the difficulty might be mitigated, but in a crowded harbor like that of St. Louis it would be almost, if not quite, impossible to give the lights. sufficient individuality to avoid the chance of mistakes. Moreover, in foggy weather the lights could not be seen. In case of wind there would be great danger of a boat sheering or making so much leeway as to come in contact with the bridge. In this case the shock would come upon the light upper works, which would probably be destroyed. As the passengers are carried on the upper decks, such an accident would probably be attended with great loss of life. The chance of dropping through along the pier is not available in this case, as the arch of the center span springs from a point about at the level of high-water of 1844. The third objection seems fairly sustained by the facts already cited, especially when it is remembered that the principal part of the river business is done during the higher stages of water. The large New Orleans boats, for instance, rarely attempt to do busines after the river gets to a lower stage than 20 feet above extreme low-water. A large portion of the St. Louis river front is above the bridge, and several elevators, a sugar-refinery, and other similar buildings, are already located above it. These could not safely be reached during high stages by the large boats navigating the lower river; and much inconvenience and expense would thus be entailed; but the Board con sider these interests in a measure local, and of infinitely less importance than the national interests involved in the question. The Government has expended, and is still expending, large sums of money in improving the navigation of the Upper Mississippi, Missouri, Illinois, and other rivers, for the express purpose of allowing the largest steamers to navigate them. It would, therefore, seem entirely out of keeping with this general policy to allow, at the very threshold of these improvements, a structure which would practically debar a large proportion of existing steamboats from using them. The Board are, therefore, unanimously of the opinion that the bridge, as at present designed, will prove a very serious obstruction to the free navigation of the Mississippi River. They would, moreover, state that arched trusses like those under consideration present so many difficulties to free navigation, that in future their use should be prohibited in plans for bridges over navigable streams. The Board have very carefully considered the various plans proposed for changing the present structure, but find none of them satisfactory. The piers being only made strong enough to withstand the thrust of the unloaded arches, it will be impossible to raise separately either of the spans, or to substitute for one of them a straight truss or a suspended roadway. The practical difficulty of raising the entire structure would be very great, as well as enormously costly. Moreover, in any such plan, the present approaches, including the costly tunnel under a portion of the city of St. Louis, could not be used without considerable modification, as the steamboat-men deem a clear height of 75 feet above high-water the least admissible. Under these circumstances the Board do not feel justified in recommending any change which would involve a complete remodeling of this magnificent structure, now so nearly completed. At the same time, as already stated, they deem it absolutely necessary that some provision should be made for allowing large boats to pass the bridge with safety whenever they find it necessary to do so. They would, therefore, recommend, as the most feasible modification, a plan which has been already tried and found efficient at the railroad bridge over the Ohio River at Louisville, Ky. Let a canal, or rather an open cut, be formed behind the east abutment of the bridge, giving at the abutment a clear width of waterway of 120 feet. The shore-side of this cut should be laid out on an easy curve, joining the general shore-line about 500 feet above the bridge and about 300 feet below it. The river-side may be entirely open, but the shore-side should be revetted vertically with stone or with crib-work to a height of about 5 feet above extreme high-water. This wall should be provided with ring-bolts and posts, to enable boats to work through the cut with lines. Let this opening be spanned by a draw-bridge giving a clear span of 120 feet in width. By this plan boats as large as any now built would be able to get through the bridge in any weather and at any stage of water, and only at the cost of some little delay. The steamboat-men have stated to the Board that they would be satisfied with this modification, and the engineers of the bridge company only raise as an objection the delay to trains caused by opening and shutting the draw. While recognizing the validity of this objection, the Board deem that the difficulty can be mitigated, if not entirely overcome, by providing machinery capable of opening and closing the draw with any desired rapidity. The use of this draw by the boats will be only in cases of necessity, and the inconvenience which this use may occasion to travel on the bridge there seems no course left but to submit to. Detailed estimates of the cost of this proposed modification can only be made after a special survey and study of the locality. Owing to the pressure of their other official duties the Board deem that it would be impossible for them to remain in session while these surveys and calcu lations are being made, and would, therefore, recommend that it be made a special duty of the local engineer officer to prepare and submit the estimate. Whether this modification be carried out or not, the Board deem it very important that such lights and marks be displayed by the bridge as will enable boats not only to distinguish the position of the piers and arches with certainty, but also to be able to tell the clear headway available under the bridge. The modification proposed by the Board will not require the present work of constructing the bridge to be interrupted, and the only action which seems necessary is to submit this matter to Congress at its next session, with the recommendation that action be taken to enforce the modification, and at the same time to determine by whom it shall be carried out. Respectfully submitted, J. H. SIMPSON, Colonel of Engineers and Brevet Brig. Gen., U. S. A. G. K. WARREN, Major of Engineers and Brevet Major-Gen., U. S. A. G. WEITZEL, Major of Engineers and Brevet Major-Gen. Major of Engineers, U. S. A. 10. A Board of Engineers, to consist of Col. James H. Simpson, Maj. Gouverneur K. Warren, Maj. Godfrey Weitzel, Maj. William E. Merrill, Maj. Charles R. Suter, is appointed to meet at St. Louis, Mo., on the 2d day of September, 1873, or as soon thereafter as practicable, to examine the construction of the St. Louis and Illinois bridge across the Mississippi River at St. Louis, and report whether the bridge will prove a serious obstruction to the navigation of said river; and, if so, in what manner its construction can be modified. The junior member of the Board will act as recorder. Official: A true copy: E. D. TOWNSEND, J. P. MARTIN, J. H. SIMPSON, Colonel of Engineers. B. [Extract.] AN ACT to authorize the construction of certain bridges and to establish them as post-roads. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it shall be lawful for any person or persons, company or corporation, having authority from the States of Illinois and Missouri for such purpose, to build a bridge across the Mississippi River at Quincy, Ill., and to lay on and over said bridge railway-tracks, for the more perfect connection of any railroads that are or shall be constructed to the said river, at or opposite said point, and that when constructed all trains of all roads terminating at said river, at or opposite said point, shall be allowed to cross said bridge for reasonable compensation, to be made to the owners of said bridge, under the limitations and conditions hereinafter provided. And in case of any litigation arising from any obstruction, or alleged obstruction, to the free navigation of said river, the cause may be tried before the district court of the United States of any State in which any portion of said obstruction or bridge touches. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That any bridge built under the provisions of this act may, at the option of the company building the same, be built as a draw-bridge, with a pivot or other form of draw, or with unbroken or continuous spans: Provided, That if the said bridge shall be made with unbroken and continuous spans, it shall not be of less elevation in any case than 50 feet above extreme high-water mark, as understood at the point of location, to the bottom chord of the bridge; nor shall the spaus of said bridge be less than 250 feet in length; and the piers of said bridge shall be parallel with the current of the river, and the main span shall be over the main channel of the river, and not less than 300 feet in length. SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That the St. Louis and Illinois Bridge Company, "a corporation organized under an act of the general assembly of the State of Missouri," approved February fifth, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and an act amendatory of the same, approved February twentieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, and also confirmed in its corporate powers under an act of the legislature of the State of Illinois, approved eighteen hundred and sixty-four, or any other bridge company organized under the laws of Missouri and Illinois, be, and the same is hereby, empowered to erect, maintain, and operate a bridge across the Mississippi River, between the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, and the city of East St. Louis, in the State of Illinois, subject to all the conditions contained in said act of incorporation and amendments thereto, and not inconsistent with the following terms and provisions contained in this act. And in case of auy litigation arising from any obstruction, or alleged obstruction, to the free navigation of said waters, the cause may be tried before the dis trict court of the United States of any State in which any portion of said obstruction or bridge touches. SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That the bridge authorized by the preceding section to be built shall not be a suspension-bridge or draw-bridge, with pivot or other form of draw, but shall be constructed with continuous or unbroken spans, and subject to these conditions: First, that the lowest part of the bridge or bottom chord shall not be less than fifty feet above the city directrix at its greatest span; second, that it shall have at least one span five hundred feet in the clear, or two spans of three hundred and fifty feet in the clear of abutments; if the two latter spans be used, the one over the main steamboat-channel shall be fifty feet above the city directrix, measured to the lowest part of the bridge at the center of the span; third, no span over the water at low-water mark shall be less than two hundred feet in the clear of abutments. SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That the right to alter or amend this act so as to prevent or remove all material obstructions to the navigation of said river by the construction of bridges is hereby expressly reserved. Approved July 25, 1866. AN ACT amendatory of an act approved July twenty-six [five], eighteen hundred and sixty-six, entitled "An act to authorize the construction of certain bridges, and to establish them as post-roads." Whereas the St. Louis and Illinois Bridge Company, organized under the laws of the State of Missouri, and the Illinois and St. Louis Bridge Company, organized under an act of the general assembly of the State of Illinois, have been consolidated in pursuance of the authority granted to the said Illinois and St. Louis Bridge Company in their act of incorporation, and the authority granted to the St. Louis and Illinois Bridge Company, by an act of the general assembly of the State of Missouri, approved March nineteen, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight: Therefore, Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the company formed by this consolidation under the name and style of the Illinois and St. Louis Bridge Company is hereby recognized and declared to be a corporation by that name, with full power and authority to construct a bridge across the Mississippi River opposite the city of St. Louis, in conformity to the act of which this act is amendatory, with all the rights, privileges, and powers granted and conferred by the several acts of the general assemblies of the States of Illinois and Missouri to the respective companies, by the consolidation of which the said Illinois and St. Louis Bridge Company was formed, and not inconsistent with the provisions of the act to which this act is amendatory: And provided further, That in constructing said bridge, there shall be one span of at least five hundred feet clear between piers. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said corporation may execute a mortgage and issue bonds payable, principal and interest, in gold; and their bridge across the Mississippi River and approaches thereto, when constructed, shall be a post-road to carry the mails of the United States, and enjoy the rights and privileges of other postroads. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That said corporation may hold their meetings in either the State of Illinois or the State of Missouri, as the board of directors may elect, and the directors may be citizens of any of the United States; and said corporation may sue and be sued in any circuit court of the United States: Provided, That nothing in this act or in any previous legislation affecting the premises shall be so construed as to deprive the legislatures of the States of Illinois and Missouri of the right to regulate the tolls and fares which may be charged by said company for the use of such bridge: Provided further, That the tolls now fixed by the legislatures of Illinois and Missouri shall not be increased. Approved July 20, 1868. RECORD OF THE STAGE OF WATER IN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AT ST. LOUIS, COMPILED FROM THE OFFICIAL REPORTS OF THE CITY ENGINEER. NOTE. The following tables show on how many days of each month the river surface was at or above the indicated heights above low-water. High-water of 1844 reads on the gauge. +7.58 + 2.80 + 3.28 -33. 21 -33.81 The zero of the gauge is a bench-mark at the foot of Walnut street, which, when established, was supposed to be at high-water mark. This bench-mark is called the city directrix, and all ordinary stages of water are below it, and have minus readings on the gauge. The directrix is 7.58 feet below the high-water mark of 1844. SPECIAL HIGH-WATER RECORDS. Incomplete records of the high-water of 1844, 1851, and 1858, are found in the office of the city engineer, which are consolidated in the following table: |