Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1907-09-05
A BRIDGE FALLS,
EIGHTY MEN DROWN
HUGE STRUCTURE FELL INTO
THE ST. LAWRENCE RIVER.
FIVE MILES FROM QUEBEC.
Ninety Men Were at Work on the
Bridge When Without Moments
Warning 1t Dropped Into the
Water Below.

Quebec, Que.-A section of the
new bridge across the st. Law
renee river five miles below this city
collapsed late Thursday, carrying
scores of bridge workers and mechan-
les into the water. 1t is estimated
that the loss of life is at least 60 and
may exceed that number by 20. The
bridge was about mile and half in
length and half of it, from the south
shore to midstream, crumpled up and
dropped into the water.
Ninety men were at work on this
section of the structure and the whis-
tie had just sounded at $50 for the
men to quit work for the day when
there came grinding sound from the
bridge midstream. The men turned
to see what had happened and an in
slant later the cry went up The
bridge is falling" The men made
rush shoreward. but the distance was
too great for them to escape. The
fallen section Of the bridge dragged
other sections after it, the swapping
girders and cables booming like a
crash of artillery.
The steamer Glenmont had Just
cleared the bridge when the first sec
tion fell. The water thrown up by
the debris came clear over the bridge
of the steamer. The captain at once
lowered boats The small boats piled
backward and forward over the
sunken wreckage for half an hour, but
there was no sign of life. The twisted
iron and steel held its victims in ter
rible death grip. A few floating tim
bers and the broken strands of the
br!dse toward the north shore were
the only signs that anything unusual
had happened, There was not rip
pie Cn the smooth surface of the st.
Lawrence as it swept along toward
the Gulf.
All the men drowned were EN-.
ployes OF the Phoenix Bridge Co. and
sub contractors of Quebec and Mon.
treal
The southern extension of the bridge
which collapsed was rapidly nearing
the zenith OF the immense steel arch
which was to span the river For 500
feet from the shore the massive steel
structure reared an arch with no sup
ports save the piers from the shore
and one pier in the river about 80
feet from the shore, while the out
ward extremity was 1S0 feet above the
water.
The end of the half arch bent down
a trifle and moment later the whole
enormous fabric began to give way,
slowly at first, then with a terrific
crash which was plainly heard in Que
bee, and which shook the whole coun-
tryside so that the residents rushed
out of their houses, thinking that an
earthquake had occurred.
OF the % men working on the
bridge eight 50 far have been recov-
cred. OF the other 81, 16 have been
taken from the water dead and it is
feared that the great majority of the
others have been either drowned or
crushed by the falling grders.
The bridge was begun about seven
years ago and it was to be finished in
1909. Subsidies had been granted by
the federal and provincial govern
ments and the city of Quebec, and the
estimated cost of the work was s10,-
100000.
The Phoenix Bridge Co., of Phoenix
vile, Pa, had the contract for the
cOhSIructlOH OF tne DlldSe, and Its
men were working from both sides of
the river
Montreal = The Quebec bridge
was remarkable In that it was
to be the longest single span canti-
lever bridge in the world, the length
of the span in the center being 1,S0O
feet, or 200 feet longer than that of
the Firth bridge. at present the
worlds longest single bridge span.