COLLAPSE OF A BRIDGE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 61, 12 October 1907, Page 3

COLLAPSE OF A BRIDGE.

•LIKE THE UIASH OF AKTILLERV." "GREAT LOSS OF LIFE. Xews was recently received by cable of the collapse 01 the great bridge across the St. Lawrence river. The American mail to hand by the Forcrie gives details of the catastrophe. A message from Quebec, dated 28th August, states:—

A section cf the new bridge across the St. Lawrence lliver, five miles below

this city, collapsed kite to-day, carrying scores of bridge workmen and mechanics into the water. It is estimated that the loss of life is at least 00, and may exceed that number by 20.

•Ihe bridge was about a mile and r.liali m length, and half of it,- from the I south shore to midstream, crumpled up land dropped into the water. Ninety men were at work in this section o"l the structure and the whistle had blown at 5.30 for the men to quit work for the day, when there came a grinding sound from the bridge midstream. The men turned to see what had happend and an instant later the cry went up The bridge is falling!" The men made a rush shoreward, but the distance was too great for them to escape. The fallen section of the bridge dragged others after it, the snapping girders and cable- looming like the crash of artillery. Terror lent lieetness to the feet of the frightened workmen as they sped shoreward, but onlv a few '■! them reached safety before the last piece or ironwork on the south shore was dragged into the river. Near the shore the wreckage of the bridge did not go below the surface of the water, and eight workmen who remained above water were rescued and taken to the hospital at Levis.

The steamer Glenniont had just cleared the bridge when the first section felL The water thrown up by the debris came clear over the bridge of the steamer. The captain at once lowered boats. The small boats plied backward and forward over the sunken wreckage for half an hour, but there was no snm of life. °

The twisted iron and steel had its victims in a terrible death grip. A few floating timbers and the broken strands of the bridge toward the north shore were the only signs that anything unusual had happened. There was not a ripple on the smooth surface of the St. Lawrence as it swept along to ward the gulf-

All the men drowned were employees of the Phoenixville Bridge Company and sub-contractors of Quebec and Montreal. At 10 o'clock to-night 16 bodies had been picked up, and of the eight men at Levis hospital two are not expected to live through the night. The Quebec bridge was begun about seven years ago, and it was to be finished in 1909. Subsidies had been granted by the Federal and Provincial Governments and the city of Quebec, and the estimated cost of the work was 10,000,OOOdoI. The Phoenixville Bridge Company of Pennsylvania had the contract for the construction of the bridge, and crews were working from both sides of the river.

i he Quebec bridge was remarkable in that it was to be the longest singlospan cantilever in the world, the length of span in centre being 1800 feet or 2000 feet longer than that of Forth bridge, from the Dominion Government to bridge span bridge. There has been no bridge across the St. Lawrcnee below Montreal. At Quelle traffic was ferried across the river, this expense being held responsible for the failure of Quebec to grow. A number of citizens secured a charter from the Dominion Government to bridge the St. Lawrence River. A subsidy of 1,000,000d01. was secured from the Dominion (Government and another of 300,000i101. from the Government of the Province of Quebec, while the citv of Quebec gave a grant of Goo,ooodoL The promoters put vp 650,000d01.

Work was begun in 1900. The original estimate of the cost was in the neighborhood of 3,500,000d01., but this was found to be too small. The company finding itself in difficulty and the Government needing the bridge for the national transcontinental railway, un agreement was reached by which the Government agreed to guarantee the bonds of the company up to 7,000,000d01. Under this agreement construction had been proceeding. When completed the bridge was to have accommodation for a double track railway, two lines of electric tramways, and two roadways for foot and vehicle traffic. At the same time of the collapse the cantilever span on the south side of the river had been completed, as well as the approaching span and some 200 ft of the connecting span between the cantilevers.