Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-01-06
The Aqueduct Bridge Piers,

To the Editor of The Evening Star:
The STAR of the Attn instant has. an article on
the Aqueduct bridge, In which it is stated that
petition Is being largely signed in George
town to grant the Washington and Arlington
railroad permission to use said bridge
Now / am not going to oppose the granting
Of the use of those piers for such a purpose.
for, while 1 have confidence in the support
ing capacity of the new bridge built on those
piers, have full confidence In the piers them
selves to bear up under all that can be put on
| them But while believing in the piers / wish
to call attention to a report on those piers as
published in the annual report OF the District
Commissioners for the year ending June 80
1889. which may be found On page go of said re-
port. II is headed Record of Observations Made
by Diver Robert Rogers at Aqueduct Bridge
July II, 1889" and Is Endorsed true BY Capt.
Hunt and the District Commissioners. The diver
describes the condition of two abutments and
seven piers, but says not one word about pier
No. that said by Engineer Hunt TO be
"toppling over, and which he further states con-
tanned a cavity so big that it took ]. $50 two
bushel bags of concrete to fill it. and 105i bar
rels Of other concrete material besides $50 tons
rip-rap stone to keep the aforesaid bags in
their position in said cavity and prevent said
pier from tumbling over, and yet. with the pier
in this condition and many thousands of dollars
expended on it, there is not one word in the
whole report from the diver about this pier.
This NAV be truly said to be "acting Hamlet
with Hamlet left out"
But what am coming at ia "Pier No. e.
which is one of the two main piers OF the
bridge. which stand near the middle of the river
the third out from each shore. These piers are
twenty-five feet wide. while the other six piers
are but twelve feet wide. They also extend up
and down the river some ten feet beyond the
other piers.
Here is what Capt. Hunt and the Commits
sioners report to the President and Congress
that the diver said Of the north main pier.
quote the exact language, to wit:
Pier No. 6, north side.-Masonry in good
condition. except at northwest nose, where
there is a large cavity, where the masonry has
fallen down northward that a man can walk
under the overhang OF the pier. The face be-
yond Ia very rough. and the diver considered IL
too dangerous to investigate very far back"
The diver was afraid to walk under this over
hang lest the pier come tumbliug down onto
him, and yet the Commissioners have allowed
this main pier that they represented TO the
President and Congress in this dangerous
condition most four years ago to remain so
without doing anything to repair il.
asked Capt. Hunt yesterday in the presence
Of Capt. Fiebeger If ANYTHING had been done
| to save that pier from further alleged damage,
and the answer was Nothing" | asked him if
he believed the statement OF the diver and got
q smile for a reply. / repeated the question.
I
scription is false in regard TO this pier then
how can what he said of the other piers be
credited? If his description of this pier il true
then in what a dilemma does it place the Com
mis-ioners.
These piers each have an ice breaker COM
posed Of hewn granite blocks twenty-five inches
thick and of twenty cubic feet dimensions.
They each extend five feet below the surface Of
| the water. They are In the form OF an oblong
cone, sloping on an angle of As degrees. and ex-
tend up stream from fiye to ten feet with
/ nothingjo support them but the foundations
beneath Now If the foundations were knocked
| ont, as the Commissioners and Capt. Hunt aud
| Capt. Symons represent the diver as saving,
so that he could walk under the overhang,
| which overhsng must be the ice breaker then /
would Ike to know what prevents the ice
breaker from falling dowa? IL surely cannot
rest upon nothing.
! The water at this point is supposed to be
about eleven feet deep, and at the ice breaker
| extends live feet below the surface OF the water
We have but about SIX feet left between the bot
| tom OF thSice breaker and the bed OF the river
Tor the cavity or ''overhang," the diver speak,
| OF, height hardly sufficient for him to stand
! without touching his head to the ice breaker
! resting on nothing above him. No wonder nc
was afraid to venture into such place. But
what 1 cannot understand is how that ice
breaker : able to support itself there all OF
| these years resting on nothing. Perhaps az
! investigation into this matter by another dive,
and other engineers. which Congress shoult
lose no time in having done, may enlighten Us
In the meantime. IL what the Commissioner,
say of the condition Of this pier is to be &C
cepted the truth. then all travel over thi
bridge should be at once suspended until thi
main pier, No. 8, Is put IN . safe condition.
January 5. ]. II. CRANE.