The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1922-01-26


operations all along the American
shores Of the Great Lakes. At pres
emit this company is building two bridg-
es in Detroit at cost Of about four
million dollars.
Take Kink Out of Street.
The old bridge location was unfor-
tunate because it made an angle with
the street. To provide bride loca-
ton such that the new bridge might
be in line with Main street, the city
acquired property from the Allen Tan
ming company. 1t was not possible to
start the Main street bridge construc-
ton until late in June, 1920, for the
reason that the property negotiations
between the city and the Allen COM
pany were not consummated until
June. The contractor received a per-
NIT from the city on June Is, 1920, to
begin work. Construction was started
at once.
Construction of bridge foundations
T is nearly always the most difficult part
of bridge work. The Main street bridge
foundations were no exception to the
general rule. AS many as two hundred
and fifty piling were placed under some
piers. The physical condition of the
river bottom on the south side was
found to be extremely treacherous.
Meet With Difficulties.
In building what is called the south
bascule pier, the soil conditions were
found to be such that no side support
for the piIing could be obtained ex-
cept for few feet at the lower end
of the piling. 1t, was this particular
condition (lack of side support for the
piling) which resulted in the showing
out of the south abutment of the old
bridge-work on the new bridge re-
vealed this fact. The new situation
was very serious. If the construction
was carried 1T according to. the plan,
ia apPr0ximatel. 276ea0a ears year
the new structure would in all prob
ability be an unsafe one. The COM
bination Of arch thrusts from the south
arches, and the cantilever reactions
from the movable leaf to the north of
the pier Cloth sets of which forces
were to come after the pier was built)
compelled the engineers to take pre-
cautions to safeguard the construction.
The engineers had wisely provided for
such contingency when they drew
up the specifications After a thor
cugh study of the problem, the en-
gineers decided to have the pier car
ried down about ten feet deeper than
the plans indicated and ordered the
contractor to do this. The additional
work was carried out in very effici-
ent manner. No lives were lost and no
accident occurred even though the un-
dertaking was extremely hazardous.
The contractors work was commended
by the engineers.
Tons Upon Tons of Material.
Some idea of the magnitude of the
construction work may be gained from
knowledge of the fact that four hun
dred and twenty carloads of material
were shipped to Kenosha for the bridge
construction. At times as many as
eight hosting engines were required
to move material of various kinds. The
construction material was shipped from
many places. Special lumber was
| shipped from the Pacific coast, the
steel was manufactured near Pitts
burgh, granite crystals for the hand
railing were shipped from the quat-I
ries of New York, and the electrical
motors and lighting equipment were
manufactured in Schenectady. New
York. The stand, stone, and cement,
were shipped from Wisconsln, Illinois
and Indiana.
Construction Work Interesting.
The actual construction work was
very interesting. Construction of
mammoth cofferdams was necessary;
some of the cofferdams were forty
feet wide and seventy-seven or more
| feet in length. The water was pumped
out of these cofferdams, and the soft
mud inside of the dams was excavated
down as much as twenty-five feet be-
low the surface of the river. During
this period of construction, the creak-
| ing and groaning of the cofferdams
as they adjusted themselves to the
enormous water pressures was, such
that only the seasoned contraction man
felt at ease. The concrete work was
such that when an operation was start
ed, it could not be stopped until it
Twas completed. A breakdown could