The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-12-27
WONDERFUL ENGINEERING FEAT.
Floating the Ohio Connecting Railwa
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The Engineering and Building Record
gives an interesting account of the work
Of floating the channel span Of the Ohio
Connecting railway bridge near Pitts
burg, Pa, and depositing it in its rest
ing place on the piers The Ohio Con-
Meeting railway, about 1900 feet long,
is essentially belt road. built chiefly as
a transfer between north and north
western and south and southwestern
roads at Pittsburg, and includes bridge
4,55S feet long across the upper part OF
Brunot's Island and the Ohio river, a
little below Pittsburg.
The channel span Of this bridge is
steel single track through single inter
section span, with intermediate sub
panels and members. The truSSes are
Is feet apart, and have a maximum
depth of 65 feet. They are 523 feet long
and have curved top chords. The ma
sonry piers are about 50 feet high, and
between them an enormous river traffic
of steamboats,, barges and RATS constant
ly passes.
To avoid obstructing this traffic, as
well as to be somewhat less exposed 10
danger from food, it was decided not to
build any false work, trestles or piling
whatever between the piers, but instead
to assemble the span at the required lev
ell, with its axis perpendicular to the
final position, and far enough removed to
be clear of the main waterway, then 10
float it TO its required position and Sc
cure it TO the abutment seats. In the
shallow water along the shore of the
island piles were driven on which to
erect the false work and span.
The piles were arranged IN rows cor
responding TO the panel of the bridge.
Each row was cut of and capped about
1874 feet above normal water level, and
several lines of 20 inch steel beams were
laid across the caps. These formed
stringers on which timber trestle bents
Of suitable dimensions were erected, and
secured by wooden bracings and special
adjustable iron tie rods. On this false
work the iron and steel bridge members
were hoisted, assembled and connected
in the usual manner from a travelling
wooden erecting tower nearly 100 feet
high. This part of the work was rapid
" executed in fifteen working days.
Nine specially constructed barges We're
then hoated into position under the 90
inch steel beams and between the rows
of piles.
The barges were 100 by 25 by 8 feet
deep, strengthened by longitudinal and
transverse bulkheads, and contained in
let valves through the bottom Of every
chamber. These valves were then closed,
and the water was pumped out IN about
five hours by steam pumps on three ada
cent tug boats, and as the barges rose
they finally received the entire weight Of
the bridge span and supporting false
work and foated it clear above the piles.
The false wolI- was securely connected
together by longitudinal timbers and
temporarily bolted with iron plates TO
the piles. Decked barges were secured
TO the others and to the false work at
the ends, and carried four multiple
spoiled hosting engines, besides which
two others were set up on the shore, all
of them being supplied with about 60, 900
feet of lines.
The span was secured againsf over
turning by heavy steel guy ropes from
each end of each barge, and guy ropes
were attached to the floating mass, the
barges disconnected from the piles, and
the hosting engines, winding upon
Nc,1-1az IL fagk 60 N1,a eh1rA al .ltr
drew the barges clear of the piles
Stringers across the rear Of the barges
and extra braces were then placed
where the piles had previously inter-
fered, and the barges and their burden
again drawn forward, swung through
an angle of about 80 dogs. and drawn
upstream between tho bridge piers.
which had about twenty-five feet clear
ance from the end barges.
The movement was very slow, occupy
ing several hours, and was always IN
very short stages, preceded by careful
adjustment of the guy lines. The bridge
was thus brought approximately 20 pO-
sition twenty-one inches above the re-
CURED level Guide bolts were passed
directly through the shoes and inserted
in holes prepared in the masonry, and
the valves in the barges being opened
the false work gradually sunk until it
deposited the span safely on its seats and
left it there free and clear. The total
weight moved by the barges was about
] 800 tons, els of which was the weight
Of the permanent span. The false work
was removed and used 20 erect, in its re
quired position, another span Of the
same bridge.