Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-13
UNIQUE BRIDGE PLAN
Substantial Structure Under
Way in lexington.
SPANS RAILWAY TRACKS
Small Creek Beneath Enclosed as a
Sewer.
COST ESTIMATED AT $4,000
Pullman Palace Car Company to Have
Storehouse for Supplies on
South Side. .,
COST ESTIMATED AT 100000

Where little creek once ran at the foot
OF a parklike hill, in lexington. and
where that hill was scooped away by the
Baltimore and Ohio railway to make room
for freight tracks. a bridge Is in process
Of erection at 4th street northeast, to carry
I street over the wide expanse of the upper
end of the freight yard.
or this bridge only the piers exist but
they stand so solid In their heavy mass
OF concrete that they look il they had
been there for years. Each pier Is a lit
tie higher than the one west Of 1t, 30 that
with the ramp Of the approach at 4th street
on + street the whole effect will be that of
gigantic slide, the east end OF the bridge
being nearly fifty feet higher than the
west end. From pier to pier the roadbed
will be level. but from end to end of the
bridge the surface will be that made famil-
lar to the neophyte In geometry as IA
broken line
Another unusual thing about this struc-
ture Is that the piers are not parallel. but
are planted at various angles. apparently
at random, but really with reference to
the railway tracks that are to pass by
them. As Engineer of Bridges Douglas
expresses II. The bridge Is built on
variable grade and the spans are built on
variable skews
Creek Becomes a Sewer.
The little creek that used to under
the trees of the vanished hillside is now
carried in an eight-foot sewer that is d.
rectly beneath the western pier of the
bridge. Above It a mass OF old steel
rails and a cement platform to protect It.
This sewer also is carried for 100 feet I'M
der the eastern abutment of the New York
avenue bridge, south OF the L street struc-
ture. A little to the north OF the T street
bridge the creek Is open.
Leading from 4th street to the first pier
of 1t is to be ramp Of concrete. now g IN,
feet long, and 1t Is placed at side of
I street, its south side being within four
feet of the building line. in order to per-
NIT the trolley cars access to the Ecking-
ton barns. close at hand and to allow adj
jacent jewellers on L street to enter their
property at the present grade OF and
4th streets.
When the bridge Is complete the cost
will be about S2D0,OOo. All of the mason
ry, with the exception OF the retaining walls
of the ramp. is virtually finished, consisting
of 10000 cubic yards Of concrete. The road
way will be supported on four steel spans.
varying from 175 to POO feet in length. 1t
Will be paved with asphalt, "A feet wide,
and will have cement sidewalks Light Will
be obtained from incandescent lamps placed
on the line of the railing
The trusses are somewhat different from
the ordinary Pratt truss In that on top they
are built in a curve, for esthetic effect. The
steel used in the superstructure will weigh
800 tons McMullin & McDermott built
the founda tions and the superstructure Will
be manufactured by the American Bridge
Company.
The Baltimore and Ohio company will de-
fray the cost of the bridge. and the work
upon ii is being superintended jointly by
the engineers of the company and those or
the District Of Columbia.
Even as the bridge IS In its present I'M
finished condition. with its piers standing
like those of a demolished viaduct in dfy
river bed the one-sided effect produced BY
the entrance at ith street IS Tie irst thing
MAT strikes an observer. II looks as II the
whole structure had been elbowed 10 on"
side by some gigantic power. to make room
for the two trolley tracks that have just
space enough to squeeze by without hitting
the abutments.
General Effects
Amid the apparent hopeless disorder OF
mule teams. stationary engines shouting
vorkmen and swinging derricks, the piers
stand like steps leading from the 4th street