COLLAPSE OF A BRIDGE.

Grey River Argus, 28 October 1907, Page 4

COLLAPSE OF A BRIDGE.

IZ . "LIKE THE CRASH OF s, ARTILLERY." id GREAT LOSS OF LIFE. N«ws <wa>s recenitly received by cable Oj of., the collapse of tihe geat bridge o, across the St. Laiwirence Rdver. Tlhfe °f Ameriidan onlaii to haad by tihe Farenic s> 'gives derails ■" of tihe caitastropihe. A 5 .' message fnom Quebec, dialtod 28th c- August, staites: — A sectritom of t£e new bridige aofoas J n the St. Lawrence Rtiveir, five miles, below tlhds cdty, collaipsed lait© to-day, ,P caTnydii'g sconres of ibxidige workimeo ': and m#chainritas . into the wiateir. ttt: is c< ? esit-imia'ted that the loss of life is ait t _ flieast 60, aad may exceed tihat num/ber 5. >by 20. s, Tihe bridige wals aibout a mdie apd °- a-Jhalf in lengrtih, add iiialf of it, feiom p ' tihs south shbre to fmid'streiaim, cru/mipJed up aaad dinoipped into the water. }, Ninety ineii were at in tibLs-sec- ■ j-. tion of that struiotiuire, and tihe 'whistle had 'b]o;wn at 5.30 for men to q>uit wiotfk ifior the day, wihen there came a girindT. ing seund from the bridige midistbreaim. The m!en tuimed to see wihlat hiad haapn pened and an in&tamt lait«r the cry „ went up the, "The bridge is faffing ! " >• The men made a rusßi shoi<ertviairdj b'uit t!he disitance was too great for them to •scape. ■ - ' Tihe fallen sJactiom of. .th : e (boidge a draggimg others, after -&,. <bhe anappiinlg > igdTdeT» amid cables feooimdng' like the ';■ oratsh of artililery. Tenror 'temt fleelt- ) 'ness to the feet o^f the feiigfciteined .wotA: - men as they sped shoreward 1 , buit only a few of tihem reached safely ib^fore tihe last piece of ironiworik an. ' the sohiitih store was dragiged into the -river. Near the shore the wreckia'ge of the ibrddige dad not go beil'ony the suirface oif waiter, amd eiighit worikmen who remained aibove '.waiter (were rescued and taken to the h'oisjpiital ax Levis. The ateamfer Gteimonn: had jus!:; the bridige whijii the fi.o'; scctdcoi ifell. Tihe .'waiter thrown up by thi ddbris came clear over the bridige of the ste.nmer. The ■ oap'iadn. at orlce j lowered -bbiats. .The snualil boaits plded ] bflolcwiaiid and forwaatd over the sunken < wreokHige for hialf ap hour, :b'ut there j war, no sign of life. < (The twiste-d iron and steed has its . ; victims in a teirribh d«a.'lh gipT. A few \ floaitdnig timibers and the broken € strainid's of the bridige .toward the ntorth f were omiy signs; ttfaalt anything A unusual had hiappened. Tifoere was not a rdipple orn the soniooth surface of I \ the St. Lawrence as it swept £ov.\g to- 5 ward »h« gulf. , ■ ' t All the men d,ro.wmed were t!h'2 fim : < ployees of the PhoendxvriMe Bridige Coanpamiy and su'b-contnaiGtors of Que- j ibec and Monitnreal. Ast 10 o'clock to- j mghx 16 bodies ted been picked .utp , and of theje'i'g'h't "rneii art: Levis hospital ', are nbt expected to live through „ the night. ; ' - " J The Quebec bridige , was begiun. altoout seven years ago, and it was.- 160 be j finished in IQO9. Subsides bad been j ©raited ! |>y the Federal and PirovaoHcial x Govertiiments anid the city of Quebec, j. and tihe estimated cost «»f ithte woitk (I -ns io,coo,obodiDl. Tibe Phioenixville , B-ridge -Cotopiany of Pennsyl'viainiia toad ■the oomtract for the .consitruction ; of t the bridge, a-nd orews weiie workdolg ■ fi"o.m both sides of the river: \ s •The Qudbec bridge was remarkable .- j in that it w?. s to be" the l ! oniffs : sf: -sinlg-le ..j s-pan ibridige in the world,. the length c of span in cen*re . bein-g 1800 feet ox^ ' r 2006 longer than, that of FoTth bridge, c froiirr the Doaxbimioin Goyerriimen* toVdige spian bridge. (There has bc«n j, no ;brid'ge across St. Lawrence below. . ", Montreal. At Quebec traffic was f<-.r- £ ried across the river, this exipen^e be- t in.X held responsible for the failure of j Quebec, to grow. A number of ciU1 zens secured a charter from the Do- x miriffion Government to brddge the St. LawTence Rdvsr. - 1 A 'susbsady .of i,000,000d01, wois _ secured firom tihe ■lDomdmdloo- dGovern- - inertt of :: the Brpcdrtce ; of -..Qiueibec j wtoilfe fflie :; c# of Q^eteec gave; a .grant { of : 6oo,ooodioa'. (Th pfloambteils^ put ;Ui>; .. . (&SO,ooodol. ■'.-.,-' •■;;■.. :.'.■ . t WoTk"w.as beguini an.aQOO. . :Tfc« on- :i ■gkml estimate . of the. wet was in . me . . o^lgfclbiouthtlDd of 3,500,000d01,. but , this was found too. small... The com- < pany finding itself in difficuillty iamd A© ■GorcnfflMit .needanig ; the bridge^r, c the' niatiiomial 1 itsaagcloaitinltmitaa * naalWay, "a.i agreement -%1a13 reached- by ;.whach the Governmeut agpreed to 'guaoiamtee «]ie. ( l>onds of the comipiajny .up to 7,000,000 - { ■ \ dollars. Under this atgreemeoit coa- - hiad been; pToceediU'g.. ' "" ' ' | I When completed the brodge wa:s to , have accommodation for a double- ,

track . . itaiiliwaiy, twio lines of eieatri train ways and two roadways for fioio .and velhdidle tiiaflic. At the -same ti.m< of the coHfeipse tihe cantilever span "on itihe siou^h sid c of the river had beei ccimpleted, as well as the aplprca.db.in4 span . and some 20ft of the con-etetra; span bertnveen the aanfoileve-rs.