Source: The Mining Journal
Marquette, Mi.
April 30, 1887
Saturday
The "Soo" Bridge
The "Soo" bridge is being built by four railroads in conjunction with the GT, CPR, DSS&A and the MSSM&A. The contracts have all be [* been] awarded. The contract for the entire
substructure has been let to the well known bridge builder,
J. Reid. The high price of iron and steel in the United States,
sustained by the protective tariff, compared with the low
price in Canada of imported British metal, enabled the Dominion Bridge company, whose works are at Lachine, Que., to so
far underbid all American builders in the competition for the
steel and the iron works. The consequence was that the Dominion Bridge company obtained the contract for the entire superstructure with the exception of the drawbridge. The contract
for this portion of the work has been taken by the Detroit
Bridge & Iron Works. The material for the Dominion company's
contract is being prepared in Scotland and will be worked into
shape in the shops at Lachine. The bridge will be in condition to run trains over some time this fall.
On the American side the bridge will be approached by an embankment or filling with a stone abutment near the edge of the
canal. Near the opposite side of the canal, leaving room for
only the necessary paths, will be the pivot pier, 30 feet in
diameter, on which the draw will swing. The center of the
pier will be 200 feet from the abutment before mentioned.
200 feet further on will be another abutment, upon which the
further end of the draw or swing will rest. Between the further pier and the further abutment is a space through which a
second canal may be cut should occasion require.
The entire length of the draw or swing is 400 feet. It will
be moved by steam, and may be opened or shut in one and a half
minutes. Beyond the farther abutment will be a second filling
from 300 to 400 feet long. Then comes the bridge proper, consisting of ten spans of 239 feet each. Following this is a
filling of about 500 feet on the Canadian side, then two spans
of 104 feet over a slough, and after that the solid ground.
The piers will measure 8 x 24 feet under the coping, with necessary abutments.
The kind of stone to be used is not yet decided upon, but it
will probably be limestone. The piers will stand somewhere between 15 and 25 feet above the surface and will be securely anchored to the bedrock of the river, which is six to twenty feet
below the surface. The work will be done by means of coffer
dams, three of which will be worked at the same time. The extreme rapidity of the current will render the building of the
dams very difficult. The superstructure will be of iron, built
in the American pin-connected truss style. The entire length of
the bridge and approaches will be about three-quarters of a mile
long.
DSS&A - MSSM&A - SSMB Co.
