Albuquerque evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1911-1914, 1913-09-03
Building of New Santa Fe Bridge
Wonderful Achievement
CFrom the Kansas cly star.l


one OF the big engineering feats OF
recent years is just now being COM
pleted at Sibley, Mo-, where the Atch-
ison, Topeka & santa re railroad has
built q new bridge over the Missouri
river The building OF a big railroad
bridge Is not a particularly wonderful
thing, but 10 build new bridge on
the piers OF an old one and permit the
operation OF trains over the old and
new bridge without delay of sim
gle minute TO traiiic Is regarded as one
OF the big engineering fcnts Of the
day. II Is asserted by engineers that
no work Of the magnitude OF the Sib-
ley bridge across the Missouri had
over been attempted. the old bridge
being torn down and the new one be-
ing erected In the same spot without
delaying traffic.
The building Of small bridges with
out traffic delays Is nothing extraord-
mary, bat the sibioy bridge Is so large
ana the work 80 heavy that engineers
have Travelled across tho country and
have come even from Earope 10 SEQ
the work.
The old sibicy bridge was built In
1884 and WAS mar,ei In It's day. u
VAS thought to be capable of haulins
the heaviest trains and the biggest en-
zines that could ever be used on the
railroads. Within period Of twenty
Ave years that bridge WAS entirely
outgrown and within thirty years ~
had become SO light that some OF tho
trains which the santa Fe railroad
now hauls ana some OF the locomo-
tives Il now uses were too heavy 10 bc
hauled over the bridge with safety
said u Could Not 81 bone.
So Il WAS decided 10 build a new
bridge. Plans were all made for a
new bridge short distance upstream
from the old structure. soundinga
were made and ID was found that put
ting In the new piers would be un-
usually expensive because OF the ma
ture OF the river bottom. Then one
Of tho engineers suggested that the
bridge might be built on the old piers,
as these had been recently tested and
found to be In nne condition. But u
took lot OF talking 10 get the con-
sent at the operating officials 90 tackle
the building OF the new bridge and
allow trains Go he operated over the
structure There were many ongin-
GERS who said the work could not be
done that way and others were afraid
that the work would be too hazardous
Ia property aud NE Bat finally u
was decided that the new bridge
should stand on the enlarged piers Of
the Old structure and that Il should
be built without impending traflic
The old bridge consisted Of one so
, foot deck glrdeT one deck truss 1919
feet long. three through trusses each
s9s feet long, one deck truss 2i7.5
feet long, two deck truKses iI2,5 feet
long and twenty-one Viaduct spans,
each sixty feet iong one deck girdor
] eeveuty-fiNo feet Ions, one deck girdcr
twenty feet Ions. and twenty zone yla-
duct spans, each thirty feet long,
making total leugth 81 the bridge
! t,048 feet and wolshng 1856 tons, or
7,iae,O0O pounds
Trains Kept on Itunning.
The length Of the spans and trusses
OF the new bridge are practically the
same except at the south end, where
new pier was built between the first
and second piers and two girders OF
one hundred feet each put In The
steel Nladuct approach ~ two thOus.
and feet long and the totf' length 81
the new bridge Is 1880 feet and II
weiehs 1888 tons, nearly three times
as much a. the old structure. ana q
total ~ 1906. 900 pounds
All % tho piers we're ENLARGED By
Increasing them In wooden forms and
then pouring into the farms concrete.
blndlng Inc concrete 90 the old pier,