Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1899-09-03
TWO MONTHS TIME
Will the Twenty-fifth Street
Bridge be Ready.
ABUTMENT NEARLY FINISHED
Rapid Progress Being Made by the K,DS
Bridge Company. Substantial
Sstuce of the Supports
fcr the Structure.

The statement was made yesterday
afternoon by an engineer. who is we'll
posted on the subject Of bridge build
iI::s. that the overhead bridge at the in
,ersection of Twenty-tifth street. and
the Chesapeake & Ohio railway tracks
VIII be completed. as far as the King
Bridge Company is concerned. in the
course of eight weeks from today.
or course. it is possible that the work
may not be finished by that time, but
this will only be the case if there ar.
delays, which are at present uneNpcct-
ed. There Will be no delay in the con
;ruction of the bridge Which can pos
Silly be avoided ' %
For the past two Weeks there has
been remarkable Roadway made on the
bl idge referred to above. Quite a large
force of men is employed and the con-
ulIc>crs are doing all in their power to
get the bridge completed and Will spare
no expense or trouble to have the con-
s:ructGn of it pushed until it is finished
ana ready for use.
~ each end OF the portion of the
bridge which is being built by the King
E.'iCse Company tnere is Il concrete
Ibutment upon which the iron beams
and girderS rest. This is Virtually the
commencing and en0inS OF the bridge
proper. the approaches being built by
the city of earth and sand,
The concrete aEutment at the end of
the new bridge nearest Virginia avenue
is now being built and Will. according to
the present expectations. be competed.
in the course OF a few days. 1t is being
constructed Ei the most substantial
materials ard Will be extremely strong
When ready for use. Aylarse Wooden
frame, the exact shape and size Of this
a5utment, VAS first erected. and in it
the concrete and cement Wits moulded
fer the abuLment
Thc work on the abutment at the
east end of the bridge, upon which the
ether extremity of the structure Will
rest. has not as yet been commenced.
Between this concrete foundation for
the eEu of the bridge and the first rail
way track there arc four rows of foun-
CATIONS, upon which Will be erected the
heavy steel columns which VIII support
the bridge ut thar point. The columns
which Will be used at tie paint men
toned will be made Of solid steel and
W!il, OF course, be exceptionally strong.
Across the railway tracks. from one
side Of the bridge to the other. thei'e.
Will be eight Of these supports TO the
bridge. These latter columns WIZ. N
many respects be unlike the onces re
solid they Will be hollow columns Of
STEEL.
1t would naturally be supposed from
the fact that they Will not be of solid
Steel that they VIII not lie as strong
as the ones nearer the end of the
bridge. This is not the case, and in
TACT they Will be much more substan-
tai and viii be almost iEpOsSi bic to
seriously injurc.
These columns are mounted on 4
foundation of piles, which have been
driven into the ground and viii tit over
them, resting on solid base some dis
san.e below the surface OF the earth.
The entire inside OF The hollow col
un!ns Will then be filled with a COM
bnarion OF concrete and cement. max
ing them virtually one solid piece.
1T is stated BY bridge experts, who
know what they are talking about, that
a support, or column Of this class is the
strongest in the world. and Will witl-
stand almost any shock. They say that
if d train should run off the track and
strike one OF them it would wreck the
train. but leave the support uuiniur-
cd.
The scene around the bridge si1 is
one Of great activity, and everywhere
the labcrers are working with the most
surprising energy. The various con
slsnmerts OF structural material
which have arrived up to the present
time, are piled up an over the open
anace between the tracks.
The work on the bridge which is to
he erected over the Ciiesa pcake and
Ch.o tracks at Thirty-fourth street
has not been commenced as Yet. The
construction Of this bridge will be
started as soon as possible.
There is one portion of the work which
Will have to be done by the city before
.ac Bridges are ready for use and this
cannot oe done until the King Bridge
Company has completed the steel par,
OF the structures.
The approaches 70 both bridges viii
nave TO be built BY the CITY. They will
be of earth, inr0scll in walls of stone