Evening journal., 1923-01-30
BRIDGE BOARD
FILES REPORT
CONTINUED from First Page)


eral Assembly. approved March 81
1919. and recites the limitations oi
the powers of the Commission to
the construction OF a bridge over
the Brandywine at Washington
street, and the approaches thereto
The original act limited the expen-
ditures to s55O.OOO. BY an amend
ment approved April 16. 1920. this
amount was increased to ss5O,0O0.
The commission organized on
April 2S, 1919. by the election Of
Alfred l. DUPONT. chairman, and AL
bert Stetser. secretary and treasurer
Subsequently Frederick w. Carpen-
ter was chosen as executive officer
and consulting engineer. and James
Gordon Mcmillan as clerk and stem
ographer This constituted the en-
tire personnel OF the commission.
The commission was without
funds, and, as it was deemed mad
visable, as well az expensive. TO
make a bond issue at the very be-
ginning, Chairman DUPONT agreed %
meet the expenses OF the commits
sion out OF personal funds until such
time as a bond issue could be prop
erly made. In this way bond issue
was avoided for a period OF nearly
eighteen months, Mr.. dupont ad-
vancing from time to time sums as
required in the aggregate amount of
about $4,000.
An invitation was sent to six en-
gineers and architects asking for the
submission OF competitive designs
and estimates Five OF tho number
accepted the invitation and submit
ted their designs and estimates in
July 1919. These designs were for
n new bridge the width OF the old
bridge
Benjamin n. Davis. engineer, and
| Vance W. Torbert, architect. being
the successful competitors. were en-
ployed to complete the necessary de-
tailed drawings, form OF contract.
specifications. and supervise the
work during construction.
1t developed in the course of
close study OF the situation that a
larger bridge would be necessary TO
accommodate the increased traffic. |
and two tracks of the Wilmington
and Philadelphia Traction Company
bridge So feet wide was discussed /
Finding the cost of such a bridge TO I
be prohibltive. it was decided that |
the new structure should be 70 feet |
in width.
When bids for construction were
Fan.
bridge would cost from SSO0.S16.3O !
for an all reinforced concrete !
structure, TO S1,753.27ssO for a |
bridge with a large amount of gran |
ite facing. The Walsh Construc- |
ton Company. being the lowest bid
der for 72foot bridge, was award !
ed the contract on a basis of S747,- !
743.15, this being the aggregate of
the unit prices CT estimated guam
titles of materials.
The Commission was confronted
at this stage with the lack Of author
| ity to expend more than $550.OOO.
The then Governor, John G. Town
! send, Jr,, was called into consulta-
ton. and the commission also con-
ferred with members of the General
Assembly from New Castle county,
and members OF the Levy Court. The
result was that during the special !
session OF the General Assembly, |
called by Governor Townsend in !
1920, authority was given to issue |
100000 additional bonds. Mean
while a contract was entered into
with the Walsh Construction Com
pany in which Alfred l. DUPONT in
dlvidually became party. and
guaranteed the payment OF $780,
900.
Question having arisen as 10 the
cost of construction IN such man
ner as to accommodate the VIII
mington and Philadelphia Traction
Company, that company was re
quired TO agree to pay the cost, not
only OF its tracks and the laying
of same, but also the cost OF the
pavement between and three feet
outside Of the outer rails of the
tracks. The Traction Company
contributed in all S41,362.74 toward
the construction Of the bridge.
Although the commission was
confined to construction OF the new
bridge. there were numbers of mat
ters which arose in connection with
this work that engaged their atten-
ton. The most prominent was the
improvement of the old Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad bridge. and the
approaches thereto. so that it could
be brought into general public use
and relieve the congestion that
would result from the closing of the
old Washington street bridge. This
matter came before the commission
in a communication from William
=. Banvroft setting out the i'm
portance OF the Improvement. This
was accomplished. after some delay.
and proved to be of great advantage.
As incident 10 the construction of
the new Washington street bridge
the bringing Of the old railroad
bridge into public use utilized a
structure for the public benefit that
in money value TO the county is very
considerable.
The old Washington street bridge
was closed on August .. 1920, and
its removal preparatory to starting
the new structure was accomplished
before the close of the month. The
report sets out in detail the progress
made on the new structure. from
time TO time. which was so-far com
pleted that It was opened to the
public on December 20. 1921.
During the course of construc-
tion 81 vas found that the new
bridge could be greatly improved
in appearance by the use of litho-
lite for the balustrades and pylons.