The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1873-11-14
NUMBER ID.
THE INTERNATIONAL BRIDGE

THE INTERNATIONAL BRIDGE.
Completion of the Great work across the
Niagara river, Connecting the United
States with Canada.
The great international bridge across
Niagara river from Buffalo to Fort
Erie, in Canada, has been completed.
although it has not yet been formally
thrown open to travel. OF the work
the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser fur
nishes a complete account, from which
we quote the following interesting de-
/ scriptiOn:
To state the fact roughly but plainly,
the entire length of the bridge is about
three-quarters of mile. But more in
detail the length is as follows In the
main river, 800 feet; over Squaw is
/ land, 1900 feet (trestle work., and over
Black Rock harbor, 45O feet. The en-
| tire length of the superstructure in the
main river Is !, $50 feet; in Black Rock
harbOr, 44O feet. There are nine spans
in the portion on the main river and
three in the Black Rock harbor four
of 100 feet in the clear, and three of
240 in the clear Over the main river
also are two draw openings of $50 feet
each total length of draw girder, 362
feet. In Black Rock harbor are two
draw openings of 80 feet each, and one
fixed span 22O feet in length. In the
main river are eight piers and two abut-
ments and in the harbor two piers and
- l.
feet long by 80 wide, at the bridge-seat
level. Over the bridge is laid track
for railroads, and a common sidewalk
for foot passengers. The piers and
abutments are built of sandstone from
Georgetown and Acton, Canada, and
Berea, near Cleveland, Ohio. The iron
of the superstructUrc was from the
Ph9nixville Iron cOmpany's works.
PhuniXville, Penn. The first caissOn
was launched on the 18th of July, 1870,
and the work progressed steadily up to
the time of completion. It must be re-
membered that the current of the river,
at the point where the bridge is IOca-
ted, runs from five miles and half to
ten miles an hour, according to the state
of the wind. This was throughout one
of the greatest difficulties encountered,
and frequently retarded progress.
Then, too, the depth of water varies
from twelve to forty-five feet. The
ice in winter, some may think, would
damage the bridge IN course of time,
but the ice-breakers afforded ample pro-
lection, and cut to pieces blue ice two
feet thick with comparative ease. An
other remarkable thing connected with
the history of the bridge is that during
the whole course of the work not sin
have, many Of them, often been exposed
to dangers. but always have escaped.
The respective weights of the different
spans over the river are as follows 100
feet, 40 tons; 24O feet2OS tons; 362 feet
draw, 353 tons and the quantity
of iron used IN the whole bridge
amounts to upward of 1000 tons. At
the request of Capt. Tyler, the English
government inspector of railways, VIII o
visited the bridge IN November, 1871,
on behalf of the English shareholders,
one of the spans of 100 feet was loaded
with DO tons of iron rails, equally dis
tributed over the floor beams "a weight
greater than that of a continuous train
of locomotives covering the SPAN, and
left in that condition for three days.
The test was highly satisfactory, the de-
Election being found to be only about
one inch, and the truss returning ex-
actly to its former condition on the re-
mOval of the rails.
The bridge has been leased to the vari-
GUS roads whish will cross it for twenty
years. The roads are the Crank Trunk.
the Great Western, the Canada South
ern, the New York Central, the Erie,
and the New York West Shore and Chi
cagO. Most of these railroads have al
ready constructed their approaches to
the bridge, and will commence sending
trains across at as early day as posi-
BILE. The original plan contemplated
carriage-way, but this was abandoned |
for the reason that, as the bridge was /
of a mile long, and so /
many trains were to cross it, there would |
very seldom be a chance for carriages /
to cross without interfering with the
trains.
The entire cost of the bridge, in
round numbers, is not less than 81, ,5OO,
600. OF its practical benefits we leave
the reader to judge, merely stating IN
conclusion that it supplies want long
FeI+ Nv +Ira I pfarav7t -9f II roads which have |
for so many years been obliged to cross
the Niagara river on the steamer Inter