The new gasholder which has been erected by Messrs. C. and W. Walker for the Imperial Continental Gas Company at Erdberg, near Vienna, has been graphically described by Herr E.R.  Leonhardt in a paper which he read before the Austrian Society of Engineers.  The enormous dimensions and elegant construction of the holder—­being the largest out of England—­as well as the work of putting up the new gasholder, are of special interest to English engineers, as Erdberg contains the largest and best appointed works in Austria.  The dimensions of the holder are—­inner lift, 195 feet diameter, 40 feet deep; middle lift, 1971/2 feet diameter, 40 feet deep; outer lift, 200 feet diameter, 40 feet deep.  The diameter over all is about 230 feet.  The impression produced upon the members of the Austrian Society by their visit to Erdberg was altogether most favorable; and not only did the inspection of the large gasholder justify every expectation, but the visitors were convinced that all the buildings were in excellent condition and well adapted for their purpose, that the machinery was of the latest and most approved type, and that the management was in experienced hands.

THE NEW GASHOLDER

is contained in a building consisting of a circular wall covered with a wrought iron roof.  The holder itself is telescopic, and is capable of holding 31/2 million cubic feet of gas.  The accompanying illustrations (Figs. 1 and 3) are a sectional elevation of the holder and its house and a sectional plan of the roof and holder crown.  Having a capacity of close upon 3,200,000 Austrian cubic feet, this gasholder is the largest of its kind on the Continent, and is surpassed in size by only a few in England and America.  By way of comparison, Hamburg possesses a holder of 50,000 cubic meters (1,765,000 cubic feet) capacity; and there is one in Berlin which is expected to hold 75,000 cubic meters (2,647,500 cubic feet) of gas.

GASHOLDER HOUSE.

The gasholder house at Erdberg is perfectly circular, and has an internal diameter of 63.410 meters.  It is constructed, in three stories, with forty piers projecting on the outside, and with four rows of windows between the piers—­one in each of the top and bottom stories, and two rows in the middle.  These windows have a height of 1.40 meters in the lowest circle, where the wall is 1.40 meters thick, and of 2.90 meters in the two top stories, where it is respectively 1.11 meters and 0.90 meter thick.  The top edge of the wall is 35.35 meters above the base of the building, and 44.39 meters from the bottom of the tank; the piers rising 1.60 meters beyond the top of the wall.  The highest point of the lantern on the roof will thus be 48.95 meters above the ground.

GASHOLDER TANK.