Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 December 1892 — BRIDGES OLD AND NEW. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

BRIDGES OLD AND NEW.

A Contrast In Warburton, la Cheshire— New Cantilever Bridge Over the Canal. It is a self-evident fact that a great waterway cut through so populous a listrict as the valley of the Mersey and Irwell must of necessity interfere pretty considerably with the existing roads and railways. .Indeed,

the treatment of these many roads formed one of the first problems which confronted the originators of this vast undertaking. After much discussion it was finally decided to construct high-level bridges for all the railways and swing bridges tor all the roads cut by the canal. The Runcorn viaduct of the London and Northwestern Railway, which already existed, was taken as the standard for the various new railway bridges, which have therefore been constructed so as to give a clear headway of 75 feet at high water. This level has also been kept at Warburton where a fixed bridge has been substituted for a swinging one, as the traffic over this road is not very heavy and it was felt desirable to avoid the constant expense which would be involved in working one of the latter. As will be seen from our illustrations, this bridge is a fine specimen of the cantilever type, now so familiar to all through its grandest development at the Firth of Forth. One of the most'striking advantages of this class of bridge is that they form their own scaffolding during construction, thus, as in the present case, permitting the canal to to be cut underneath and even filled with water, without hindrance to the busy workers aloft. * - ' The view from the end. from either cantilever is remarkably fine, the new canal, an imposing stream, at this point 140 feet wide, running in a straight line east and west from under one’s feet, while in the distance the River Mersey, beautiful in all save hue and odor, winds slowly through the pleasant meadows and green plantations. But the days of its wanderings are numbered, and a few more mortths will see it confined to the shorter but uglier channel now being prepared for it by the ship canal company. Our second view is of the bridge at present carrying the

road across the Mersey. Although in a very bad state of repair, this little bridge is certainly far more picturesque than Its huge brother now stretching out his arms to span the new “silent highway.”—Pall Mall Gazette.

THE OLD BRIDGE OVER THE MERSEY.

THE NEW CANTILEVER BRIDGE.