The Importance and Integrity of Infrastructure:
The Quebec Bridge
Group 12
Stephanie Carrasquillo
Marlborough High School
STEM ECHS
March 20, 2014
The construction of the Quebec Bridge began in the summer of 1905 but, shockingly on
August 29th, 1907when the bridge was having its last pieces placed there was a terrible noise
that could be heard from miles away, as this sound filled the air, the southern part of the bridge
collapsed into the river below. This catastrophe caused the death of about 76 workers.
In 1908, the Canadian government took over the reconstruction of the Quebec Bridge.
The government appointed a committee of engineers made up of three engineers who were told
to draw new specifications for the bridge that had recently collapsed. After a dispute, the person
in charge of construction resigned, thus leaving The St. Lawrence Bridge Co. in charge to work
on the construction. Under the supervision of the committee of engineers the St. Lawrence
Bridge Co. prepared blueprints. The blueprints were done under supervision because they did not
want errors to occur such as the last time the blueprints were made and given the construction to
be built. With the new plans complete, the bridge required a quantity of steel which was almost
double of what was used to make the first bridge. The president of the St. Lawrence Bridge
Company, Phelps Johnson made improvements on the first design, he added a new system
known as K-truss bracing system truss geometry resulted in a more efficient structure that would
soon stand once again. On September 11th, 1916 over 100,000 people gathered in Québec city to
see the final construction of the bridge that had once collapsed. However, during the raising of
the final parts weighing 5,000 tons another load and horrendous noise was heard all over as once
again they had failed to bring the bridge to completion. In this second tragedy about thirteen
people lost their lives.
The Quebec Bridge is a cantilevered bridge and a truss bridge. Cavaliered bridges are
usually made around structures that are horizontal that’s supports come from only on side
of the structure. These bridges are very similar in there appearances usually having arched
bottoms. Truss bridges are made up of a simple design with support on both the top and the
bottom of the bridge. Trusses are triangular framework that primarily acts in tension and
compression.( Pell, N. (n.d.). Six Main Types of Bridges)
The Quebec Bridge was mainly used for trains and people crossing in automobiles to get
over the river and into other cities in Canada. During the 19th century, the railroad brought good
prosperity to Levis, a large city in Canada. As well as a number of hotels accommodated by
travelers. ( Pell, N. (n.d.). Six Main Types of Bridges) Activities related to railroads required
large workforces and do to this the population of Levis constantly increased. There were also
arrivals in Quebec City such as railway companies boosting the development of the city leading
to Quebec City having a larger population than Levis. A link made by the St. Lawrence
Company brought the city of Quebec 11 railway companies to help make the two long railroad
tracks for the bridge. The railroad tracks made it easier and faster to get from Quebec to Halifax,
Winnipeg that was 397.28 miles away.
References
J, C. D. (2012, October 5). NISEE – the national information service for earthquake
engineering » Blog Archive » The Quebec Bridge, 1906-1917. Retrieved March 20,
2014, from http://nisee2.berkeley.edu/?p=1945
L'Hébreux, M. (2001). Retrieved March 20, 2014, from
www.ameriquefrancaise.org/en/article-381/Quebec_City
Pell, N. (n.d.). Six Main Types of Bridges | eHow. Retrieved March 20, 2014, from
http://www.ehow.com/list_6310038_six-main-types-bridges.html
Tarkov, J. (1986). Quebec Bridge. Retrieved March 20, 2014, from
http://www.asce.org/People-and-Projects/Projects/Landmarks/Quebec-Bridge/