■ I. ■!!!■ I- i
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I Mother Town of
I North Carolina
I Capital of the Albemarle
. I
Volume V.
Much Material Used In New Bridge
ENGIICERIHG FEAT BY 1
ACTUAL COST Os SPAN ITSQf $1^41,000
N 9 ;
Necessary to Transport
Many Piles From Pa
cific Coast Ranging 65
to 105 Feet In Length
Statistical history behind the con
struction of the Albemarle Sound
bridge as furnished freely by both
of the large contracting firms re
sponsible for the beauty and safety
of tha great vehicular span, in no
sense minimizes the importance of
the crossway as an engineering feat
of sterling importance, but they do
offer some corrections as to cost and
length which have figured so gener
ously and inaccurately in the public
prints since the bridge was first
started in the late spring of 1937.
It has been so simple for a care
less newspaper writing to refer to
the bridge as a $2,000,000 structure,
thus opening the way for consider
able mid-state editorial criticisms,
criticisms, by the way, from sections
which have rolled and still roll in
state highway allotments to the de
triment of the entire Albemarle which
frankly, has figured meanly in the
expenditure of state and federal funds
for such improvements. Even total
ing in the bridge cost the Albemarle
has had but little from the state.
Its connecting advantages have had
to be centered about the construction
Progress Pictures Showing Construction Os New Bridge
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No I—Birdseye of Albemarle Sound bridge under construction from the Chowan County aide showing pier No. 2in foreground and piles for turnout platform on the left. Structural steel shown is placed but
«* In normanent nosition N 6 2—View of section from south show of the Sound, showing piles and completed section of hand rail. No. 3—Birdseye view of pile cutting and capping looking north. In background
of swing span, or draw. 328 feet long, requiring 688,000 tons stroctural steel and many tons concrete, rock, sand and paint
THE CHOWAN HERALD
A HOME NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF CHOWAN COUNTY
tof water bridges, and for reasons
I which must be obvious to those who
,1 know this watergirt section of the
1 1 state.
1 For instance during the entire life
of its existence Edenton has been
isolated from the rest of the state
until the advent of the Chowan River
‘ bridge, also referred to as a“waste-
ful extravagance,” but which has jus
-1 titled itself a thousand fold in in
' creased opportunities for marketing
r the products of the whole state, for
> making it possible for tourists to
f reach the north, south; east and west
t with greater freedom and ease, and
5 for those who have sought recreation
1 on the ocean front. How, it might be
' asked, would the famed “Lost
: Colony” pageant be carried on to
t fulsome and worthwhile conclusion
were it not for this same Chowan
- River bridge? No, the criticism
> then was that of self-seekers for the
» spoils of highway plunder, as is the
- same criticism being voiced today
. against the Albemarle Sound over
-3 water-thoroughfare,
i But back to costs. The bridge did
- not cost $2,000,000, actually not much
i more than one-half that amount—a
3 renewed evidence of journalistic free
-3 dom in writing. The official cost ex-.
- penditures show that North Carolina
;, is spending only around $841,000 for
. the bridge work, and that an addi
-11 tional amount aggregating $500,000
i has been or will be paid the contrac o
»
| tors by the Federal government’s
Bureau of Roads. This makes a total
of $1,341,000 for the bridge proper.
Os course the highway terminal
! approaches are not included in this.
Their cost will be around $400,000
more, or a grand total of $1,741,000
for bridge and approaches, which,
even so is far below the $2,000,000
exploitation figure.
Another correction, of not so grave
an importance, would lessen some
what the exact length of the bridge.
When the bridge was first proposed
at the time agitation would have
placed it on its present site, oppon
ents of the Sandy Point-Leonard
Point location screamed that it would
mean a seven mile bridge and that a
crossway, a double sort of crossway,
over the Roanoke and Cashie rivers
into the Bertie marshlands, would be
shorter and thus less expensive.
The exact figures released by the
Tidewater Construction Corporation,'
of Norfolk, and T. A. Loving & Com
pany, the general bridge contractors,
show the bridge today to be 17,902
feet in length, or actually less than
three_and one-half miles. This will
prove interesting for the general im
pression has been to say the bridge
is four miles long.
The approaches all add to this, of
course—totaling around eight miles
of highway construction to make
connections with trunk line roads.
Magnificent as the bridge appears
to those who have used it or will do
so few still understand the inherent
human story that lies behind and be
neath it. Take, for instance, the con
structing material. Great wooden
piling had to be sunk into the mud
of the Sound waters. Except for
Edenton, North Carolina
near shore pilings no suitably length
ed trees could be found in the East
of sufficient size and strength to sup
port the bridge. These piling ran
from 65 feet to 105 feet in length.
To secure the latter was the problem
that faced the state highway com
mission engineers.
The entire United States was can
vassed and it was finally decided that
the tall fir trees of California, great
sister trees to the gigantic redwoods
of the Western coast, would be best
adaptable to all needs. A whole
forest of these was cut down and
trained across the country, 3,000
miles, to be sunk into the Albemarle
waters.
But before these California firs
could be slid into their watery grave
they had to be protected against the
animal minutae and other water dan
gers by being creoeoted. So before
arriving on the Sound they were
' shunted down to Wilmington and
there dipped numerously into the vi
cious black liquid preservative, after
ward coming by train and boat to
the scenes of construction on both
sides.
Considering the north side end of
the bridge first, let it be said the
Tidewater folks say that from Sandy
Point to the central draw has a
length of 7,675 feet, with a clear
roadway width of 22 feet, which
makes a roadway breadth almost suf
ficient for three vehicles to pass in
ease and safety while abreast.
Os the materials used by the Tide
water people, again up to the draw,
were 1,251 creosoted piling 65 to 105
feet in length, 123 of which were
under 70 feet and were of native
(Continued on Page Six)
MINGLING OF THE OLD AND MODERN
MAKES EDENTON IDEAL PLACE TO LIVE
<s
j Hard Worker
HHi
.
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Jpff§| A
E. W. SPIRES
But for the persistent efforts
of Mr. Spires, early progress in
securing the Albemarle bridge
might have been abandoned.
It was Mr. Spires’ fighting dis
position and willingness to meet
almost unsift-mountable odds that
the bridge subject was kept in
the forefront and eventually
realized. 4
Progress
and
Prosperity
Edition
Single Copies—loc
9
Calm and Security Pre*
! vail Which Appeals
To Many Who Have
Come Here to Live
BY CHARLES AYLETT ASHBY,
CACIQUE
It is said that no one can tell the
truth about his home town. I shall
attempt to tell the truth as to Eden
ton, though I realize that partiality
may show itself, for frankly, I like
this town, and do not object to saying
so. It has much that commends.
Not the big White Lights of some of
our larger cities, but enough light to
get around in, and there is a calm
and security here which appeals.
The town has been here for over two
hundred years. Some historians say
the oldest permanent settlement in
North Carolina; others give this
palm to Bath. General Benbury
fought in the Revolution. His des
cendants are here now. Badhams
have been here almost since the first,
and prominent folks too. Augustus
Moores lie thick in old St Paul’s
Churchyard, four of them, I think it
is, judges, lawyers of fame. Augus
tus Moore is our cotton mill operator
today. The A. S. Smith crowd go
right back to Westover, through the
Blands. Came here years ago. And
so I might enumerate many more
(Continued on Page Three)