Norwich bulletin., 1915-11-20

type. The lifting and lowering of the bascule will be operated electrically The five spans Of thes new bridge from west to east will be respectively 185 feet, 330 feet, PIP feet, S30 feet and 330 feet. About 5000 tons of steel will be used in it's construction. The approaches to the bridge will be 1900 feet on the west side and 1900 feet on the east side. The abutments on eith- CT end will be of reinforced concrete.
 Piers Down 75 to 142 Feet.
 It will be necessary in constructing the four piers that will support this bridge to go down to depths ranging from 15 feet to 142, feet to reach suit able bearing strata The pier on the east side will find bed rock at 75 to 100 feet, one pier will be constructed at the no foot level and two at 142 feet. These piers will be of concrete with masonry facing between high and low water. Three piers will be con- structed by the open well dredging process and the fourth will be built under the, pneumatic caissen process. The extreme dimensions at the foun- dations will be 42 feet by 9S feet, and it will require about AS, 1000 cubic yards of concrete to construct the. piers. In the approaches it will be necessary ot construct two small bridges to &C., commodate. the state pier and one small bridge over Fairview avenue.
 For some time the company has been carrying on the work of realgn- ing the track on the west side of the Thames river at Winthrop cove and while this work is being carried on distinct from the main structure it is really part of the Thames river bridge work. Much of this work is completed at the present time and trains are now going over portion of the new tracks. but upon completion of the new bridge the full benefits of this work will be felt in more econom- ical operations of trains. The ap- proach on the west side of the pres ent bridge is. a long and sharp eight degree curve. Under the new ar rangement this curve is heightened out somewhat and the degree of curve is materially lessened to six degrees.
 Finished in 1917.
 As soon as the contracts have been let work upon the new bridge will be begun and it is expected that, the structure will be fully completed in 1917, when one of the most difficult Haven system will be eliminated.
 Not only will the new bridge mean saving in time and an improvement in the service of the New Haven rail- road, but 1t also represents another step in the development of New Eng lands transportation facilities. The present bridge is less than three dec ades old, but for several years it has been inadequate for the service de- manded of it. Yet prior to the con- struction of this bridge which is to be abandoned by the New Haven, trains were transported across the Thames by ferryboats and before that passen- gers were required to disembark on one side of the river, take a ferry across and reembark. upon another train on the other side.
 The plans under which the new bridge will be built were worked up by the engineering department of the New Haven road under the direction of Edward .Gagel. chief engineer,L D. Waterman, construction engineer, and w. H. Moore, bridge engineer. Dur ing the investigation of the subject the following outside engineers were consulted: E. H. McHenry, former chief engineer of the New Haven J P. Snow, an experienced bridge engi- neer; Gustav Lindenthal, now building the big New York connecting railroad | bridge over the East river in New York; Ralph Modjeski, who has built a number of large bridges over the deep rivers like Columbia, Willamette 1 and Missouri. The plans finally adopt ed are the result of the suggestions ] and advice of these eminent engineers