Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-23
WORK ON BRIDGE
|SPUSHED ON BOTH
SIDES OF POTOMAC
Columbia Island to Be Raised
to Level of Lincoln Me-
mortal Structures.
CONTRACTOR FOR GRADING
MAKING GOOD PROGRESS
Final Touches Are Being Put on
Bascule Draw Span-Carving
Is Under Way.

Work on both sides Of the Potomac
River in the Arlington Memorial Bridge
program is going ahead steadily and
the great project is taking tangible
shape.
The United States Engineer Office is
assisting Lieut.. Col. U. S. Grant, Sd,
executive officer of the Arlington Me-
mortal Bridge Commission, by pumping
sand and gravel from the bed of the
Potomac River, south of the main
bridge, and shooting this material
through giant pipes to Columbia Island
The level of the island is to be raised
several feet so as to be flush with the
floor of the two bridgeS-the principal
structure across the Potomac River
and the short bridge that links up Co.
lumbia Island with the Virginia shore.
Maj. Joseph D. Arthur, jr., district
engineer for the War Department, for
the Washington area, has started oper-
atoms for Col. Grant on the Washing
ton side of the river, near the Lincoln
Memorial, to remove the triangular
piece of earth now lying between the
water gate and the Rock Creek and Po-
tomac Parkway approach and the Po-
tomac River. The plan Is to remove
this earth by suction with the hydraulic
pipeline dredge Talcott and force 1t
clear across the Potomac River to Co
lumbia Island, as part Of the island
raising program. Provision has been
made for the removal of section OF
this pipe, which is now being stretched
across the river from near the Lincoln
Memorial to Columbia Island, so as TO
avoid interference with navigation,
when tugs and barges are passing to
and from Georgetown.
Final Touches on Draw Span.
After this section of earth has been
removed, it will be possible to obtain a
clear acroSs-the-water view of the Arl-
ington Memorial Bridge from the Rock
Greek and Potomac Parkway approach.
In the central portion of the main
bridge, the Phoenix Bridge Co. OF
Phoenixville, Pa, the contractor for
the million-dollar bascule-drawn span,
which raises up to permit the passage
of river craft, is now putting the f1nal
touches on its work. The span Is to be
painted a grayiSh color, to conform to
the hue of the granite on the bridge
proper. The Federal Government hopes
to be able to take this span over from
the contractor after the final touches
are put on the work and this is ex
pected to be before the new year.
On the sides of the bridge, workmen
with pneumatic hammers and sharp
chisels are carving out the Roman fasces
the bundle of sticks emblematic of
authority-in the large circles on the
abutments of the structure. On Column
bia Island, where the west abutment of
the main bridge rests, in a little wooden
shack above the pylon, skilled worker
is busily engaged in carving out OF a
great block of granite the first Of the
four giant eagles that will look down
upon the great circle that Is to be con-
structed on Columbia Island, the focal
Highway an the Mount Vernon Me-
mortal Highway and the beginning of the
memorial avenue leading up from the
Virginia bank of the Potomac to the
gates of Arlington National Cemetery.
Grading Work Progresses.
w. F. Brenizer Co., Inc, of Washing
ton, the contractor for the grading of
the slopes leading up to the cemetery,
is now making good progress on the job
Of laying the foundations for the me-
mortal avenue, along which the great
state funerals Of the future will pass,
on to the heights of Arlington. A num-
Der of trucks and tractors and steam
ShovelS are at work, eating away the
earth that stands in the way of the
development.
Today, the trucks and dump wagons
hauled by tractors were transporting
earth down to the Virginia shore, where
the bridge across Boundary Channel
ends. so as to bring up the level of the
approach to that of the bridge. This
necessitates a fill of nearly 80 feet of
earth and when this is completed, so
that trucks are able to travel across
this newly formed roadway up to the
Boundary Channel bridge, earth will be
taken across the short bridge and
dumped on Columbia Island, to bring up
the level of the island to that of the
bridge floor
Col. Grant hopes to be able to start
hauling earth from the Washington side
of the bridge to Columbia Island early
this Winter-if he can secure the earth
for this purpose.