An Account of the Bell Rock Light-House: Including the Details of the Erection and Peculiar Structure of That Edifice; to Which Is Prefixed a Historical View of the Institution and Progress of the Northern Light-HousesStevenson, Robert
History
An Account of the Bell Rock Light-House: Including the Details of the Erection and Peculiar Structure of That Edifice; to Which Is Prefixed a Historical View of the Institution and Progress of the Northern Light-Houses
Stevenson, Robert
Bell Rock Lighthouse (Scotland); Lighthouses -- Scotland
Though none of the stones of the Bell Rock Light-house were likely
to exceed two tons in weight, in their finished state; yet, in their
undressed state, they were much more ponderous. From the waste
attending their dove-tailed form, and the working them square on all
their sides, the blocks from the quarry were greatly reduced; in
many instances, to one-half of the cubical contents of their quarry
dimensions, before they were brought to the size of the moulds. The
stones had not only to be conveyed from the harbour of Arbroath to the
work-yard, a distance of from two to three hundred yards, but also
required to be frequently lifted from place to place; as, for example,
when in a hewn or dressed state, they were removed to the circular
platform, in the middle of the work-yard, to be tried and marked;--they
were again shifted from this position, and ultimately carried to the
harbour to be shipped for the rock. From the various movements which
each stone had thus to undergo, it became an object of importance to
the facility and economy of the work, to consider how this could be
most conveniently accomplished. Had a cart or carriage, with four
wheels of the ordinary construction for great loads, been employed,
it would have been extremely troublesome, in all the operations of
loading, turning and moving from place to place. To have attempted to
avoid this by the use of waggons with low wheels, and the introduction
of railways along the quays and public streets of Arbroath, would
also have been objectionable, especially as the object could be much
more conveniently obtained by the use of what is called the Woolwich
Sling-cart, represented in Plate X. By this machine, the weight is
simply raised off the ground with a wheel and pinion apparatus fixed
upon the frame of the cart, and in this manner, the stone, instead of
being lifted upon the body of the carriage, had only to be suspended at
the necessary height for overcoming the inequalities of the road. This
vehicle had long been used with great advantage by military engineers,
in moving ordnance; but was probably first employed at Mylnefield
Quarry, and the Bell Rock works, in transporting blocks of stone.
[Sidenote: Carpenter’s Jack.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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