An  early  masonry  road  bridge  of  some  interest  is  that  con-
structed over  the  Tarabrapumi  river,  in  Tinnevelly,  in  the  year
1843,  known  as  the  Palamcotta  bridf[e.  This  is  a  handsome
structure ;  its  architectural  elevation  having  been  copied  {on  a
reduced  scale)  from  the  Waterloo  Bridge  over  the  Thames  in
I^ndon.  The  bridge  consists  of  eleven  elliptical  arches,  each
of  60  feet  span  and  17  feet  rise  in  the  centre,  springing  from
ten  piers  averaging  about  10  feet  in  height  above  low  water,
and  the  same  in  width,  with  two  abutments  IS  feet  thiclc  at
springing  level.  The  breadth  of  the  arch-work  on  the  under
ride  is  27  feet,  carrj'ing  a  level  road  across  the  river  24  feet
wide  and  800  feet  long.  On  each  face  of  the  bridge  two  Doric
columns  stand  on  the  projecting  cutwaters  of  the  piers,  occupy-
ing the  space  between  the  arches,  and  supporting  a  bold
entablature  with  balconies.  An  open  iialustrade  on  each  side
extends  along  the  entire  length  of  the  work.  The  piers  for  the
most  part  were  founded  on  hard  rock  kunka,  situated  at  a  small
depth  below  the  river-bed,  but  three  consecutive  piers  were
built  on  rows  of  small  welLs,  sunk  to  a  depth  of  10  or  12  feet
only,  where  a  firm  bed  of  clay  was  met  with.  Along  this
portion  of  the  work,  up  and  down  stream  biies  of  wells  were
also  sunk  to  ser\'e  as  curtain  walls,  and  to  retain  a  pavement  or
flooring  to  protect  the  foundations.  The  interior  of  all  the
wells  was  built  in  solid,  and  the  spaces  between  them  were  filled
in  with  rubble  stone  in  cement  up  to  low-water  level.  On  this
foundation  the  three  footing  courses  of  the  piers  were  laid  in
stone,  with  cut-stone  face  work  cramped  with  iron.  Above  the
footing  courses  the  bridge  is  constructed  of  neat  brickwork
partly  stuccoed.
