The Works Of Messrs. Schneider And Co.

126 MESSRS. SCHNEIDER AND CO.’S WORKS series of bridges for Algiers ; in 1869 and 1870, the magnificent Stadlau bridge in Austria, were among the works completed by the company. Meanwhile, Messrs. Schneider and Co. continued making progress with their shipbuilding work ; they built at that time the tugboats “Anatole” and “Anna,” for service on the Volga; pleasure boats for the Neva ; launches for the Compagnie Trans- atlantique ; and floating crânes for the French Navy. When the pneumatic processes of sinking foundations came into use, Messrs. Schneider and Co. took up the method, and made a speciality of the manufacture of caissons. The first were built in 1865, and were for the Arles and St. Gilles bridges. In 1867 the engine power of the shops was increased from 50 to 80 horse-power. During the Franco-German War, 1870-1871, the cur- rent work at Chalon decreased considerably, and Messrs. Schneider and Co. directed all their efforts to the rapid execution of orders for national defence ; they manu- facturée! at that time large quantities of ironwork for ammunition caissons, gun-limbers, siege and field gun carriages, &c. Immediately after peace was concluded in 1871, when the country became busy in making good its losses, Messrs. Schneider and Co. continued to develop the artillery work they had commenced manufacturing during the war. In 1874 they delivered the ironwork for 1,360 gun-carriages ; m 1877, 150 gun-carriages for 90-millimetre guns; in 1880, 210 gun-carriages for small calibre, siege, and garrison guns. The bridges that had been destroyed during the war (the Athis, d’Orival bridges, &c.) were reconstructed. The French railway systein was further developed, and larger numbers of new bridges were required in conséquence, as well as ironwork for stations, and so forth. The Chalon works soon gained the first rank in these various constructions, and from 1874 to 1884 they delivered one bridge for the line from Lyon to Montbrison ; nine bridges for the line from Bourg to Chalon ; 24 bridges for the Dôle to Poligny Railway; 18 bridges for the line from Narbonne to Bize ; 8.3 bridges for the line from Gap to Briançon ; 40 bridges for the Corsican railways ; besides the Vienna bridge over the Danube ; the Basle bridge over the Rliine; 19 bridges for the St. Gothard Railway; 41 bridges for the Réunion Island, of whicli one is 100 metres (328 ft.) long in one spån, over the Mât River ; one 520 metres (1,706 ft.) long, with ten spåns, and one 420 metres (1,378 ft.) long, with eight spåns ; 58 bridges for the West Argentine Railway Company ; 90 spåns for Senegal, and 19 other bridges for the Argentine Republic. Düring the above period, General Marcille, then Major of the Corps of Engineers, devised a type of portable military bridges, capable o£ carrying the same loads as the fixed bridges they are destined to replace, when the eneniy have destroyed a certain number of the spåns. The War Department entrusted Messrs. Schneider and Co. with the construction of these portable bridges, in spåns of 10. 15, 20, and 30 metres (1884-1886). Notwithstanding this large ainount of bridge work, the construction of iron buildings and marine work followed their regulär course. Among the most important orders of this same period may be mentioned the Paris station of the Paris-Orleans Railway Company (1869); the machinery hall for the Paris International Exhibition of 1878 ; the latter work, embodying more than 4,000 tons of iron material, was executed in one year, including the time taken up by designing and erecting. It would take too long to enumerate all the marine work in detail, but reference should be made to tbe 10-ton floating crane for Toulon Arsenal (1873); a 50-ton pontoon-derrick for Brest Arsenal (1876); 20 coaling-barges for the Brest and Cherbourg Arsenals (1877); a slush-boat, “Le Balayeur,” for Toulon Harbour (1879); two floating dock-gates for Saigon (1879); two for Cherbourg and Lorient (1882-1884). Since the latter date, the construction of such gates has become one of the specialties of Messrs. Schneider and Co.’s Chalon works. They have built most of those of the French arsenals. In 1885, Messrs. Schneider and Co. commenced the construction of torpedo-boats. The bollers and engines are built at Creusot, and the huils and armament in their Chalon yard, the torpedo-boats ’oeing delivered complété afloat at Toulon. The first order they secured in 1885, from the French Government, numbered 11 torpedo-boats 35 metres (114 ft. 10 in.) long, of 20 knots speed. In 1887-88 they built ten similar boats, and one 34 metres (111 ft. 6 in.) long, of the same speed, for the Japanese Government. The French Navy further ordered three torpedo-boats 34 metres (111 ft. 6 in.) long, of 20 knots speed, and five 36 metres (118 ft.) long, of the same speed (1889-92) ; two hoisting torpedo vedette boats 19 metres (62 ft. 4 in.) long, 17 knots speed (1894); eight torpedo-boats 37,500 metres (123 ft.) long, of 24 knots speed (1897); and six hoisting torpedo-boats 19 metres (62 ft. 4 in.) long, and 18 knots speed (1898). During the period from 1885 to 1898, the Chalon yard continued steadily developing, and the various sections were constantly in füll work. Thus the bridge-building départaient delivered during that time to the Chilian Government more than 10,000 tons of bridges, some of which—such as the Viaduct over the Malleco, which will be described further on—are remarkable for the boldness of their design. We may mention besides, the Morand Bridge over the Rhône, at Lyons (1889-90) : the Claps Viaduct, 215 metres (705 ft.) long (1890-91); the bridge over the Borcea, 418 metres (1,371 ft.) long, built in 1893-94 for the Roumanian Government; several bridges for the Jonage canal, in the vicinity of Lyons (1896); the bridges for the Longeray-Divonne railway line (1897) ; those for the Hanoï Lang-Son line in Tonkin (1897-98) ; the bridge over the Cher, at Chabris (1897) ; three swivel bridges for Cette (1897-98) ; the Hue bridge in Annam, 400 metres (1,312 ft.) long; the Fleurville bridge over the Saône, 173 metres (567 ft.) long ; and lastly, the