Gloucester County Democrat., 1912-02-01
THE KEY WEST OyER-sEA RAIL-
ROAD.

ANA Canal, was just opened to-
travel last week. 1t Is the oversee
railroad from Florida to Key West.
None of the 12S miles of the rail-
road, after leaving the Florida coast,
can be considered mainland. rs miles
of water is bridged, while II miles of
the route is over the open sea. Forty
one coral keys are used as stepping
stones for the railroad, of which the
estimated cost was $15,000,000 but
which to date has cost twenty mill
ion, and which will require three
years more to add the finishing
touches.
Crossing the keys themselves pre-
sented no particular difficulties after
the way had been hacked through the
thickest vegation, but the problem of
how to link one of these little coral
islands to the next was the crux of
the whole work The solution was
reached by the construction of via
duets of concrete arches, and bridges
with steel girders or iron trusSes laid
on concrete piers. The water was not
deep-from 10 to 80 feet-but between
the keys the long reaches are exposed
to the full sweep of the terrible West
Indian hurricanes. Cofferdams were
built, the mud was scraped away to
find the underlying rock, holes were
bored in this rock, piles GA for each
pier) were driven into the rock when
steel punches had made holes for
them, and on this solid underpinning
cement was poured through pipes, to
harden under the water Upon this
base, few inches above the tide-level
the concrete piers were erected. Lay
ing the rails upon their 11-foot sawed
oak ties bolted to the girders was a
final task comparatively simple. In
the case of the Long Key bridge with
its arched spans 80 feet long, extend
ing for nearly three miles, trap rock
for the archways was brought from
Clinton on the Hudson River. The
knights Key bridge, nearly seven
miles long, means five miles of 80
foot steel girders laid on concrete
piers and two miles of archways. The
Bahia Honda bridge, nearly mile
long, has 81 trusses from 125 to 250
feet long and nine arches of concrete.
The rails of this bridge are 80 feet
above tide-level and so above bed
rock.
The construction of the work has
been accomplished under difficulties
which seldom confront the engineer
Storms in which the wind reached
velocity of 125 miles an hour have
hurled themselves against this daring
invasion of the domain of the sea. In
1906, two story barge was torn from
it's moorings and dashed against the
Florida reefs and more than a hun
dred workmen drowned. In the
storm of 1909 miles of wooden trestles
were tossed aside like jackstraWs by
the wild rage of the elements. Rocks
weighing many tons, implanted in the
earth entertainments, were displaced,
and the result was the decision to sub
stitute the concrete viaducts for the
vulnerable solid dykes. Where the
earth wall was retained, it was faced
with the plastic mari, which turning
to a smooth, hard surface, success
fully resisted the waves impact and
the subsequent undertow.
Sometimes the storms have been so
destructive that the engineers deiib-
erately sank their floating equipment
and pumped the water out of 1t and
raised it after the storm had passed.
1t meant a loss OF thousands OF dol
lars to suspend operations for the
length of time necessary to do this, but
it paid in the end.
In the hurricane of 1909 the wind at
tanned velocity of 125 miles an hour;
point ever recorded by the Weather
Bureau. The arches and the bridges
stood intact built as they were to with
stand a wind pressure four times as
great as that to which they were SUBJ
jected. But, however staunch and
strong the masonry, the trains making
their transit between the isles at Is
miles an hour are not exposed to the
risk of being hurled into the sea.
Wind guages distributed along the
viaducts are electrically connected with
automatic devices which set signals
against approaching trains when the
winds velocity exceeds so miles an
hour.
AT Key West it has been necessary
to create terminal without the least
help from nature except the provision
of mud which was dredged up from
the shadows until 200 acres of sland"
was reclaimed from the ocean. A
huge drydock will be built and ten
wharyes, each of the latter 800 feet
long and 100 feet wide, giving wias,f-
age simultaneously to 40 vessels 400
feet long. The present rail-and water
route between New York AMI Mexico
will be shortened 1000 miles by the
use of this new commercial terminal.
1t will subtract 20 hours from the
time it now takes to go to Havana,
reducing the length of the ferry-tran-
sit, between Florida and Cuba to 80
miles, which fast boats can cover in
four hours. Presently it will be pos
sible to enter a Pullman car at Mon
treal and not alight till one arrives
at Havana or Santiago.
The sole owner and builder of the
road is Henry NJ. Flagler, who risked
success or failure in this undertake
ing which he believed himself justi-
fled in building because of the need