Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-09-05
THE oUEBEC BRIDGE CALAMITY.

The collapse of the great railroad
bridge in process Of conStruc''o"
across tho st. Lawrence river at que
bee is terrible calamity. from what
ever STANDPOINT IT is considered. The
loss of four score precious lives under
such heart -rcnding circumstances
would alone render the accidept one
OF the most deplorable of year al
ready famous for its unusually fatal
disasters. but If a single life mad not
been sacrificed, the loss would still
he tremendous from an engineering
and transportation standpoint MS well
as from a financial point of view.
The bridge, which was to have been
mile and on-half in length, was tho
only structure of the kind over the
mighty st. Lawrence below the Grand
| Trunk and the Pacific bridges at Mon
trcal. It was to have figured promi-
nently in relation to railroad trans
portation in the lower portion of the
Province of Quebec, affording direct
connection between the ancient capt
tol of canada and not only Canadian
territory on the south side of the river
but also with various points of New
England
At the present time the only way
Of transferring railroad cars across
1,nln Mont rp IA
by ferry. and for trains which can
not be handled in this way the route
IN one shore of the river and down
the other is circuitous in the extreme.
The collapsed bridge was intended to
obviate all this, but tho destruction
of much of the work which had been
In progress for nearly seven years, will
necessarily postpone the completion OF
this great public Improvement for at
least half decade beyond tho date
set for its finish
Considered from an engineering
point of view tho Quebec bridge di'-
aster is highly unfortunate. It was
at first supposed that the collapse Of
the structure was due to faulty ma
sonry in the PIERS but inasmuch a.
ing unmoved it is necessary to look
beyond the stone foundations for tina
structural weakness responsible for
the accident. Advices from Philadcl
phia regarding the work on the iron
part of the bridge carried on at Phoe-
nixville. Penn. state that the struc-
ture was composed entirely of rolled
steel, not a single casting having
! been employed In its construction.
and simply bolted together at Que
bee
Under these circumstances Tho
cause of the accident must be refer
red back to the engineering part OF
| the work. Either the plans of tho
bridge itself were in fault. or sum
cicnt support for the partially COM
pletcd arch was not provided, II
| looks as though the latter might be
tho true explanation Of the disaster.
The bridge was to consist OF two
| 50o-foot spans extending from the
anchor piers to the main piers of tho
towers, two cantilever arms reaching
out over the river a distance OF 562R
| feet each and carrying between them
a central suspended span measuring
| lance Of 500 feet from the shore the
! massive steel structure rose, with no
supports save the piers, from tho
| shore and one pier $50 feet from tho
shore. 1t Is evident from this that
the strain on the outer extremity OF
the suspended structure must have
been tremendous.
If the engineers had not had warn
ing of danger at this point in tho
would he different, but If memory
serves us correctly, another bridge
| over tho st, Lawrence river collapsed
under very similar circumstances
| When the New York and ottawa rail-
road running from Tupper's Lake in
| the Adirondacks to ottawa, and now
a part of the New York Central lines
was bringing to completion one Of its
| bridges connecting the island near
Cornwall with the main land on tho
south side OF the river the structure
| collapsed, ono OF the piers having
proved faulty. Fortunately In this
instance the loss of life was not
great as was the case of Quebec, but
the financial sacrifice was large
though the bridge, extending simply
between an island and the mainland
was not Of great magnitude like that
| now destroyed
| Now that two bridges across the St
| Lawrence have collapsed when near
ing completion, under varying cir.
| cumstances, an urgent demand will
unquestionably be made for n thorough
investigation by the Canadian govern
lment. 1t is to be hoped that tho
tause OF the accident at Quebec may
be thoroughly sifted, and that II
| criminal CarelesSneSs Is aCCountab le