Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-09-12
CENTER SPAN OF
QUEBEC BRIDGE
FALLS IN river
Section Weighing Five Thou
sand Tons Collapses as 1t
Is Being Hoisted Into
Place.
TWENTY-FIVE MEN KILLED
Hundreds Of Distinguished Wis
itors Gather to See Finish
Of Engineering Feat,
LONGEST SPAN IN WORLD


Quebec, Quebec, Sept. 1.-THE
span Of the. worlds greatest bridge
collapsed and fell into the st. Law
renee riAr today with loss Of life
variously estimated. The company
erecting the structure placed the num-
Der of deaths at upwards Of twenty
five, but H. P. Borden, member Of
the Quebec Bridge commission, ex-
pressed the opinion that Only three
persons were lost. Several hours
after the accident happened at 1850
o'clock special train into Quebec
brought twenty men who had been in
jured.
Nine years ago similar accident
at the same spot took toll OF seventy
lives. Today ninety men were car
ried into the river when the s,000-ton
span, being raised from pontoons in
an engineering feat designed to COM
plete the $l7,000,000 cantilever suspen-
sion for transcontinental railway traf-N
fic, plunged a distance, Of fifteen feet I
into the water and sank 200 feet, per-
haps never to be recovered.
Five Bodies Recovered.
Chief Engineer Mcmillan was
among the injured brought here. He
was rescued by tug. Five. bodies
have been recovered. Edward Jor-
danaiss, % years old, Of Providence,
r. l., is among the known dead.
The engineer in charge OF construc-
ton, whose name is Porter; James
Anderson, a blacksmith; Alfred Cado-
ret, who is badly hurt. and Arthur
Cadoret are among the survivors.
The collapse occurred when the
span was about fifteen feet in the afr.
Boats from among the hundreds of
craft on which spectators had gath
cred were rushed to the spot where
the span disappeared. The fallen
structure sank 200 feet to the bottom
OF the river and engineers who wit
messed the collapse expressed
doubts as TO whether II would ever be
brought up again.
The bridge was being constructed
at 4 cost Of $1,000, 900 ir order To
shorten the railway journey from Hai-
flax to the Canadian north ,st by 200
miles.
Weighed 5000 Tons.
The bridge stands on the site Of
the structure which collapsed on Au-
gust %, 1907, with loss OF seventy
lives. The central span which fell to-
day 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 towcd into po-
sition Immediately under the gap left
In the anchor arms OF the structure.
Chainsswith links thirty inches in
diameter, together with girders were
then attached to the span and 5000
ton hydraulic jacks commenced the
stupendous task Of lifting the span
into place.
This work could be accomplished
only few inches 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 COM
pletlng the operation until the end Of
this week or later. The bridge was
to have been ready for train service
next spring, marking an important
milestone in Canada's engineering
railway history.
Distinguished Company Assemblies.
The juggling Of 5000 tons Of steel
under unprecedented circumstances
attracted several thousand spectators,
including members of Parliament and
newspaper men gathered on vessels
furnished by the Canadian govern
ment. Members of the Dominion
cabinet witnessed the collapse from
the deck Of a government vessel,
while American tourists crowded
hundreds Of other boats of all class
es. Eminent American authorities on
bridge building and members OF the
Australian Parliament returning home
after visiting in Europe also were at
the scene and river traffic for ocean
going steamships has been Temporal
rily suspended.
The project interrupted today or
iginated in 1858, when at the request
OF the Quebec City council New
York engineer submitted plans and
estimates. Courage and capital were
lacking, however, and it was not until
1882 that the scheme again was given
consideration. Later Canadian en-
gineers obtained charter and. after
many years Of delay, the building was
begun, only to terminate in the col
lapse Of the unfinished structure in
1907.
Longest Span in World.
Canada's federal railway depart
ment then decided to reconstruct it
and placed the undertaking in the
hands Of commission which in
cluded several noted American bridge
builders, among them Ralph Mojeski
Of Chicago, and c. c. Schneider Of
New York.
The plans for the bridge provide
for channel span longer than that Of
any existing today anywhere. Its
contemplated length from shore to
shore was 3,23o feet, with distance
of 1900 feet between anchor buttres-
ses. Provision was made for two
railroad tracks, two street car tracks
and two roads. 1t was to have been
used by eight railroads.
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