Sketch of the Civil Engineering of North America: Comprising Remarks on the Harbours, River and Lake Navigation, Lighthouses, Steam-navigation, Water-works, Canals, Roads, Railways, Bridges, and Other Works in that Country |
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affords Albany American average banks beams boats boiler bottom breadth bridge built called Canal carried coast connected considerable construction cost course deck depth diameter direction distance ditto effect elevated employed engines erected extends fall feet feet in length five flows formed four ground half harbour height hour Hudson hundred important inches iron Island Lake Lake Erie land length less light lighthouses locks lower manner marked means measures Michigan miles miles in length Mississippi nature navigation North America Ohio opened operation pass Philadelphia placed planes Plate port present produced Railroad rails railway rapids render rests rise river road shewn shores side situate St Lawrence steam steam-boats steamers stone supply supported surface tide timber tion tons town trade United upwards vessels western wheels whole wood wooden York
Popular passages
Page 320 - ... males, one-half derive the same advantage. As regards their moral condition and character, they are not inferior to any portion of the community.
Page 302 - This officer is paid for his services at the rate of two and a half per cent, on the amount of his annual disbursements, a mode of remuneration which appears to be of very questionable propriety.
Page 182 - The wood is greenish-yellow, with a slight tinge of red in the pores; it is used like oak. Locust is much esteemed for tree-nails for ships, and for posts, stakes, pales, &c., as it is very tough and durable; it works similarly to ash, and is very good for turning. " It grows most abundantly in the Southern States ; but it is pretty generally diffused throughout the whole country. It sometimes exceeds four feet in diameter and seventy feet in height. The locust is one of the very few trees planted...
Page 216 - The roots of the felled trees are often not removed, and in marshes, where the ground is wet and soft, the trees themselves are cut in lengths of about ten or twelve feet, and laid close to each other across the road, to prevent vehicles from sinking, forming what is called in America a "Corduroy road...
Page 30 - This platform has several shores on its surface, which were brought to bear equally on the vessel's bottom, to prevent her from canting over on being raised out of the water. About thirty men were employed in working this apparatus, who, by the combined power of the lever, wheel and pinion, and screw, succeeded, in the course of half an hour, in raising the platform, loaded with a vessel of 200 tons burden, to the surface of the water, where she remained high and dry, suspended between the wooden...
Page 117 - American steamboats ply on the smooth surfaces of rivers, sheltered bays, or arms of the sea, exposed neither to waves nor to wind ; whereas most of the steamboats in this country go out to sea, where they encounter as bad weather and as heavy waves as ordinary sailing vessels. The consequence is, that in America a much more slender built, and a more delicate mould, give the requisite strength to their vessels, and thus a much greater speed, which essentially depends upon these two qualities, is...
Page 192 - At the first view, one is struck with the temporary and apparently unfinished state of many of the American works, and is very apt, before inquiring into the subject, to impute to want of ability what turns out, on investigation, to be a judicious and ingenious arrangement to suit the circumstances of a new country, of which the climate is severe, — a country, where stone is scarce, and wood is plentiful, and where manual labor is very expensive.
Page 1 - IMPROVEMENT; Practically and amply elucidating, in every detail, its modifications and applications, its duties and consumption of fuel, with an investigation of its principles and the proportions of its parts for efficiency and strength ; including examples of British and American recently constructed engines, with details, drawn to a large scale.
Page 320 - Mills, can furnish Machinery complete for a Mill of 5000 Spindles in four months; and lumber and materials are always at command, with which to build or rebuild a Mill in that time, if required. When building Mills, the Locks and Canals Company employ directly and indirectly from 1000 to 1200 hands.
Page 264 - The passenger-carriages on the Columbia rail-road are extremely large and commodious. They are seated for sixty passengers, and are made so high in the roof, that the tallest person may stand upright in them, without inconvenience. There is a passage between the seats extending from end to end, with a door at both extremities ; and the coupling of the carriages is so arranged, that the passengers may walk from end to end of a whole train, without obstruction. In winter, they are heated by stoves....
Bibliographic information
| Title | Sketch of the Civil Engineering of North America: Comprising Remarks on the Harbours, River and Lake Navigation, Lighthouses, Steam-navigation, Water-works, Canals, Roads, Railways, Bridges, and Other Works in that Country Library of American civilization Sketch of the Civil Engineering of North America: Comprising Remarks on the Harbours, River and Lake Navigation, Lighthouses, Steam-navigation, Water-works, Canals, Roads, Railways, Bridges, and Other Works in that Country, David Stevenson |
| Author | David Stevenson |
| Publisher | J. Weale, 1838 |
| Original from | the University of Wisconsin - Madison |
| Digitized | Jul 9, 2007 |
| ISBN | 0608399698, 9780608399690 |
| Length | 320 pages |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |