The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1890-05-26
Tho Accident will Seriously De.
lay tho Contractors.
A Series Of Unlucky Occurrences
eliminates in tho
WORST WRECK EVER SEEN.


Company,the Losers-The
Span 10 be Completed
in Ninety Days.
The false work Of the channel span o!
the Union railroad bridge over the river
a! North Wheeling, with about 600 tons
OF steel on it, was swept away yesterday
afternoon, and foated of down the
river. The steel sank near the spot. +
The accident occurred at exactly 1888
p. m. by the watch OF an INrELLIoEScEE
reporter, who was an eyewitness. The
disaster had been anticipated, and things
were put in such shape that the falling
span could not ipjure the completed
structures on the two sides. When the
contractors, the Beard Brothers, saw that
the false work was in danger, they i'm.
med:atcly called of all the men, thus
doubtless preventing loss OF life.
The channel span is over five hundred
feet in length in the clear, and is the
only span remaining unfinished. Had
the accident been delayed q week the
work would probably have been so ia.
advanced that no harm would have been
done.
A THRILLING SIGHT.
There were hundreds OF people on
each bank Of the river, attracted BY the
danger in which the structure stood. 4
mass of drift and logs reaching from
pier to pier and extending up the river
at least hundred feet at the thickest
point, had formed against the piling
and had it not been unusually substan.
tial, it must have succumbed much
earlier. On the trest!lng u. the top oil
the piles all the cross bealns. which are
heavy lnasses OF steel, had been put il
place, the rail stringe,s, the huge long
beams Of steel which run laterally tc
support the. tracks, were nearly com
pleted, and the beams which run above
and below the stringer had been placed
beneath on one side. Several iron up.
right posts and the KS supporting them
were also up
At one end Of the span wns tho mon.
ster traveller" q structure used as
derrick, and standing 1903 feet high, sixty
feet long and forty feet wide at the base.
A TERRIBLE CRASH. -.,r- /.
President Morris, OF the Edpemoor
Bridge Company, and both OF the Beard
Brothers, with the engineers, foremen
and others employed on the work, were
all preeent, expecting the crash.
The first sign Of weakness was iust
next the western pier. The piles bent,
then gave way, and the work above,
hanging a moment, then fell with a
cracking almost as sharp as rifle yolley.
The whole structure crumbled and sank
in an indescribable wreck in an incredi-
bly, short time. The sight was thrilling
ant the noise so loud that it was heard
nearly q mile away.
Persons who have seen numbers OF
such disasters said they never saw such
wreck as this one before. The bic Sec
tons Of the timber structure foated Off
down stream, and skiEs and the towboat
Horace pursued, to try to save pal of
the material. Many men got On the
piles Of wreckage. g.. !f
News Of the accident spread fast, and
all afternoon crowds Of people thronpet
to the locality on both sides Of the river,
but all that could be aeen wac ripple
where the sunken iron lay.
THE PROBABLE LOSS. iGsig
It is hard to form an estimate of the
extent Of the damage. Tho loss falls
on the Edeemoor Bridge Company, Of
Elizabeth, New Jersey, which CONTRACT
ed to furnish the supers!ructure, and
Beard Brothers, Of Pittsburgh, the con-.
tractors for placing it in position. Tie
Terminal Hallway Company loses moth
ing except by delay.
1t was reliably stated that there were
on the trestling GOO tons OF steel. valued
ut 500 q ton, which would make total
OF 100000. The false work and labor al.
ready put on the bridge is estimated to
have cost $4,000, which would swell the
total loss TO $4,000. OF the steel, how.
ever, it is thought that most can be
saved. II Is stated that tho loss can
be reduced to probably $40, 1000, Much
valuable rope WIS saved yesterday and
most Of the lumber was landed between
here and Bellaire, though in a much
damaged condition. d
Tho blocking up Of part OF the chan.
mel with iron made it dangerous for
boats to attempt to get through, but the
Keystone State made the passage up
shortly alter the disaster. - n
WILL DE DONE IN 90DAYs.
The gentlemen interested in the work
say that the false work can be replaced
and the span completed in ninety days
from date. The Edgemoor Bridge Com.
pany will at once 70 to work 10 dupli-
cate the steel parts lost yesterday. and |
as soon as the river goes down enough
to allow, the work OF recovering rs
much OF the metal MS possible will be
begun. 1t is not probable that much Of |
1t is badly damaged. g y7,. -lIT |
/. One hundred and forty.iour long piles
had been driven into the bed Of the
river between piers two and three, and
on these the superstrucsure was built,
from one pier to the other
and from the piles up to the top OF the
piers. In the superBtructure there were
sixteen rows or bents Of heavy timber,
anu IN each row were eighteen long,
heavy. timbers, forty heavy pieces used
Tor crossing and braciug, and many
smaller pieces, used Tor tho same pur.
pose; The piles had also been we'll
. +. z 2 . |
I, On the big traveller there were many
thousands OF pounds OF ropes and thirty
'r more pul!eys. The monster traveller
vas on wheels, and on an iron track
vas moved from one end Of the false
york to the other. e -
Ne. PREPARING FOR THE woRsr. |