The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-05-21
PHELAN PROBES
 ExPL OSI0N OF
 BIG CAISsON Bodies of Two Victims Re- covered at South Nor
 walk Today
 PRESSURE AS WATERS MET OVER 5000, 900 LBS. Engineer Might Have Els capped Death Had He Not Stayed to Stop Pump

Coroner John Phe1an today hastened to South Norwalk to begin invesfiga- tions Of the accident which caused the death of two men in the huge caisson Of the new Washington stree, bridge and. temporarily wrecked the structure.
 He stated that he expected to probe the matter to its very foundation and that before any of the wreckage could be removed, he expected to have pho- tographs of the debris taken and com pared with the drawings upon which the work was based. 1t is expected, las the water is pumped from the cais- som which vi 1aas slzrrouad dod with al photographs will be taken from time to time.
 Coroner Phelan, while hurrying to the il :1s train today said: 1T have no Knowledge at present as to just what caused the accident. Medical Examiner Huntingto4 has just notified me that one of the bodies has been recov cred and I propose to see that every avenue shall be opened to fix the responsibility if there by any. There are of course many kinds of caissons in use in bridge construc- ton and, am not able to say that there yas any negligence on the part of the engineers in this case. I shall however follow the matter most close ly and desire today to be at the scene to acuuaint myself with the condi- lions as they appeal before any demol- ition of the structure begins z
 Opinions of Experts
 While no definite reports were re- ceived from NorwaIk today as to the type Of caisson utilized in the work, civil engineers in this city familiar with bridge eonstruction stated that their belief was this work had been accomplished by the use of interlock- ing steel sheet piling, such as was used in the raising of the Maine in Hav- ana Iarbor This is considered the most approved method and is pursued by driving long steel units into place, each locking with the other until the final one completes square or circle, taking up one solid pieces the ex- ternal pressure
 The water then being pumped out, left a working space for the men to excavate to bedrock, the piling being driven deeper and deeper as the silt was taken out. If necessary, the in terior could be shored and braced as opportunity demanded. It was said by one well known engineer that. though he was not familiar with the construction that gave way, it was probable that snoring was not consid- cred necessary and that a center ooI- umn was being built tos support one of the bridge achhes, and that this in turn Gnside the outer steel casing) had been surrounded with wooden forms into which cement and rubble was about to be poured to complete the pier. read the article appearing in today's papers, that quickSand shifting sud- denly and in g. manner necessarily un- foreseen by the unfortunate engineer whose life was lost was responsible for the collapse. It was further as fad to the. effect that Robert Crftchlow De- war hastened back to shut off the pumps as the warning of disaster was sounded, that he lost his life in at tempting to save from wreck the work that he had planned.
 It was pointed out that had time elapsed after the shutting off of the pumps. the structure would quickly have filled with water, minimizing the pressure upon all sides of the struc- ture which would have then been saw ed. The pressure from the rising tide acted too quickly.
 Two Caisson Types
 It was said that there were two distinct types of caisson-tD A cais- son open at the top whose sides when it is sunk, emerge above the water level, and which is either provided with a water tight bottom or is carried down. by being weighted at the top and having a cutting edge around dhe bottom into a water-tignt stratum. aided frequently by excavation inside; CD a bottom1ess caisson, serving as a sort of diving bell in which men can work when compressed air is infroduc- ed to keep out the water in proportion to the depth below the water-leve: which is gradually carried down to an adequate1y firm foundation by exca- vatipg at the bottom of the caisson.
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