Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1880-01-24

having entered upon the bridge
fully fifteen minutes before haC
never reached his station and tha1
all telegraphic communication with
the other side had ceased. What
had in reality happened, the public
knew now as well as they are ever
likely to know.
We subjoin from the London
Times of Sept. 27, 1877, a descrip-
ton of the bridge and of the tests
applied at opening it:
The project of building a bridge
over the Tay, so as to shorten the
way from Dundee and the north
east of Scotland to the South, was
conceived very early in railway
history. A meeting of the share
holders of the Edinburgh and North
ern Railway afterwards the Edin-
burgh, Perth and Dundee, and now
merged into the North British, held
in September, 1912, empowered the
Board to take all the necessary steps
to construct a bridge at or near
Newburgh, or to agree with any
other company to assist in con-
structing the bridge. The intention
at that time took the form of a
high-level bridge, which the Dun
dee and Perth and Edinburgh and
Northern Companies agreed to con-
struct at an estimate cost of between
9l00, 900 andz9150, 900. This agree
ment was never carried into effect.
Previously proposals had been made
for low-level bridge near the same
spot, making use of Mugdrum
Island in the Tay, and in conse-
quence of opposition to this scheme
another project was to construct
| swing bridge, so as to accommodate
the river traffic. The question rest
ed in allegiance till 1865, when the
initiatory steps for the promotion
of a bridge were taken by an inde-
pendent company, but this also
came to nothing. In 1866 the North
British Company promoted bill
for bridge and railway connection
at Dundee, substantially agreeing
with the bridge now built, but this
also fell aside owing to the financial
circumstances of the line. 1t was
not till the session of 1870 that an
act for the bridge was obtained, the
project being promoted as a separate
undertaking, but being warmly
supported by the North British
Company. The capital authorized
by the act was f350, 900 in shares
and e116,000 in loans, of which sum
9339, 900 has been raised, the North
British subscribing portion of the
amount. The work was begun in
June, 1871, and the foundation
stone was laid on July %. The
stone abutment for the land end
and the two brick piers before the
water is reached were quickly
erected, and the cylinder to form
the foundation of the first water
pier was fioated into position in
October of the year named. The
entire length of the bridge contract
was 10, 142ft. but some small spans
on the north side with a series of
brick arches, 81 in numbe, included
in the land line contract, bring up
the actual length of the bridge to a
little over two miles. From the end
of 1871 till now the bridge works
have made progress, but various
causes helped to retard the work in
its earlier years. Among these
causes were the death of the con-
tractor, Mr., De Bergue, and the
alterations in the form Of the bridge |
as we'll as in the methods employed |
in constructing it, owing to the bed |
of the river not having answered |
the original expectations. After IA |
piers, being those nearest the south
end, on the original plan of engaged |
pillars Of solid brickWork resting on |
a submerged base, had been COM
pleted, and a good deal of work at |
the other and shallower side had |
been done, the plan of using brick
above high water was discarded in
favor of iron, ard in the case of the /
larger piers the method of laying
the foundations was also changed.
Considering the magni-
tude of the work, 1t has been brought
to this stage with a minimum of ac-
cident to life or limb. On one occa-
sion, while the plan of building up
the piers from within with the air
bell was in use, several lives were
lost by an iron caiss0n under water
giving way. Some minor accidents
have been experienced, and on the
I'd of February Of this year, in the
midst of terrific gale, three grid
ers which had been raised, but not
secured in their places, were flung
into the river through their tempo
rary supports giving way. Several
men had a narrow escape, and one
man was hHrt on the ankle by this
accident, which carried down into
the river several hundred tons of
iron from a height of S8ft. above
high-Water level. OF
the So spans, the last to be COM
pleted outward was No. % from the
south side, the last of the 45ft.
and Ione-half of which was
blown down in February.
Starting from Dundee on a wide
radius, to change the direction from
the shore line to the flight line over
the river, the bridge rises by gra-
dient of in 63 to the summit level,
at the north end Of the large spans,
where the roadway is S8ft. above
the mean tide level. The descent
TO the south side is / in 1863, or to
the eye nearly level. The 13 spans
of 245ft. each; placed in the centre
of the river, and filling UP nearly
one-third of the length of the
Df1u6, 10TH OI IIleIIIS0IN0S great
work, the size and importance of
which can hardly be judged either
by the view from the river below
OF by the passenger from either side
there is a distance of about 8,500ft.
where the line is laid on the top of
the girder, and the train will travel
In the open. When the wide spans
are reached the rails run on the
bottom of the 27ft.-high girder, and
the long straight lines of the struct-
ure give the roadway the appear
ance of a tube or tunnel as this part
of the bridge is approached. Far
the passenger will see the
hurrying ebb or flow of the strong
tide of the Tay, sometimes in rough
weather lashed into fury by the
tempests that sweep down from the
hills. Excepting the unfastened
girders that fell, no part of the
structure has shown sign of fail.
ure, although the storms since the
highest and most exposed parts of
the structure were built have been :
of unsurpassed severity. A walk
across the bridge gives a sense Of
strength in the structure,
and although the lines of the struct-
ure are wholly straight, or diagonal,
ifs extent. its li0htneSS. and its ever {