THE NEW CHESAPEAKE BAY LIGHTHOUSE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 6438, 1 December 1881, Page 3

THE NEW CHESAPEAKE BAY LIGHTHOUSE.

What is regarded as one of the finest lighthouses in the world is being erected in Chesapeake Bay, off Cape Henry. From base to top it measures 155 feet, with a diameter at the base of 30 feet and at the top of 16 feet. There are six stories, above which are a service room, watch room, lantern room, and finally the roof. Its total weight is 1,700,000 pounds, 7,000 pounds of bolts alone being required to put it together. The exterior, which is octagonal in shape, is constructed of cast iron, while the cylindrical interior is. of sheet iron. The castings of the base and first story are two inches in thickness, and the sheet iron lining.fths of an inch. The staircase, which has iron sill steps, goes aroimd the cylinder instead of up a shaft as in lighthouses now in existence. The “ light room ” is a circular steel frame 12 feet in diameter and 9 feet high. The glass to be used is now being manufactured in France, and a light of great power will be adopted. Every story is solidly bolted together by heavy cast iron floor plates 1J inch thick, while the points and facings are finely planed, four planers having been kept running day and night for the entire eighteen months. So closely are the plates fastened together that from the outside each story looks like a solid piece of iron. The base and windows are elaborately ornamented with while a handsome iron railing surrounds the watch room. Many of the holts are 1J inch in diameter at one end, and Jths of an inch at the other. The iron work was furnished by Messrs Morris & Trasker, Philadelphia.