Evening journal., 1913-07-22
new BRIDGES
ON THEPENNSY
Mile-LOng Structures Will
Connect This City With
Baltimore and Wash
ingtOn \
TO ABANDON OLD
SPANS ON THE ROAD

AioAc anu IullduGlpuld llt It-iuo9 i
vania railroad is now constructing
two long, double-tracked, reinforced
concrete viaducts at the crossings Of
the Gunpowder and Bush rivers, in
Maryland. These waters are really
wide astuaries OF Chesapeake Bay, the
crossing over the Gunpowder river
being nearly a mile and that over the
Bush river more than half mile in
length
More than a million dollars is be-
ing expended by the company to con
struct the two bridges, the approXi-
mate cost OF the Gunpowder bridge
being SS60,000 and that OF the Bush
river bridge about S55O,OOO. The work
on the two structures began in March,
1912 and since then hundreds of
workmen having been employed daily
constructing the arches which Will
enable the railroad to span the two
rivers. For years the officials of the
Pennsylvania railroad we're dissatis-
fed with the crossings over the two
rivers, but within a few months they
will be able to rest secure in the re-
Election that the company has at last
procured satisfactory crossings.
When the railroad was built many
years ago between Baltimore and
Philadelphia, taking the place of the
old Newcastle and Frenchtown route
via the Delaware and Maryland pen
insula, single-tracked, pile-trestle
bridges were erected over the Gun
powder and Bush rivers. At tie Sus-
quehanna river a large steamer car
ried the cars between Havre de Grace
and Perryville. AS years passed and
traflc and equipment grew heavier,
the ferry steamer was replaced by a
bridge and widened Tor double tracks.
Each Bridge Has Draw.
Until a few years ago the Susque-
hanna bridge was single-track
structure, but it is now superseded by
a large two-track structure. and the
work at Gunpowder and Bush rivers
will soon put those features of rail.
road travel between the North and
South in the same class as the Sus-
quehanna crossing. Much Of the con-
struction work on the two bridges
is already complete. The bridges arc
of the fiat concrete slab type with
the slabs resting on concrete piers,
the latter being built on pile foun-
dations.
Each bridge will carry two tracks
and will have a steel lit draw span
35 feet wide. All the other spans are
26 fet wide from centre to centre. The
\ Gunpowder bridge which is 1850 feet
long, has $50 Of these spans. The
( Bush River bridge Is 1915 feet long
and has 103 spans besides the draw
Each bridge is 80 feet s inches wide,
s and is approximately 100 feet to the
north of and parallel with the old
wooden trestle. The new structures
8 are eight feet higher than the ones
& that viii soon replace, making the
. total height above mean tide II 1-2
8 feet
The piers are five feet thick at the
4 bottom and rest on a concrete base,
: 10 By S5 feet on top of the piling.
The slabs arc two feet nine inches
| thick and have holes through them at
Intervals of several feet so that the
+ track viii be we'll drained There are
3 two openings or arches in each of
the piers. The amount Of material
used on the two structures,
when completed. will be about 65.-
200 cubic Yards of concrete. 1900 tons
of reinforced steel and $4,000 piles.
The bottoms of the two rivers are
muddy and in the case of the Gun
powder River a 75foot pile will sink
bv its own weight for about half is
length before it reaches the hard bot
tom of sand or gravel Consequently,
in building the piers much mud had
to he removed from the cofferdams,
which we're made of sheet piling and,
as the Federal Government would not
hermit auy OF the material thus taken
out 10 be deposited in the stream il
was converted ashore by pumping
K through a pipe line TO the beach be-
hind the bulkhead The greatest
length through which the mud was
forced was 2S00 feet.
81 Camp for Workers.
Approximately a half-mile of new
track construction is necessary on
each side Of each river to meet the
grade of the new bridges and the con-
ditions are almost the same at each
place. The rivers are seven miles
apart. At Bush River the new line
will approach the river from the
north through a cut about $500 feet
long. On the south side fill about
$500 feet long will carry the track.
AT the Gunpowder River the cut on
the north is On a curve and upon a
Z hillside. Inc MI on lut EoutA Slir
is practically the same as that at Bush
River, and the length of each ap-
proach is about the same.
To carry on the work expeditiously
the contractors. established two large
4. camps, one on the south side OF Bush
River and the other on the north side
81 of the Gunpowder River. Each of the
Il camps is like a small town. Several
B hundred men are employed on the
81 work, and when the work began a
small town sprang up where before
81 there was only a flag, station. Wells
81 were drilled for water. steam heating
81 plants and furnaces were installed
n and small houses and Office buildings
81 erected for the employees and those
a in charge of the work.
The contractors are the Henry
Steers Company, Inc. of New York,
and the Brann and Stuart Company,
s. of this city. Plans for the work
S were prepared in the Office of A. c.
Shand, chief engineer Of the railroad
a company in this city. under whose
general supervision it is being con-
Quoted.