BRIDGE DISASTER.

Northland Age, Volume IV, Issue 46, 6 July 1908, Page 7

BRIDGE DISASTER.

TERRIBLE CATASTROPHE ’AT QUEBEC.

STRUCTURE COLLAPSES, SEVENTY-EIGHT MEN KILLEL A terrible bridge disaster has oo curred at Quebec, involving a loss d between 70 and 80 lives and damage to the extent of £300,000. The catastrophe occurred on th« new bridge over the St. Lawrence The middle span alone of this gdgan tic structure is I,Booft. long, anc when completed the viaduct will lx the greatest single-span cantilevei bridge in the world. An entire seo tion a quarter of a mile long ha« collapsed. The disaster occurred when a loco* motive with three waggons of iroi material, ran on to the bridge, CRUSHED TO DEATH. fP^’ The anchor pier on the soutl shore end suddenly gave way, carrying with it into the river 800 ft. ol the steel superstructure, and 80 oi 90 men, most of whom were crushed to death, while a number were fatal* I3' injured. Most of the workmen were Americans employed by the Phoenix Bridge Company. The loss is estimated at £300,000. The middle span was under con' struction and the bridge was to be ready for traffic next year. It was to have cost £1,200,000, and the bonds were guaranteed by the Federal Government. A RESOUNDING CRASH, Ninety men were labouring on the structure when it collapsed. The disaster came Just before the men were to quit work for the day. There was no premonition. The bridge. simpl3 r swayed, and with a great resounding crash, that could be heard for miles around, it shot out from the direction of the shore into the middle of St. Lawrence River. The few survivors who went down into the river and were saved sajf that when they came to the surface of the water the spectacle that met their gaze was a terrible one. The bodies of the victims were badlyi bruised. The number of dead is now stated to be 78.

Among the others brought ashore alive was Charles Davis, an Englishman, whose back was broken.

REMARKABLE ESCAPES

One of the most remarkable escapes was that of Thomas Sewell, who realizing that the bridge was falling, clutched tightly to a piece of iron and went down with it. The portion of the bridge that he wad working on, being very heav3 r , shot down into the water like a meteor, so that ho struck the water without being injured. He came tp the surface and being an expert swimmer, could float without difficulty. The cause of the disaster is given by one correspondent as faulty construction. There had been fears, he says, among the workmen that something might happen to the bridge section, as there had been rumours that some of the rivets had started-

BIGGER THAN THE FORTI* BRIDGE.

Tho bridge was to be the largest in the world, being a mile and a half long or 200 ft. longer than the Forth Bridge. It was planned in order that a great obstacle to rapid transport might be removed,