Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1886-03-06
THE NEW RAILROAD nRIncr
Il Is to be opened For rr.,,. ,r.,., =,

VI AH0lm0 march 0fh
Ane new railroad bridge which ha. beeu
erected across the Kennebec river. tho n,..
."' WATER amid such difficulties, will be 40
iAf completed next Tuesday that all tbrou.b
'fain' viii resume service via. thi, civ IN
.nas day, commencing with train No n
u O'Clock passenger train. and tho .neo;.,
.eFsice OF night trains on the upper route will
Oe cancelled from that date Since the re.
nArkaoie freshet in January last, all
through trains have been run on the nrr.-
route via Danville Junction. Lev;.,on md
"'ntnrop, and transfer made at Augusta
lor such passengers As found it necessary to
travel the lower route.
Inc nrst freshet and its conseouence. .rs
well remembered The ice in the ,;ver h,oLo
up and on Jan. 9Th coming down against the
TWO spans OF trestle work which had been
erected, swept them away az though thew had
oeen chat. At that time Supt. Booker and
HIS men mad just commenced the erection of
the iron for the first span. The top cord,
had been laid, and, AS all our readers remem.
oer' these were carried away together with
the wood work, and los, The vato, w.s
20 nieh at the time that it was impracticable
10 begin work until the 18th of January.
when the first trestle work was set, with the
mercury 70 degrees below zero. A force of
ABOUT lug men distributed in several crews at
once devoted their entire energies to repair
ing the damage and rebuilding the bridge.
The rapidity with which they worked was
surprising, and the success which has re-
varded their efforts, gratifying. But when
the work was we'll advanced, with trestle
work under every span, another freshet came
and the wood under the west span was carried
away on Monday, February 18th. Fortu-
nateiy operations were 80 far along that
the iron would support itself, and the span
was saved. The men worked like beavers and
under almost unsurmountable difficulties so
that the bridge should be completed before
the spring freshets, and at last they are to see
successful contamination. High up in the
air, the thermometer reaching much of the
time below zero, and cutting norther blow
ing, 1t will be seen that there was nothing
pleasant about the life of the workmen on
the bridge. The men worked on Sundays, so
great was the press land since the trestle work
went out Feb. 9Th, have labored 81 days, not
outstanding there have been Is billiards and
two freshets. Bridge Builder Booker has
given his personal attention TO the job and
could be found among his men in all weathers.
q time and under such dlsadvantageous cir
cumstances, is very creditable to both SUPER
intendent and men.
The new bridge is a wrought iron, single
quadrangular, through bridge of four spans.
The length of each of these spans is one hun
dred and seventy-two feet and one inch from
center to center Of end pins, and the entire
length covered by the four spans from center
to center of extreme end pins, is six hundred
and ninety-eight feet. Its height is % feet, 2
inches. The bridge is constructed with in
clined end posts, riveted top cords, pin con-
nected lower chords and iron floor beams
with riveted connections. The entire weight
of iron used in the construction of the bridge
itself, exclusive of track, is one million and
sixty thousand pounds. The bridge was
manufactured by the Union Bridge Company
of Buffalo, N Y, and Athens, Pa and the
work of erection has been done by the Maine
Central Railroad Company. The columns
on top of the piers, on which the spans of the
former iron bridge were supported, have been
done away with and the piers have been
built up with solid masonry to receive the
new structure. This mason work was very
difficult business during the cold weather and
added to the magnitude of the job. The total
cost of the iron work of the bridge is
about S36 900, while the expenses for labor
etc. will reach about half as much more.
The floor is of exceptional strength The
sleepers are of hard pine 9x9 inches, and
layed inches apart, with guard rail. The
wrought iron floor beams and stringers are
very solid. The bridge is the same pattern
as that over the Sebasicook river at
winslow an is one of the strong
est on the road. The old iron will
be utilized for for a bridge at Orono,
which is to be erected the coming summer.
This is one of the biggest jobs in bridge
building which has been done on the
Maine Central for years.
At this writing the two west
spans are practically completed.
The riveters are now occupied on
the third, while the east span will be so
nearly finished that it will support itself to-
night. 1t will require some weeks to entirely
complete the structure after trains commence
running and the short span over the street is
to be built next month.