Bridgeton pioneer. (Bridgeton, N.J.) 1884-1919, 1904-09-29
THE MAURICETOWN
BRIDGE ROAD.

taking upon the part of Cumberland
county, and it was an expensive one
The attempt a year ago to build a
roadway upon the eastern end of that
bridge was great undertaking and
an expensive one, but there was little
idea that the contract would prove
the tremendous expense that it did.
Fortunately for the county gand.the
tax payers, Contractor A. H. Lupton,
of this city, secured the work, he be-
ing the lowest bidder by considerable.
Mr.. Lupton had an especial interest
in the making of the road, and as a
tax paying citizen had the best inter
ests of thescounty at heart
Stand to-day upon the east end of
the Mauricetown bridge, and look to-
ward the Pennsylvania railroad sta
tion, one can look over roadway that
stands a resolute and lasting mcnu-
ment to the skill and persistence of
a contractor that permitted nothing to
embarrass or discourage him. Many
a man, less resolute than Mr.. Lupton,
would have failed.
The cooperation of the West Jersey
and Seashore Railroad Company with
the contractor was of the greatest
benefit to the county. By agreement
the railroad company furnished free
the supervising engineer, and thus
saved the taxpayers thousands of dol
lars The company also carted all the
sand and gravel upon train upon
temporary tracks, at no cost to the
county There is no doubt but that
the roadway would have cost just
donble the amount it did had the
county been obliged to have purchased
the gravel and sand and done it's own
carting.
Contractor Lupton easily impressed
upon the mind of the railroad engi-
neer that he was the man for the
place, and they working absolutely
without friction or disagreement made
it possible for the roadway to be COM
pleted at less cost than it otherwise
would
The first trainload OF sand was
dumped upon the Mauricetown road
on the morning Of September 14th, a
year ago. Owing to washouts in
river banks, the work was discon-
tinued from Oct. 10th to the 2Sth.
The contractor was obliged to go to
the personal expense of employing a
steam dredger and a large force of
men and repair the breaches in the
river banks, before work upon road
building could be resumed
From January I'd to the 3D. of Feb
ruary no sand could be hauled owing
to the extremely severe cold weather
The earth was frozen to the ties, maxi
ing it impossible to jack up the track
When work of filling was finally re-
sumed it was necessary for the men to
pick the ties from the frozen sand, a
very expensive job, and this fell upon
the contractor.
Happily, during the entire year,
there was but one serious accident be-
falling the army of7workmen. On the
goth of May an italian fell from a
moving car, and leg was fractured
He was promptly removed to the
Cooper Hospital at Camden, carefully
cared for and fully recovered.
A mud dredge was employed in the
construction OF the work, filling many,
many cars with mud, and this was
placed on slopes Of the road to protect
it from the wind and water. This
was not required in the contract, but
was done by Mr.. Lupton to finally
complete the work satisfactory to
himself.
The gravel placed upon this great
filling of sand was thoroughly packed
by a heavy steam roller and the road
way made like a floor. Then there
was placed on either side OF the road
way most substantial guard fence.
An authority, in speaking of the
work done by the railroad company,
said that if teams had been used to
haul the aand and gravel furnished by
gravel train, the road would have been
several years in building.
The chief discouragement was the
continual falling Of the road for a
space of four hundred feet. It was
remarkable how the roadway settled.
Where this settling occurred the rail
road company filed in on an average of
one hundred carloads of gravel each
day for three weeks, and at the ex-
piration of this time the road bed was
below the level where it was when
the work was begun. In single
night that great embankment for four
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