| Annual Report of the Savannah, Albany &
Gulf RR |
| as of May 1, 1863, |
| Engineer's Report |
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| Engineer's Report
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| Engineer’s Department, Sav. A. & Gulf
R. R.
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Savannah, April 20th, 1863
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Major John Screven
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President
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Sir,
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I submit a report
from this Department showing the amount of Trestle ridging for which
embankment has been substituted, the amount yet to be filled, and the
present condition of the work on the Florida Branch from Station No.
12.
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Of the original two miles of Trestle work across the
Great Ogeechee River and adjacent swamps, there remains but
twenty-three hundred and seventy-five feet, including 850 feet of
First Class Trestle across the River, the balance having been filled
at a cost of $51,885.00. Of the 13,600 feet originally in the Altamaha
Swamp from Jones’ Creek to Doctor Town, 6,900 feet has been filled
at a cost of $58,446.55, and a further reduction of 2,200 feet is now
being effected, which will leave as permanent 4,425 feet, or a little
more than four-fifths of a mile of Bridging, of which, the Lattice
Bridge (633 feet) over the main stream forms a part. A contract has
also been entered into with Messrs. Walthour & Snyder, to fill
during the present year – except short spaces in each – the
Trestles across Mount Hope, McIntosh, Gaulding, McCowen’s Creek, and
Dunham’s Mill Creek. These Bridges are low and the work will not be
very costly. The entire bridging at present on the Road, amounts to
13,351 lineal feet. This will be reduced during this year to 8,224
feet, or three hundred feet over one and a half miles. Many of the
shorter Bridges may also be filled entirely or reduced in length, as
soon as the Company can obtain the necessary material for building
brick Culverts or Abutments. It having been proposed to substitute
embankment for the present Trestle work over Morgan Lake, I have in
obedience to your instruction, made some examination there for the
purpose of ascertaining the difference in the cost of an embankment,
and a Lattice or Howe Truss Bridge, resting on brick Piers.
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I find the
Lake in the deepest place to be 20 feet at low water; its average
depth 16 feet; and its width from bank to bank 525 feet, and that it
rises in time of freshets about 11 feet, or within about six feet of
the top of the present Trestle work. I have never had an opportunity
of ascertaining the rate of the current during high water, but presume
it cannot be less than two or three miles an hour. These facts will
enable you to form an idea of the pressure to be resisted.
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I submit in a
separate statement the result of my estimates, and need not refer to
them here further than to notice the fact that a Bridge will cost
twenty-five thousand dollars more than an embankment. If therefore the
first cost was all we had to be governed by in making a decision, we
would of course decide at once upon building an embankment. But I am
of the opinion that, whilst an embankment might possibly be made to
resist the current of water, it is by no means certain. I think
therefore it will be better for the Company to spend twenty-five
thousand dollars extra in building a Bridge, than to rely upon the
uncertain strength of an embankment.
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Besides, if you
were to succeed in building an embankment across the Lake sufficiently
strong to resist the pressure of water, you would gain but little more
than a choice of evils, as you would then have to leave an opening of
near 1000 feet between it and the River which might otherwise be
filled.
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This would involve
you in the perpetual expense of keeping up a second Class Trestle
work, or else in the cost of a Bridge such as would be required over
the Lake itself. In the latter case the difference in cost of the two
Bridges would amount to but little, as the extra cost of foundation in
the Lake would be very nearly counterbalanced by the greater length of
the Bridge in the Swamp. For as the bottom of the lake is rock, and
not very uneven, the masonry may be built either on crib work or Caissons,
at much less expense than foundations under such structures, in so
great depth of water usually cost. Another reason why the Lake should
not be filled is, that it gives a much better water way than an
opening in the swamp would, which is no small consideration.
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The Florida Branch
with the exception of a short distance on Section No. 5, is ready for
the superstructure. I need not therefore refer to it here, further
than to state the cost of each Section of it. The part referred to
above as unfinished is in Bee Bay 13 ½ miles from the Junction, where
suitable material for building an embankment could not be obtained. It
is 1600 feet in length and will have to be temporarily Trestled before
the track can be laid. No timber has yet been procured for the
superstructure, except a few cross ties and stringers on Section No.
8. The following is the cost of items designated on each Section.
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| Section |
No. |
1 |
Clearing, Grubbing and Grading |
8,063.39 |
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Bridging |
599.77 |
$8,663.16 |
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2 |
Clearing, Grubbing and Grading |
7,163.16 |
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Bridging |
625.60 |
$7,788.76 |
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3 |
Clearing, Grubbing and Grading |
8,394.12 |
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Bridging |
1,531.20 |
$9,925.32 |
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4 |
Clearing, Grubbing and Grading |
5,214.48 |
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Bridging |
1,005.41 |
$6,219.89 |
| " |
" |
5 |
Clearing, Grubbing and Grading |
6,294.78 |
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Bridging |
537.48 |
$6,832.26 |
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6 |
Clearing, Grubbing and Grading |
10,021.63 |
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Bridging |
1,305.63 |
$11,327.26 |
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7 |
Clearing, Grubbing and Grading |
7,168.74 |
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Bridging |
1,072.69 |
$8,241.43 |
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8 |
Clearing, Grubbing and Grading |
6,934.80 |
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Bridging |
716.99 |
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Cross-ties and Stringers |
775.00 |
$8,426.79 |
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9 |
Clearing, Grubbing and Grading |
3,594.17 |
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Bridging |
475.69 |
$4,069.26 |
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Total |
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$71,494.13 |
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Respectfully submitted,
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J. T. Stone
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Chief Engineer
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