The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1886-06-17
EXPERT REPORT.
ENGINEER NILES MERl-
WETuER MAKES HIS RE
PORT TO JUDGE
FULMORE.
TIE BEIDGE Is a SAFE STRUCTURE
WE'LL BUILT AND OF AMPLE
CAPACITY FOR REASON
ABLE USE.

The following is the report of Engineer
Meriwether on the bridge:
AUSTIN, June IS, 1886.
Hon. Z. Z. Fillmore, Judge of Travis County,
Texas.
DEAR SIR:-In obedience to your tele-
graph order of the 9TH inst. left Mem
phis on the Sth and arrived here on the
10th. Referring to your telegram of
June 2, asking that make an inspection
of the highway bridge over the Colorado
river, with reference to its general condi-
ton, capacity and durability" l beg to
submit the following report:
The?present low stage of the river en-.
abled me to make close and thorough
examination Of the abutments and piers,
which l did with sounding rod near
each pier and as near as practicable to
the p ers. Beginning on the east, or city
side, l find that the abutment (No. u is
in excellent condition above the surface
of the ground, and as the east shore shows
a solid ledge of stone above and below the
abutment, the natural inference is that
the abutment is founded upon this
SOLID LEDGE,
hence should regard this as absolutely
secure, and would recommend that the
main channel OF the stream be confined,
as far as practicable (by means of cheap
matrass work and rip-rapping of stone),
to the space between the first and second
spans. The first and second piers are
twelve by thirty feet, exclusive OF five feet
cut-water, at first course above current,
and have ample spread of foundation, and,
SO far as could be observed, are upon Sc
cure foundations, although it would be
well to replace some of the rip-rap in the
southeast corner of these piers, and to
re-point with cement some of the courses
of stone where the mortar has been
washed out, all of which can be done at
small cost. Piers 3, 4 and have about
the same dimensions i'll foundation as
Nos, l and 2, and seem to be in good con-
dition and we'll rip-rapped. Between pier
and the west abutment (No. y there is
deep wash-out, which should have brush
matrass placed in it and loaded with
stone as further protection to the abut-
ment, which stands in more danger in the
event of an extraordinary freshet than
does any other of the seven bridge sup
ports. The
GENERAL CONDITION
of all the masonry may be pronounced
good. 1t is well banded, the stones large
and the dimensions of piers and abut-
ments amply large for the superstructure,
the several spans having secure footings
on the piers, although not resting at cen
tres in all cases. The top dimensions of
piers are sufficiently large to allow the
30 Ia Shiftol fha
the extent of equalizing approximately
the length of five of the spans. l
could discover no displacement of any
part of the masonry at the top. The
mortar joints were not broken in any
way, but seemed to be as firm and solid
as when laid up i'll 1882 or 1888, thus
showing that the weight of the bridge and
the traffic has thus far caused no disturb
ance in the new addition, nor is it likely
to. The bridge is known as the
wHIPPLE TRUSS,
a form of truss extensively used both for
railroad and highway bridges. This struc-
ture is typical one of the highway
bridge, and one of the best examples |
have seen as built by the King Bridge
company. The details in the several con-
Meeting parts are all excellent, and the
cross section areas in metal in the various
members both tension and compression
are quite mp to the standard required for
such spans.
1t would be difficult to give all of the
cross section areas without the aid of de-
tailed drawings; nor is it regarded as es-
seutial in this investigation at this time.
have taken such measurements, notes.
etc, of the various members of the bridge
and gone over the calculations, compar-
ing them with like structures, and am
convinced that the bridge has an ample
factor of safety, both in its compression
and tensile members, such as the main
end braces: top chords, ends and centres
counter chain and rods, vertical
.atticed posts, floor, beams and
hangers. | have also examined, criti-
catly, all rods with nuts and washers to see
If they were all tight and properly buried
or secured with turned down nut locks.
and so far as l could see everything
was
PERFECTLY SECURE
in that respect should rate the capacity
OF the floor ssystem at 60 to 20 pounds per
square foot of doorway, which would
make about 19,0OOpounds per panel of IS
feet, or about 100000 pounds upon the
entire doorway of 1894 feet. While