Mr. Gladstone on Tuesday laid the first cylinder of the
new railway-bridge over the Dee, between Chester and Flint, thus connecting Wales with Liverpool, Manchester, and the North of England. By this line, the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincoln. shire Railway Company hope to bring North Wales within half-an-hour of Liverpool. The width of the river,—in effect, an estnary,—where the new bridge will span it, is 480 feet ; but the large spring-opening in the new bridge will allow vessels of 140 feet in width to pass through it. The bridge will be opened or closed by hydraulic power in forty seconds. The new bridge will be 36 feet longer than any other bridge over a navigable river in England. Sir Edward Watkin explained the works to Mr. Gladstone on behalf of the Company ; and after the cere- mony of dropping the cylinder into the place prepared for its reception had been performed, Mr. Gladstone made a few remarks on the mutual benefits which North Wales would con- fer on England, and England on North Wales, by the new short cut. Mr. Gladstone afterwards calculated that this bridge will shorten the distance between North Wales and Lancashire by twenty miles.
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