his reputation, and a civil engineer of good standing in his profession. The Tay Bridge was the subject, and Sir Rowand was trying to make his interlocutor see that the existing bridge lacked one little touch, the addition of which would be of incalculable value but the absence of which made the bridge the most depressing thing of the kind that these islands hold. It must be explained that the bridge makes no pretension to be anything else but a pure work of utility and the following is its simple scheme. Starting from each bank of the Tay long ranges of girders, supported on simple metal piers, approach each other to within a short distance, the interval corresponding to the width of the main stream of the river. To give ample head room for the river traffic the trains are carried across the space of this interval on a special girder of suitable length, which is laid across this central gap, each end of it resting on the top of the other girders first described. In this position the bottom level of the special girder corresponds to the top level of the other girders, and the trains when they pass along this bottom level are at a greater clear height above the water than elsewhere on the bridge and so there is a free water-way for craft with masts

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