The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) bridge crossing of the Ohio River at Metropolis, IL holds many numerous outstanding facts not the least of which is that the first Train rumbled across it's mile long length on December 15, 1917.
This postcard depicts the CB&Q RR bridge from the Kentucky shore
Building the bridge
The Metropolis bridge project was directed by Charles Hopkins Cartlidge while Supervision and plan approval was done by the noted consulting engineer Ralph Modjeski.
Work commenced in 1914 by the Union Bridge & Construction Co, but was halted due to World War I. Work resumed July 1915. Pressurized Caissons were sunk into the river by digging material out from underneath them and their weight would push them down into the hole created. Some of these caissons broke depths of over 110' below water level. There were 2 deaths attributed to caisson work on this project not including the June 1916 death of Charles Hopkins Cartlidge, who contracted pneumonia after many decents into the caissons to supervise the work.
At the beginning of 1916 high water halted work for 2 months. September 1916 All but one of the piers was mostly completed and one of the short trusses was standing. October 1916 Timber falsework for building the truss over the main channel was completed and the main span was completed in December of that year. And as stated previously the first train crossed on December 15, 1917. The bridge was completed in April 1918 and passenger service was allowed to pass over it (passenger service was prohibited until “the last rivet was installed”). Total cost of completion was $4,000,000.
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