The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1859-09-08
Tne FrankIin street Bridge.

our lnterrO8aIOrlcS III IeSaAu " NAN N
ton of the Franklin street bridge. The pa
perwill show that he is quitea as accomplished
as gentleman as he is able as an engineer.
We did not make any allusion to Mr.. Saun-
ders in our original comments upon the
bridge, for we didn't know how far he was
responsible-if responsible at all-for the
errors and follies committed. 1t was not
until he applied our remarks to himself that
we were made aware of the important
agency he had in producing the abortions IN
bridge building that have cost the county
so dearly the last two years. Since he has
drawn attention to himself, it will be well
TO enumerate his labors, in order to awaken
the " second, sober thoughts " of the people
to the Importance of having thorough, prac-
teal, sober wisdom in the engineering for
our public works. Mr.. Saunders works are
his best certificates, we presume-they speak
/, for themselves.
About eighteen months ago, two bridges
over Pigeon Greek, at Linxwiller's and at
Codey's Mill, were completed at heavy cost
to the county, under the superintendence OF
Mr. Sanders. Within twelve months after
completion, 10th fell into the creek.
The abutment at Linxwiller's-we are
informed by Mr.. NJ. P. Jones-were but
mere shells, which he was compelled to re-
build at cost of 500 or $500.
The bridge at Codeys Mill, which was
built under Mr.. Saunders engineering, at an
expense of $1,000 to the county, fell down
within fifteen months after its completion,
and is now being rebuilt and made per-
manent structure, at a cost of over fUe thou
sanddollars to the taxpayers. After the COM
pletionof his wingless abutments at this
bridge finding the fill of earth at the end OF
bridge was about 70 be washed away by the
current of the creek, he persuaded the COM
uissioners to build q side wall to protect 1t,
ON which FIVE hundred dollars were expend-
ed. This, like the abutments, gave way In
a few weeks after its completion, proving as
he says, "that no work of mere human me-
chanical construction, is eterndLty durable"
In these two jobs Mr.. Saunders skill seems
to have cost the county somewhere between
six and seven thousand dollars and the
community will have after their repair, but
imperfect, patched up "human mechanical
construction" that can't be externally dur
able" or SAFE
The same egregious errors have been
committed in the construction of the abut-
ments of the Franklin street bridge. They
are built without wing-walls, or anchor
walls, for their support; and any man o.
common sense must be convinced, at q
glance, that they could not sustain, for 6
week, the pressure of fill of forty feet II
height, and two hundred feet long, on 6
steep bank, constantly acting as wedge tC
throw them from their bases. We have
conversed, within the week, with eight o.
ten intelligent, practical bridge builder
and engineers, and every one has pronounced
the abutments insufficient to sustain thu
pressure of the fill, and have said it would
be the heighth of folly to attempt to maxi
the road of earth from the banks to the abut
ments as they now stand. The only RENE
dy for the error is to make piers of the pres
ent ab1tments and build new ones furthe
up the bank, or construct a trestleworl
from the bank to the abutments, which vii
cost, we presume, twice or three times tn
amount of the contract for the bridge work
This trestlework will be cheaper than tn
earth-work; but if not covered, it will be
source of perpetual expense to keep it il
repair. Our apprehensions are that in les
than two years, if the present plan for tn
Franklin street bridge be carried out, tn
county will be called upon to rebuild one @
its abutmentS and make other repairs, at a
great a per cent. loss as they are now pay
ing for the repair of the Cooley mill bridge
We have no personal interests more thar
Others, and can have no motives but the de
sire to discharge a duty, which our position
makes incumbent, in exposing these error
anu SndihciCSS He1SbcS VI bHc PdOllC money =
In fulfilling this duty, our course natu
rally excites the personal abuse AM
enmity of the parties implicated; but W
meet such consequences as the ineyitabl
condition of an honest and fearless discherp
of our obligations to the public.
EVANSVILLE, Sept. c, 1859.
EDITOR OF JOURNAL With great flou,
ish Of trumpets, you PROFOUND certain inter
rogatories. The interrogatories in them
selves are not offensive; your manner {
propounding them, however, is decided
so. I will proceed to answer them categol
ically. They read as follows:
"Was not the original estimate of I'll
$4,000 as the cost of the bridge, based uI
on your calculations of the work2 How
it that the two abutments have cost nor
than the expense of the entire work, as e.
timated by you? At what per cent on tn
whole cost, will you insure, by good bond
to the county, that the abutments q
the Franklin bridge will not, within fiy
years-like those of the bridge at Cooley
mill, built under your su0erintendenee, =
slip into the creek, or tumble down? HOY
does the final estimate correspond with You
original estimate, and what has made til
imDOrtant difference ~