Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-09-11
SECTION DROPS IS FEET
WHILE BEING HOISTED
Longest Cantilever Structure In
World Breaks in Two Places
Before Going Down.
BOATS PICK UP SURVIVORS
Members Of Canadian and Austria
liam Parliaments, Noted Engineers,
Hundreds Who Had Gathered
Along Shores See Collapse. y

QUEBEC, Canada, September
1.-THE new central span of the
Quebec bridge, the largest can't
lever suspension >bridge in the
world, collapsed and fell into the
st. Lawrence river today while it
was being hoisted into place. The
bridge company places the num-
Der of dead at twenty-five and is
unable yet to estimate the num-
Der of the injured.
Hundreds of people who had
lined the shores to see the 1000
ton mass of steel raised by enor-
nous derricks, members of the
Canadian and Australian parlia-
ments, noted engineers and many
newspaper men who were on a
Canadian government steamer
observing the operation, wit
messed the accident.
Boats Pick Up the Survivors.
| The collapse occurred when the span
was about fifteen feet in the air. 1t
| was thought at first that all working
on the span had lost their lives, but
| al tn
and struggled in the water until picked
up by boats.
Observers said that the span broke
| in two places. First, one of the cor
ners appeared to give way. and break
in the center follow second later.
There were hundreds of craft in the
river nearby. and hundreds of boats
rushed to where the span dropped and
aided in picking up the survivors The
fallen structure is 200 feet under water.
and engineers who witnessed the col
lapse express doubt whether it will
ever be brought up again.
SPoA ASdASSo vSAy S4OW1ys
The bridge was being constructed. at
a cost of s17, 100000 in order to shorten
the railway journey from Halifax to the
Canadian northwest by 200 miles.
The bridge stands on the site of the
structure which collapsed on August
29, 1907, with loss of seventy lives
The central span which fell today
weighs more than 5000 tons and is $40
feet long.
The span had been constructed on
pontoons few miles east of the bridge
site and was rowed into position i'm
mediately under the gap left in the an
chor arms of the structure. Chains with
links thirty inches in diameter together
with girders were then attached to
the span and S,000-ton hydraulic jacks
commenced the stupendous task of lift
ing the span into place This work
could be accomplished only few feet
an hour, and as the distance from the
river level to the floor of the bridge is
$50 feet the engineers had not counted
on completing the operation until the
end of this week or later. The bridge
was to have been ready for train serv-
ice next spring, marking an important
milestone in Canada's engineering rail-
way history.
Many Saw Span Fall.
The Juggling of 5000 tons of steel un-
der unprecedented circumstances in the
Dominion attracted to the scene today
several thousand spectators, including
members of parliament and newspaper
men gathered on vessels furnished by the
Canadian government.
Members OF the Dominion cabinet wit
messed the collapse from the deck of a
vessel, while American tour
lists crowded hundred of other boats of
all classes. Eminent American authori-
ties on bridge building and members OF
The Australian parliament, returning home
after visiting in Europe, also were at the
scene Traffic for ocean steamers had
been temporarily suspended.
The project interrupted today originated
in 1853 when, at the request of the Que
bee city council, a New York engineer
submitted plans and estimates. Courage
and capital were lacking and it was not
until 1882 that the scheme again was CIV.
en- serious consideration.
Began Construction in 1907.
Later Canadian engineers obtained q
charter, and after many years of delay
the building was begun. only to ter
innate in the collapse of the unf1n-
shed structure in 1907.
Canadas federal railway department
hen decided to reconstruct it, and
placed the undertaking in the hands of
| commission, which included several
noted American bridge builders. among
hem Ralph Modjeski of Chicago and
3 C. Schneider of New York.
The plans for the bridge provided for
/ channel span longer than that of any
existing today anywhere. Its contem-
plated length from shore to shore was
I.239 feet with distance of 500 feet
between anchor buttresses. Provision
vas made for two railroad tracks, two
street car tracks and two roads. 1t was
@ be used by the following railroads:
Canadian Pacific. Grand Trunk. Quebec
Central, Intercolonial. Quebec and Lake
It. John, Quebec and Saguenay. Cana.
liam Northern and Delaware and Hud.
on. --...