The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-11-15
THE WILLOW STREET BRIDGE.
Hearings Before the Special Committee
 Will Begin Next TuesdaY Night.

i Hearings Before the Special Committee
 Will Begin Next Tuesday Night. 1 The special committee on the inves- 1 tigaton of the building of the Willow street bridge met last night to lay out plan of procedure in holding the pub lie hearings which are to come later. The committee decided to hold the first hearing next Tuesday night, when the | director of public works, ex-City Clerk l Lyon and the contractors who were en- gagged in building the bridge will be asked to explain the entries relating to | the building of the bridge which appear in certain books and the records of the meetings of the common council, at which the orders for the bridge were passed. It is alleged that although the { order was for a footbridge,. a bridge fifty feet wide was built at cost far beyond what was authorized.
 The following letter was sent yester' day by Director Troup to Mayor Dris- coll, calling his attention to the fact that the new bridge was in danger ous condition owing to the fact that the piling had shifted as result Of heavy rains.
 Director Troup made an early morn ing hurry call to the Willow street bridge about 8 o'clock yesterday fore- noon. It was reported to him that the structure was In danger of being wash ed away. His inspection resulted In the following letter to his honor, Mayor Driscoll: ......
 November IA, 1893. His Honor, c. T. Driscoll Mayor, etc;
 of RrpnnDn called my attention this morning to the dangerous condition of the trestle on the View street side, across the Mill river meadows. I visited the bridge at his request, and found that the piling on the bent supporting the trestle at point nearest the meadow had shifted, owing to the washouts caused by the rains on the 11th and 18th instant, that the timbers were not resting on the piles, that the second row of piles were considerably bent the sand push ing them out of place, and they were separating from the timbers that were supposed to support the trestle. From information I was able to obtain, the sliding or shifting was similar to that in June, when the piling gave way, and a new bent was placed on the up- lands at a cost of from 5000 to $700
 Considering the washout at the fill ing dangerous to teams dumping on the View street side, I have directed the superintendent of street to close the View street side of the trestle, and re- quest all those having material to dump to dump on the Mechanic street side until the trestle can be strength ened.
 Tn this connection I desire to say that the appropriation has been ex- hausted, and funds will have to be pro- vided to make the repairs, which seem to be necessary in order to save this bent on the trestle.
 'T would refer you to City Engineer Kelly as to what is necessary to be done in the emergency. Respectfully,
 (Signed). Alexander Troup,
 Director of Public Works,
 It is now up to the board of finance and his honor. If the bridge Is to be saved repairs must be made at once. The director hasn't any money and | cant do the work without it. The committee on the investigation of | the Willow street bridge appointed by | the court of common council, made an | examination of the bridge.