Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1874-07-10

and imposingIy celebrated at St.
Louis. The chief feature of the days
doings was the formal inauguration
of the great bridge, which is now
open for travel. The crowd present
was imnensc,A numbering tens of
thousands. Among the distinguish
ed guests who witnessed or took
part in the Inauguration were: Gov
cnor r. A.. !. Hendricks, Of Indiana;
Governor Bcvcridgc, of Illinois; Gov
enor Woodson of Missouri; Captain
j. B. Eads, architect of the bridge;
General w. S. Hancock, General
Harvey, United States Senator Bogy,
of Missouri; james Brown, Mayor of
st. Louis, and others. Upon the
meeting Of the train and procession
on the bridge, Mr.. G. Allen, presi-
dent of the bridge company, intro
duced Mrs. Julius s. Walsh, who
christened the bridge, making the
following remarks.
"With the waters oftllc Atlantic, the
Pacific, the Gulf, and the Lakes com
mingled, cmblematic of the union
effected by the mighty spans,.I chris
ten this structure the Illinois Il st.
Louis Bridge, and invoke the bless
ings of the Almighty on it, its build
ers, and the commerce to which it is
hcnceforth and forever dedicated"
After which she sprinkled the
structure from silver pitchers con-
tanning the various waters referred to.
Water from the Northern Lakes, the
Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans had been forwarded
from Boston, San Francisco, Chica-
go and New Orleans, by the respee-
tive postmasters of those cities.
After the christening came the
speeches. After the addresses Of
welcome by Mayor Brown, Messrs.
Beveridge, Woodson, Hendricks,
Senator Ferry, of Michigan, and 9th
crs, offered appropriate remarks The
procession then moved on, occupy
ing some four hours in passing and
extending in length from twelve to
fourteen miles.
In the evening there was one of the
grandest displays Of fireworks thathas
ever been seen in this country, wit
messed by great throng Of people.
DESCRIPTION OF TIE BRIDGE.
The bridge has three spans, the cen
ter of SIS feet in the clear, the side
ones each 497 feet. Each span is
composed of four ribbed arches Of
cast steel. The double-curved ribs
or members extending from pier to
pier enable the arch to preserve its
shape under all circumstances of un-
equal pressure upon its parts, and OBJ
viate the necessity of spandrel brac-
ing. A moving load has no effect on
the curve of this double arch, how
ever unequally distributed its weight
may be.
The upper roadway for carriages,
horse cars and pedestrians is fifty
feet wide between the ratings, the
roadway being thirty-tour feet. and
the sidewalks each of eight feet
Ratings and lamps are on either side:
automatic turnstiles admit and regis.
ter the number of passengers; colos
sal statues are to be placed on the
piers and the abutments, emblematic
of the two states, commerce, trade
etc. Below the carriage way are the
two railway passages, each thirteen
and half feet wide in the clear, and
eighteen feet high, extending through
arched openings of equal size in tho
abutments and piers. Five stone
arches, each of twenty feet, carry the
tracks over the levee on either shore
They are enclosed by cut-stouc ar
cades of twenty arches, supporting
the carriage ways. On the st. Louis
side brick arches carry the tracks t.
the uptown Union depot, and tn.
carriage way is continued on a leve
grade over the regular tracks to Thirt
street.
On the Illinois shore the railway!
curve off to the north and south, i'm
mediately after crossing the last ont
of the stone arches, and with de
scending grade of one foot in 100
extending about 5000 feet, and sup
ported on iron trcstle work part o
the way, reach the grade of the rail
ways on the Illinois side. The car
rage road descends with grade o
five feet in 100, Immediately after thu
railway tracks curve away from thu
bridge.
1t will be long time ere an accu
rate statement of the cost of thu
bridge can be given. Col. FLAG
gives the following as approximate
ing very nearly to the exact cxpend
iture for the bridge: land damages
100000; caissons and foundations
$500, 900, masonry, 100000; east
ern approaches, 100000, super
structure, 100000. TO this total O
S4,7OO,OOO he added about 81 ,25O,OO(
for miscellaneous; contingent and
other expenses, bringing the amount
up to s6,ooo,oOO. The tunnel (which
will be completed August l was
placed at $l,2OO,OOO. With an adj
dition of $3,oOO,oO0 for charter, in
terest, discount, financial operations
management, consolidation, etc, the
total expenses will be nearly $l0,50O
900.
The bridge contains lO4, 900 yards
ofmasonry, the tunnel 10000. There
have been employed 1900 tons OF
steel and 5000 of iron. The Veto.
ria bridge ut Montreal contains %,
900 tons of stone in all; there arc As,
900 in the eastern abutment pier OF
the St. Louis bridge.
Twenty-Five lives were lost during
the work, including the twelve from
caisson disease. Nine men were Kill
led OH the piers, and one on the sup
erstructurc. All of these were lost
through the carelessness of their
owners, as nothing connected with
the machinery or staging gave way,
broke or proved defective. The
working force was 1000 strong.
The contractors were as follows:
masonry, James Andrews, Pittsburg,
Pa; superstructure, the keystone
Bridge Company, Pittsburg, Pa;
eastern approach, the Baltimore
n L. NJ Y