St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-12-08
That Will Soon Unite Broad
way, East, With State,
West.
Over Four Million Pounds OF
Iron and Five Thousand
Yards of Stone
Will Enter Into Its ConStruc-
tion--Something of the
Approaches.
His Nibs, the Secretary Of
War, Not Consulted in
the Matter.

Four million two hundred thousand
pounds of iron and steel. $500 cubic
yards of masonry and year and half
! of work by 100 skilled mechanics are
items now necessary before the new
Broadway-State street bridge will span
the broad surface of the Father of
Waters complete structure.
There seems to be an idea with many
that it will be necessary before the con-
struction of the bridge can be be-
gun to have the plans for the
bridge approved by the secre-
tary of war. That law
is in existence whereby such approval
is made necessary is fact. 1t is also a
fact that of the numerous bridges now
spanning the river at this point none
have received the approval of the war
office. in most instances for the reason
that said office has not been consulted
in the matter. In the case of the Robert
street bridge the plans were
SENT TO WASHINGTON
for inspection, and failed to meet with
the approval of the department. for the
reason that between the island and the
: south shore the elevation of the struct-
ure was not such as is required by the
government in law relating to the
bridging of navigable streams. The
secretary of war having refused his ap-
proval of the plans. the city
engineer ignored the decision and
ordered work begun. The bridge was
built with state approval and. up to this
date. there has been no evidence of an
intention on the part of the government
to pull 1t down. As regards the Waba-
sha street bridge and the recently COM
pleted high bridge, it is matter of
doubt whether the war department
! chief knows anything about their eX-
istence. If he does. however. it is toll
erably certain that he has lost but little
sleep over the illegally built structures.
Engineer Rundlett. in speaking yes
terday about the new bridge. SAID that
there was no intention of consulting
the war Office as to the SatisfactOriness
or the reverse of the plans which stand
approved by the state. He thought the
most satisfactory way OF securing the
approval of the government was to
build the bridge first and send photo
! graph of the completed structure to
, Washington. Mr.. Rundlett's pl an
will be
EMINENTLY SATISFACTORY
to St. Paul people who want to see the
! bridge built at once. Construction will
be begun Immediately. Bids on the ex-
cavatiOns and masonry were advertised
for yesterday, and Jan. l will see the
| work in full blast. 1t is estimated that
the piers will stand completed in about
one year. after which six months will
be occupied in the placing of the
iron and steel superstructure.
The bridge will pass over Third
street at a height of twenty feet,
which will give plenty Of lee-way for
any class of vehicle. There are rumors
of suit to be brought by the Manitoba
Railway company for damages which it
is alleged will occur to the property of
the company through the passage of
the bridge OIL line with the windows of
the company'S headquarters building.
| The damage, if any, will result from the
exclusion of light from some of the
offices by the bridge framework. there
being no entrances to the building from
the Third street side. There has been,
however, ho official expression of disSat-
isfactlon on the part of the company.
A noteworthy feature in the plans of
the new bridge is the height at which it
passes over the West side levee. Suffi-
cient space has been left to allow of
the
PASSAGE OF TRAINS
under the bridge without material alter
alton. A vigorous effort has been made
by the city engineering department to
have the Wabasha street bridge so re-
modelled at the levee point as to leave a
clear space on the levee for the con-
struction of the Minneapolis short line,
which will certainly be built along
its length at no distant date. Strenu-
Gus opposition was made, however, by
the Sixth warders, whose property
would necessarily have been assessed
for the improvement, and the project
stands for the present defeated. On
either side of the Broadway approach
to the bridge will be left space twenty
feet wide, sufficient for the passage of
wagons and the presence of an eight
foot sidewalk. A flight of steps will
lead down to Third street on either
side of the bridge at that point. En-
gineer Rundlett expect to see the entire
bridge completed in less than eighteen
months