Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1867-09-26

IN COZ. paby "isc several gentlemen Ne
0ade tIiy OF observation 10 the grea,
ksilread Bridge. now In csurse Of construe-
tiops Across the Ais-is4ppi 81 .tbls poin,.
Through The Kindness OF l.. p pettfoone,
E-4. Ne ~ers iaa3,d 1t the abutmsat Oh
tue sa,; SIDE. Here VIC met Sir. Hudson.
tue Supsfrteading Engineer, q. ssrs. Mar.
u sad GcDaer. g ntTactOrg, and = number
o. orh.r gentlemen onGssed in he work,
Who Tefy s.ldiy "a n.etcd 80 much utter
.siirg information in regard 70 tha, gres.
strre urs. We have before ststcG IN thess
columns ttas, the a0ai,nem, en- the Wes.
Side was completed. It is built Of rock
frcn the At. Pleasant Qrsrrier. aid "a very
he dsou4c and substantial. pile Of masonry.
The las, abutmeni is very nearly tini-hed
II ts bull. Of rock from the Athens ouarries
iarsled on the anal a short distance from
Joliet, li!insis. from which place they were
brough, TO Chicago by boat aud thence here
by cars. THIS isA superior rock. basiog
been thoroughly tested fcr many years.
Seseral trachs ae already down up 10 the
ab utmru. bu. these have to be raised for
some distance bacs in order 70 afford an
cay grade 10 the bridge. The work Of al
ling 10 going on and will be completed il
ample time No person who has not been
on the ground can form any ides OF the
amount Of work already done. A wide and
permanent road. bed has been made across
the low gsound, for a distance OF more than
mile, back from the bridge, TO the juno.
lion With the old track. Rock, to be used
IN building the piers, are piled on the east
bank Of the river and along the side Of the
,r ,cks in quantity and size sufficient TO
strike the behoIder with wonder as to whet
is 10 be done with them and yet they are
SOL arriving almost daily by boat and train
About two hundred and fifty men are nos
Engaged on the bridge prop,r, including
engineers. masons, carpenters, divers and
common laborers. The divers are now en-.
gagged in removing sand and filling rip rsps
around The piling on which the piers are to
s'st. This is highly interesting operation
and well worthy the attention Of the Gu
riols. Enclosed in q water and air tight ar
NOR, weighing about one hundred and sew
enly pounds, with windows which supply
light, aud rubber hose furnishing . CON
slant hos OF fresh cir, the diver goes to the
bottom and NO rs very much after the same
manner he would on land. BY means Of .
rope he conimu icates with his guide above
u-ing a signal Language which enables hin
10 make bis wants known very easily. They
Can work thus under water without any in
furious results 'or three or four hours NJ n
time We found the pile drivers hard AT
work shaking the long 'irnbers into the bed
Of the river, until they are on solid found
alton, when The saw is brought into requests
ton and the piles cut off At unif rim he,gh,
undo, water Mr. Coulter informed us that
{ is machine had cut OF one hundred 81
zen piles the previous day. After the . les
are ~ readiness the casaon il placed in 20
eiton directly over them and secured by 4
frame work so that when sunk il will seti Q
jus, where the pier is 70 stand. The cssson
il made in the form Of large box, the bot
tom beins two thirkncsses Of heavy planks,
aid the si es Of large square ,imbers. se.
curely bolted together In . way that the
bolts can be taken out and the timbers re-
novel after the pi is in position. Every-
thing being in resdaess, solid masonry is
laid in the casson which gradually sinks as
the weight Of the stone increases. We wore
islo'med that ak inches Of solid masonry
would sink the c,sson about ono foot. After
the masonry is completed the ti,npe,s are
rmoved, and the pier is rendy for the AZ
per>'ructure. Masonry is now beng laid in
one OF the cGssons Tie men who have the
work IN charge are energetic workers. and
expect to have the cars crossing the bridge.
by the frat of next February. II men,
money and energy can accomplish this il
VII he done. The super ..ructure is to be
entirely Of IRON, and ie being made 81 De
tr u. and we understand will be completed
AZ aeon IA tho contractors here can be ready
for 1T ilavknye.