The saving of labor in repairs, if this system can be
employed, is so evident that a large amount of money might be expended
in endeavoring to discover a suitable elastic material for the purpose.
There are data on many long viaducts sufficient to justify experiments
being made on the subject, and it is not unreasonable to expect that
suitable material may be met with. In very long tunnels nothing should
be omitted tending to reduce the number of men working in them. The
opinion was expressed that in tunnels passing through solid materials,
and proper foundations being made for the longitudinals to rest upon,
with good elastic material placed between the rails and sleepers and
foundations, one-half of the men employed on the ordinary cross sleeper
road resting on ballast would be saved, more particularly as the repairs
are effected in pure air free from the traffic as explained. The
estimate as to the cost of this system was upon the dimensions given by
Sir J. Hawkshaw, and the following gives the comparison:
The quantity of excavation and brickwork or concrete in each case will
be as follows: Single tunnel: 30 ft.
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