The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1915-08-19
w. K. HIATT Confers With
County Commissioners and
City Officials on Condition
of Bridge.
INsPECTs STRUCTURE
Purdue Professor Will Sneak
at Baxter School on Bridge
Problem Tonight at s.
O'clock.

engineering department OF Purdue un
iversity, at the instigation of County
Engineer Mueller and the county
commissioners, inspected the Main
street bridge this morning, and late
this afternoon is In conference with
the county commissioners, the board
of works, and several members of the
county council. A proposition un
doubtedly will be made by the county
commissioners this afternoon to en-
gage the Purdue expert in making an
additional detailed inspection of the
bridge 49,, ..-...
This has come about owing to the
criticism that has been raised through
out the county on any hasty action
in building a new bridge. They believe
that the county should be given a re.
there could be no criticism of biased
opinion.
Has Wide Reputation.
Prof HIATT, as head of the civil en-.
giueering department of the state in.
istitutien, has had wide experience in
supervision OF bridge building and has
often been called in for. consultation
by cities IN this and other streets. He
WE CO000ALSO ia tAO gVV1l0knk Vi I0S
Washington street bridge, at Indian
apolis. and he also supervised the
construction Of the large concrete
bridge at Lafayette. '-'~
Although have not mede a min.
ute inspection OF the bridge, l am OF
the opinion that the bridge is beyond
repair" said Prof. HIATT this afternoon.
II would have to make more detail.
ed inspection, however, before / would
report this to the county officials.
Bridge Life Short. .-
Judging from my past experience,
do not believe that the life of a
bridge like you have here in Rich.
mond can be more than twenty years,
when the conditions of traffic have
increased so," he said. II do not
know about the painting but If the
report is true that it has not been
painted for twelve years, that un
doubtedly has had great effect on
the deterioration. From the casual
inspection I have made l am of the
opinion that the bridge is not heavy
enough for the traffic 1t does not
appear to be strong enough for the
heavy interurbans and other heavy
traffic. such as motor trucks. It was
not built for this" -'.~-5~.-
He refused to make any detailed
statement regarding the conditions OF
any parts of the bridge.
It is understood that the county
commissioners, acting upon the sen.
timent OF many persons in the county,
will make a proposition to the Purdue
expert this afternoon. Although they
say they do not doubt the truth of the
truth of the report submitted by the
county engineer and the two other
bridge engineers, they believe that
the county is entitled to an inspection
by an expert that cannot even be &C
cused of being biased in his report.
I'm my experience l find that 1t is
unwise to try to repair bridge when
it has become in an absolutely danger.
Gus condition" said Mr.. HIATT. "The
question whether or not the Main
street bridge should be repaired in.
stead of a new one constructed, can
not be determined by the amount OF
money that it would require. Safety
first should be the motto of the coun
ty authorities and when a bridge gets
to dangerous point, they are only
taking chances in trying to repair it
At the best, the repairs on the Main
street bridge could not last more than
ten years and new one would have
to be built at that time"
Prof. w. X. HIATT will speak at a
mass meeting to be held at the Bax
ter school house this evening at s
O'Clock. This is the first mass meet
ing that will have been held to dis
cuss the bridge problem arising from
the condemnation OF the Main stree!
bridge The meeting will be held un
der the auspices of the Old Trails as
sociation. The meeting is open to the
public.