The sea coast echo. [volume] (Bay Saint Louis, Miss.) 1892-current, 1918-04-27
ENGINEER FOR BAY
ST. LOUIS BRIDGE ON
VISIT HERE MONDAY.
State Highway Engineer for Missis-
sippi, Exavier Kramer, Was Here
Monday for Preliminaries.
WILL SOON MAKE SURVEY.
Bay St. Louis Bridge To Be Built I'm.
der Provisions of Genin Bill
Government Interested.
BY W. D. ROBINSON.

ID W. ~. hODIINSoN.
preliminary steps were taken Mon
| day by X. A. Kramer, State highway
engineer, toward bringing the con-
struction of bridge across the bay
of st. Louis, which will form a link
in the Spanish trail, the national
highway that is being built along the
Gulf Coast, Mr.. Kramer spent the
day in Bay st. Louis, examined the
proposed sites for the bridge and
made an estimate of the volume of
traffic. With this information Mr..
Kramer will hold a conference with
the Federal engineers and road au-
thorities and later return to Bay
ST. Louis to make a survey and to
definitely locate the site of the
bridge.
The bridge is to be built under the
provisions of the Genin ill,which was
passed at the recent session of the
Mississippi Legislature. The bill en-
powers Hancock and Harrison coun-
ties to issue bonds to defray the cost
of constructing the bridge and pro-
vides that the work shall be done I'M
der the supervision of the State
Highway Department. The act fur
ther empowers the Boards of Super
visors of the two counties to i'm
pose tolls or traffic charges for the
use of the bridge, the money to be
used in paying interest on the bonds
and providing a sinking fund for their
redemption.
NO BURDEN TO TAXPAYERS.
By this means it is proposed to
build the bridge without ultimately
costing the taxpayers cent. Mr..
Kramer said his preliminary esti-
mates showed that the traffic would
not only pay the interest and provide
a sinking fund for the redemption
of the bonds, but that the revenue
would create fund for the mainte-
nance and upkeep of the bridge. In
fact, Mr.. Kramer is of the opinion
that the traffic receipts within a few
years will be far in excess of his
coservative estimates. He made his
estimates of the volume of traffic
very low in order to be on the safe
side.
There is reason to be believe that
the Federal Highway Department
will appropriate from $4,000 to
$4,000 to aid in the construction of
the bridge, and Mr.. Kramer is work
Ing WIFI LIdL Gnu NlC"s IL WIN
tional government furnishes money
to help build the bridge the plans and
specifications will be drawn In con-
formity with the federal require
metns and federal engineers will act
jointly with the State Highway De-
partment in supervising the con-
struction work.
Engineer Kramer said his idea in
,1 +o
a causeway as far out into the bay as
possible ad bridge the balance OF
the space across the water. The
causeway is to be constructed by
building two concrete walls or two
rows of creosoted piling parallel with
each other, and then filling the in
tervening space between the walls or
piling with dirt pumped from the
bottom or the bay with a hydraulic
dredge. The causeway would, there
fore, be lasting, and would cost lit
tie in the way of maintenance. The
bridge that would span the water
woud be built high above storm tide,
so as to avoid damage from hurrl-
BENEFITS NUMEROUS.
A benefit that will be derived from
building the causeway will be the.
construction of an anchorage basin
for sea-going vessels in the bay on
the north side of the causeway and
bridge. A dredgeboat, in taking the
dirt from the bottom of the bay to
fill the causeway, would at the same
time construct an anchorage basin at
no additional cost
The causeway and bridge will be
built wide enough to provide space
for an interurban electric railroad,
in addition to accommodating auto
mobile and vehicle traffic. If capital
lists do not construct an interurban
! line the municipalities situated along
the Gulf Coast are in position to build
an electric railway themselves, for
the Mississippi Legislature recently
passed an act empowering them to
take over existing interurbans or
build new roads, as they may seefit.
An interurban line would furnish ad-
ditional source of revenue for the
two counties, because each passenger
carried over the bridge by the inter
urban woud pay tolls, the amout be-
ing collected as part Of the regular
fare.
The construction of the bridge
means much for the whole coast, as
we'll as to New Orleans, and will
open the coast to automobile and
tourist travel. Approval of the
bridge project by the federal govern
| ment as a military necessity is ex-
pelted, and no trouble will be exper-
fenced in floating the bonds or in get
ting material for construction pnr-
poses.