Page:The Building News and Engineering Journal, Volume 22, 1872.djvu/350

 330 school, and it would not be easy for England to surpass the force of some Danish and Norwegian landscapes, while in all Europe no equal can be found to the Danish Wilkie, as ‘lidemand, her first painter of national domestic scenes, has sometimes been called. This hasty review of the general position of painting among the nations of Europe may serve as an introduction to a critical examination of a few of the prominent works of art contributed to South Kensington. We shall not attempt to exhaust any gallery, or to fill the pages devoted to this subject with an enumeration of all the pictures in any part of the collection. It is more our aim to point out individual examples, prominent either by their own merits or defects, or on account of their being good representatives of aclassor school, and to such, therefore, we shall direct attention in our notices, com- mencing with the oil paintings of the English school. oto NOTES ON EARTHWORK.—IYV. N the first number of this series of notes we said that a railway cutting is first eommenced by barrow work, to prepare for laying down the temporary rails upon which the earth is chiefly to be removed in waggons to the embankment. A good strong nayvy’s barrow, without being too heavy and clumsy, is worth 15s. 6d., or £8 per dozen. The hales (the main shafts) and the crosstrees should be of ash, the bottom boards of elm, and the side and end boards of elm or willow, or any light and tough wood. A light barrow holds 14 cubic feet, or one- eighteenth of a cubic yard; but a gang of strong men who take work by the yard pre- fer a barrow that holds 3 cubic feet, or one- ninth of acubie yard. A barrow for ordi- nary work holds 2 cubic feet. Observations of the time occupied in wheeling, which governs the number of fillers to each barrow, and the number of barrow roads to be put in to remove a given quantity of earth in a given time, show that the mean time of filling a barrow holding 2 eubie feet, wheeling it 4 runs of 25 yards each, and returning with the empty barrow, is 5m. 45s., that filling a barrow, wheeling it 4 runs of 25 yards each, and returning with the empty barrow, and filling the same bar- row a second time, and wheeling it forward 2 runs, is 7m. 20s.; thus, 7m. 20s. — 5m. 45s. = Im. 35s., the time occupied in filling a barrow, wheeling it 2 runs, or wheeling it 1 run, and returning with the empty barrow. 24 barrows were filled, wheeled 2 runs, and tipped, in 38m. 48s.; 18 barrows were filled, wheeled 1 run, and brought back empty in 25m. 42s.; 11 barrows were filled, wheeled 2 runs, and tipped, in 18m. It is generally necessary to have a man at the tip to receive the stuff, leyel it down, and shift the wheeling planks from time to time; thus for 1 run 4 men are employed—yviz., 2 fillers, 1 runner, and 1 tipman; for 2 runs, 5 men—yviz., 2 fillers, 2 runners, and 1 tipman; for 3 runs, 6 men—viz., 2 fillers, 3 runners, and 1 tip- man; for 4 runs, 7 men—viz., 2 fillers, 4 runners, and 1 tipman. Beyond a distance ef 4, or, at the most, 5 runs, it is better to employ horses and carts, or dobbin carts. Thus the wages of the tipman form a greater share of the cost of removing earth to short than to long distances, being one-fourth for 1 run but only one-seventh for 4 runs, If we take the time in which 2 men fill a barrow holding 2 cubic feet, including the time required to pass backwards and forwards between the two barrows, at 1m. 35s., they fill 88 barrows an hour, and working 10 hours a day they fill 380 barrows in a day = 28 enbic yards, and this is the quantity of earth of an average weight that can be put out by each barrow road. Taking this as a standard average, and taking the day’s pay at 3s., the eost of removing earth may be estimated as ollows :— THE BUILDING NEWS. } One run.—2 fillers 1 runner 1 tipman 4 at 3s. = 12s., which, divided by 28, = 4d., or a trifle more, per eubic yard. Two runs.—2 fillers 2 runners 1 tip man dat 5s. = 1ds., = 6$d. nearly per cubic yard. Three runs.—2 fillers 3 runners 1 tipman 6 at 3s. = 18s., = 7}d. per cubic yard, Four runs.—2 fillers 4 runners 1 tip man 7at 3s, = 21s., = 9d. per cubic yard. To each of these prices must be added 1d. per cubic yard for plant and superintendence, and anything that may be desired for profit, this latter item being less per cubic yard for large than for small quantities. The proper disposition of the number of men employed in the various operations of getting, filling, and wheeling earth depends upon the time required to remove given quantities, and this again governs the amount of plant required, the plant being the vehicles employed in the removal of the earth and the roads upon which they travel, as distinguished from the horse or other power employed to move the vehicles, and from the tools used in getting and filling the earth. Wheeling planks should be lin. wide, and, when of the usual thickness of 3in., should be supported at distances not exceed- ing 12ft. Deals 9in. wide are sometimes used for wheeling upon, and in dry weather and on a level road they may be sufficient, but in working in clayey ground in wet weather, and especially on inclined roads, when the barrow-men are obliged to put on ‘“ereepers” to enable them to keep their foot- hold, then Yin. is not a gufficient width for safety. When inclined barrow roads are necessary the inclination should not be more than 1 in 12 for economy of working. The work of wheeling up an inclined road of 1 in 12, com- pared with a level road, is one half greater: that is to say, a run of 20 yards up an incline is equal in amount of work to 30 yards on a level, and either of these lengths is as much as men can do con- tinually. When the distance to which earth has to be removed exceeds 5 stages of 20 yards each, inclined, or 30 yards on a level, it is more economical to employ horses and carts, where the ground is sufficiently dry. In commencing an excavation, the first thing to be looked at is the position of the earth in situ, andthe place of deposit with reference to the height to which it may be required to be raised, for it is never advantageous to make the inclination steeper than 1 in 12, for a steeper inclination than that distresses the wheelers excessively, and that is never advantageous to either master or workman when continued day by day. If the height to which the earth has to be raised exceeds that which can be attained by an inclined road of 1 in 12, it is better either to employ horse runs or zigzag barrow roads. The distance and height being determined, the next consideration is the nature of the earth to be removed. If it is of a light kind, as common earth or dry sand, the stages may be 25 yards apart, but if heavy, as clay or gravel, 20 yards is sufiicient. The ee OS hy ee Aprin 26, 1872. the weight of the material, but the labour of filling is proportionate oniy to half the differences of the weights of the various kinds. The following are the weights of yarious kinds of earth in the solid :— Dry pent .......5.,se..+.+. 74 Cwt. per cubic yard. Wet peat 16 Top soil in ordinary weather 20 Dry sand .... Common earth Sandy loam...... MAT) sire oie Olea ektees Common land gravel Wet sand............ Gravelly clay ...... Rough water gravel Gray chalk Sandstone.. Shale ... Limestone ” ” . ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ee 2 " ” ” These being the weights, a selection of three kinds is made for experiment in filling and wheeling—viz. (1), top soil, a barrowful of which is filled by two men in an average time of Im. 25s., = 16 cubie yards each man per day ; (2), marl, a barrowful of which is filled in an average time of 1m. 35s., = 14 eubic yards per day, and (3) rough water gravel, a barrowful of which is filled in an average time of 1m. 50s., = 12 cubic yards per day. Bearing in mind that the filling is not pro- portionate to the full weight of each kind of earth, but only to about half the differences between the various kinds, and that the labour of wheeling is proportionate to the full weights directly, the following quantities are arrived at, as averages of experience :— Average quantity filled and wheeled per man per day of 10 working hours :— Fill. Wheel. Cubic Cubie yds. yds. Top soil in ordinary weather.. LG Scone ee = Dry sand.... 15; ... 29 Common ea j 265 Sandy loam. 14}... 265 Marl.. ge cs a Clay.. 13} ... 23F Common land gravel 18} ... 238 Wet sand .... 134. ... 28 Gravelly clar. 123 ... 213 Rough water gravel, 22) Ss edes Gray chalk, 14d ... 172 Sandstone . i1z 173 Shale...... 11 - 165 Limestone . sea 103 ... 16 To enable one man to wheel away the stuff that two men can fill, the length of each run must be proportionate to the above numbers. The natural slopes which the various kinds of earth assume when tipped in a heap are as follow :— Top soil... 3 to Dry sand =» Common earth.. ¥ 5) Sandy loam.. Marl eesyees ” Clay, ordinarily dry. fy Clay, wet........ Common land-, Gravelly clay Rough water-g ASIC rpeneccnewecen Sandstone in lump Limestone in lumps. oe Bae ee eee BRR RHE Ree As a matter of practice, the slopes of rail- way cuttings are often as follow :—In gravel, 1 to 1, when not more than 20ft. deep ; and 14 to 1, when of greater depth. In clay, 2 to Lif good, or 3, and even 4 to 1, if wet. The slopes of embankments of gravel are often 14 to 1, when the height is not more than 30ft., and 2 to 1 over that height. In clay, and 2} to 1 over that. Taking the three typical kinds of earth— viz., top soil or dry sand, marl or clay, and rough clean gravel, and taking the average day’s pay per man at 3s., we find the cost of filling the first-named kind of earth to be 23d. pereubic yard; the second, 24d. ; and the last- named 3d. per cubie yard. This is assuming the earth to be already got or to need no getting. According to the hardness or tenacity of it a greater or less number of getters are required, and this can only be | determined by experiment in each particular case in practice, but the other elements being
 * labour of wheeling is directly proportionate to
 * 2 to 1, when the height does not exceed 40ft.,