THE NEW BRIDGE OVER NIAGARA

[Welland Tribune, 23 April 1897]

SPANNING the noisy torrent of Niagara’s famous gorge, there are now three distinct types of bridges- suspension, cantilever and arch. Of the three the arch bridge now in course of erection is, perhaps, the most interesting, because it is a radical change from the ordinary methods of modern bridge-building. The imagination must supply the bold ingenuity of the designers and the fearlessness of the workmen who have been engaged in bolting the hug structure together, For each side of the arch was only held from plunging into the river by a unique anchorage system. Had one of these anchors by accident given way the disaster would have meant great loss of life-for no man could hope to come out of those rapids alive-and serious money loss to the contractors.

The new bridge is being built to replace the old railway suspension bridge at Suspension Bridge, the first structure ever thrown across the Niagara gorge, and is designed to accommodate the immense traffic, constantly increasing, between the West and the East. As R.S. Buck, the engineer in charge says, “This point is the neck of the bottle. It chokes back the immense quantities of freight to the injury of consignor and consignee, and we propose to relieve the situation by building a double track structure of greater carrying capacity, which will be sufficient to care for the needs of traffic for many years, if not for all time to come.”

The old suspension bridge carried but one railway track, with a passage for carriages and pedestrians underneath. The new structure will carry double tracks on its upper deck and a road below for carriages, street railway and pedestrians. The old bridge, built by John A. Roebling in 1854-6, was originally designed with a maximum carrying capacity of 200 tons. The builders then were of the impression that the requirements would never be greater than that. But a very few short years showed them that they had greatly miscalculated the attractions of quick transportation between the west and east and in the 70s’ Engineer L.L. Buck was employed to reinforce the anchorages of the bridge and put in a stiffening truss so as to increase the sustaining strength of the structure to 350 tons, or nearly double its former requirements. Trains and engines, however, continued to increase in weight and these extra provisions were soon exhausted. It was conceded years ago that a new bridge was a necessity but the great cost of a new structure delayed its construction.  Work finally began in April 1896, and has continued uninterruptedly until the present time. It is believed that the finishing touches will have been added to the bridge long before the heavy autumn traffic begins. Built to maximum requirement of 4,000 tons, more than ten times the capacity of the bridge which is being replaced, it ought to relieve all congestion.

The new bridge is being built around the old structure without any interruption to railway traffic. The grades of the upper and lower floors will not be materially changed. This will facilitate the removal of the old structure as soon as the contractors are ready to lay the tracks on the upper deck of the new bridge. The old bridge will be removed by sections and the new tracks are laid and the engineers are confident of being able to substitute the one for the other, with very slight interruption to traffic. It is one of the engineering feats of the century, and interest will not decline as long as work upon it continues.

The arch rests on massive masonry abutments built against the solid rock. A great steel shoe rests against the abutments and from its arms extend the first sections or panels of the arch. These panels are 34 feet long and four feet thick and the main ribs weigh about 32 tons. The two arms of the arch were built out like cantilevers until they met in the centre of the span, being held back on both sides by in ingenious system of anchors. These anchors are imbedded 20 feet below the surface of solid rock. In shape they resemble an inverted T and ten times the weight of the arms of the arch would not pull them out of their rocky bed. The anchors are connected to one end of an immense diamond-shaped adjusting link, from the other end of which the anchorage connection is attached to the arch, holding it firmly in place. The intermediate joints of the diamond are connected by a huge screw which widens or narrows it at will and correspondingly contracts or relaxes the supporting chain. Certain control is thus gained over the arms, which is necessary when the last panels are put in place as the practical keystone of this arch. As soon as the final sections are in position the usefulness of the anchors is gone. The sidewalk brackets of the permanent structure are used to carry out the material used for erection. At the end of the tramway the heavy panels were carried by these great travelling derricks and deposited in position with remarkable precision. The connecting panels were put in their places on Sunday, March 28^th last, but there is much yet to be done before the bridge is ready for trains.

An evidence of the contractors’ confidence in the stability of the new structure is given in their plans for the removal of the old bridge, which will be taken off the supporting cables section by section and permitted to rest its weight on the new arch, trains running over the whole at the same time. As a whole the construction of this new bridge is a marvelous piece of engineering and ranks with other work of Chief-Engineer L.L. Buck, whose reconstruction of the old bridge in former years without disturbing the railway time tables stamped him as a man of high standing in his profession.

The old bridge was 18 1/2 feet wide. The new bridge is 47 ½ feet wide in the lower floor. The roadway on the lower floor will be 25 ½ feet wide with a single trolley track in the centre, and there will be walks on each side eleven feet in width. The arch span from pier to pier is 550 feet. The rise of the arch is 114 feet and the distance from the water to the top floor of the new structure will be about 240 feet. End spans 115 feet long connect with the top of the bluff and there are plate-girder approaches at each end 145 feet long, making a total length of new bridge of 1.070 feet. Seven million pounds of steel have been used in the building of this wonderful arch and it will cost the Niagara Railway Suspension Bridge company a round $500,000.

This company is an amalgamation of two companies, one composed entirely of Canadians and the other wholly of Americans. The Canadian board is composed of Thos. R. Merritt, St. Catharines, Ont., president; William Hamilton Merritt, Toronto; John L. Rannie, Toronto; Charles Riordon, Merritton; Judge E.J. Senkler, St. Catharines; J.G. Riordon and D.R. Wilkie of Toronto..

The American board is composed as follows: George L. Burrows, Saginaw, Mich., president; Lorenzo Burrows; Ezra G. Coann, Albion; A.C. Burrows, Albion; Charles C. Morse, Rochester.

The members of these boards form the joint board of directors, of which Thos. R. Merritt of the Canadian board is the present president.

The chief engineer, L.L. Buck, ranks as one of the foremost bridge engineers in the world. He designed and built several large bridges for South American railroads among which the Verrugas cantilever was the most celebrated. He also built a number of bridges for the Northern Pacific railroad, and designed and built the Driving Park Avenue and Plattstreet bridges in Rochester. His most celebrated work, however, was in connection with the old railway suspension bridge now being replaced. He reinforced the anchorages, replaced the old wooden stiffening truss with one of metal and the old stone towers with towers of iron, all without suspending traffic. He designed the 840 foot arch intended to replace the upper suspension bridge, near the Falls, which will be built, doubtless, in the not distant future. He is now chief engineer of the suspension bridge in course of erection across East river between New York and Brooklyn.