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National Geographic : 1897 Dec
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THE WASHINGTON A Q UED UCT 343 city are already overtaxed in supplying the present rate of con sumption, and no relief will be felt by consumers until some method is provided for bringing an increased quantity of water from the distributing reservoir into the city. General Meigs was in charge of the work upon the Washington aqueduct from the time of the first survey until July, 1860, when he was relieved by Captain H. W. Benham, of the U. S. Corps of Engineers, who in turn was succeeded by Lieutenant James St. C. Morton, of the same corps. On February 22, 1861, after an ab sence of seven months, General Meigs was again placed in charge, and the work was practically completed by him. In June, 1862, owing to the overworked condition of the War Department, the charge of the Washington aqueduct was transferred from that department to the Department of the Interior, where it remained until April, 1867, when it again passed into the care of the War Department, and has remained there ever since. In his report upon the proposed line of the conduit, General Meigs states that seven miles after leaving Great Falls the only serious obstacle in its whole course, the valley of Cabin John branch, is encountered. This valley, he says, might be crossed by pipes, but he states that in his project he has avoided them because ' they always occasion a loss of head or else exceed in cost the bridges they replace." He therefore first proposed to cross the valley by a bridge 482 feet long and 20 feet wide, sup ported upon six semi-circular arches of 60 feet span, resting upon piers seven feet thick at the top and of various heights, the highest being 52Y feet. The estimated cost of this bridge was $72,409. This plan was afterward entirely changed and the present mag nificent structure, the grandest stone arch in existence, was erected. The total length of the bridge, including abutments, is 450 feet; its width is 20 feet 4 inches, and its height above the bottom of the creek 100 feet. The span of the arch is 220 feet and the rise 57.26 feet. It was begun in 1857 and completed, with the exception of the parapet walls, in 1864. These walls were built in 1872-'73, vehicles having been prevented from getting off the bridge prior to that time by timber guards. All the original plans of the bridge are signed by General Meigs as chief engineer of the Washington aqueduct and by Alfred L. Rives, assistant en gineer, Cabin John division. The entire bridge contains 13,283 cubic yards of stone masonry, concrete, and brick-work, and it cost, complete, about $254,000. The cut-stone arch is of Quincy
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