The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1920-04-22
RAISING FUNDS
FOR BRIDGING
THE COLUMBIA
Chas. Huber Says Walla WaIla
Business Men Volunteer
..~e to Raise $250,000. .,
TOTAL COST is s5OO,OOO.O0
Estimated Income Based Upon Ferry
Business Shows Possibility
For Good Dividends.

With all preliminaries disposed Of
and campaign underway for financ-
ing the undertaking, Chas. Huber,
holder of the franchise for the Benton
Franklin Intercounty bridge. believes
construction work can be commenced
by August 1 Of this year and that
the bridge can be opened to traffic
one year from that date.
At Wednesdays luncheon Mr.. Huber
told members Of the Commercial club
of the progress to date and outlined
plans for further operations. He said
the bridge plans and estimates have
been completed. The bridge to span
the Columbia just above the Kenne-
wick docks. The main structure will
be Of steel resting on concrete piers
with piling and wood construction
between the Kennewick mainland and
the island. The estimated cost of the
bridge is $50o,000. Of this amount
the business men Of Walla Walla,
through the Commercial club, have
undertaken to raise $250,000 in the
territory south of the Columbia. The
financing is to be accomplished thru
sale Of stock in the corporation.
As basis upon which to figure the
probable earnings of the bridge, Mr..
Huber submits carefully compiled
data showing the revenues of other
toll bridges in the state and the vol
ume of traffic handled by the more
important ferries over the Columbia
and Snake rivers. The total annual
expense Of the proposed bridge, for
operation, taxes, and maintenance is
estimated at $4,000, while the es-
timated gross income is placed at
$4,000 day or s55,00O year. This
income will yield an annual dividend
Of eight per cent on a capital stock
of S500,00O.s
This estimated income is based
upon the business of the ferries and
the volume of tourist travel thru
the state last year and does not take
into account. the increased local travel
which might be created by the bridge.
In his statement Mr.. Huber says:
"The only ferry record that is avail
able is on the Burbank-P -Pasco ferry
over the Snake river. Al detailed an
aiysis of the. traffic over this ferry
in 1919 shows that it would yield a
revenue of $4,000 over the proposed
bridge. The operator of the Hover
ferry admits that during eight months
of 1919 his earnings were. $4,000.
The present Kennewick-Pasco ferry
is doing about the same amount of
business as the Burbank-Pasco ferry,
according to statement Of the
owner, and the Zimmerman ferry near
Richland reports an income of over
$4,000 for eight months operation.
Allowing for the natural tendency of
the owners of the various ferries to
underestimate their income, it ap-
pears that the present traffic of the
four ferries would yield an income
of over $3.50 per day.
During the year 1919 the Vantage
ferry collected tolls amounting to
over $4,000 and it is safe to assume
that part Of this traffic would be di-
verted to Pasco and Kennewick when
the proposed bridge is completed"
Mr.. Huber also submits schedules
showing the volume of traffic over
the tland-Vancouver bridge and
over the lewiston Charleston bridge
the last year it was operated as a
toll bridge. The traffic over the Port
land-yancouver bridge, in terms of
the proposed Kennewick-Pasco
bridge, shows gross income Of over
$S54,000 a year.
"An interesting feature of these
schedules" says Mr.. Huber, ''is that
a doubling of the present ferry traffic
would yield $4,000. A volume of
traffic equal to that over. the lewiston
Charleston bridge in 1912 would yield,
| $4,000. A volume Of traffic per per-
son based on a comparison Of the
population tributary to the Portland
Vancouver bridge and to the propos-
ed Kennewic- Pasco bridge would yield
S5.OOO."