OCR Text |
Show Washington Bridge Over Virgin Reported Progressing Rapidly Farmers of Washington and Washington fields are rejoicing over the rapid progress being made on the new Rio Virgin bridge below the town of Washington, Wash-ington, which is scheduled for completion about February 1 and will remove the need of crossing the open river at that place or of waiting for shifting sands or j floods to subside to make crossing possible. Begun September 18, this bridge is a project approved under the WPA setup and much credit is given George H. Lytle, Chairman Newell R. Frei and Finley M. Judd, county commissioners for their whole-hearted support in this direction. The bridge is to j cost approximately $25,000 in ; labor and materials, the state j paying for the materials and the (Continued on page eight) m ' Washington Bridge Continued from first page) county furnishing the WPA labor and engineering. The project furnishes fur-nishes employment for 20 men. The ultimate plan, says County Engineer Leo A. Snow, who is directing the construction, involves in-volves the construction of a reasonably rea-sonably safe highway through the fields from Washington to St. George as part of the county road system. This bridge is of course a major part of the work. Plans for the bridge (I) were drawn by the State Bridge department de-partment under Howcroft, state bridge supervisor. It calls for seven bents of 65 feet each, which makes the complete bridge span total 455 feet. This is supported sup-ported on 21 Letter H, 8 inch steel piles, which are driven into the bed of the river at regular intervals to a depth of over 40 feet or until a firm under foundation founda-tion is struck which will not yield to the terrific driving force of the 3500 pound pile hammer. These piles will be encased in concrete for several feet below and above the regular water level. The bridge timbers are cresote treated at the mill and the Bridge is 12 feet wide designed to carry 15 ton loads, It has a 12 foot clearance of the water way with ample capacity to meet the largest floods thus far recorded in this channel. Flanked by the sturdy Schawab Kibe the bridge is picturesquely set, across this wide spread of the Rio Virgin, and should prove of special service to the farmers and people of Washington. Wash-ington. Mr. Snow says the state road commission has cooperated in a big way in the loan to the county of the drag line equipment for operating the pile driving, the 35W1 pound pile hammer having been rented from Lee Young of Richfield. He also commends District Dis-trict Road Engineer R. A. Gillis, with headquarters at Cedar City, and the state road and bridge commission for their full cooperation. coopera-tion. Albert H. Anderson is the foreman in charge and the work is progressing rapidly, states Mr. Snov. Commissioner. Lytle has been especially active in getting this bridge constructed. |