THE JOURNAL of the ASSOCIATED ENGINEERING SOCIETIES OF ST. LOUIS Those who win Golden SEPTEMBER The Engineers' Club of St. Louis The Associated Engineering Societies of St. Louis 3817 Olive Street C. W. S. Sammelman, Secy. Office Hours, 9:00 to 5:00 Daily The Associated Engineering Societies of St. Louis is a member of American Engineering Council. This monogram of the General Electric Company is on the motors in the Equitable Life Assurance Society building. Look for it on the motor when you buy an electric machine for home, office or factory. The letters G-E are a symbol of service, the initials of a friend. This new building has comfortable office room for more than 6,000 men and women. Without 27 electric motors that run its numerous elevators, 72 more that run its heating and ventilating equipment, and 12 others for water supply and pneumatic tube system, this vast structure would be a lifeless pile of masonry and steel. GENERAL ELECTRIC 7430 OF THE ASSOCIATED ENGINEERING SOCIETIES OF Vol. IV. Greeting ST. LOUIS A Monthly Periodical Devoted to the Interests of the Engineering Profession in St. Louis WILLIAM E. ROLFE, Editor ST. LOUIS, MO., SEPTEMBER, 1925 With the resumption of activity at the Algonquin Club on September 9 our association entered a new year of effort. The past summer has afforded us an opportunity to coordinate our ideas and to lay out our work. We have taken the first steps in an advance movement which we hope to bring to fruition during the coming months. The objective of this movement is the advancement of the engineering profession in St. Louis. Pride in our profession has actuated the general approval of our expansion program. Our officers have pledged themselves to do everything in their power to carry out the wishes of the organization. To this end they must have the hearty cooperation of every member; in committee work, in attendance at meetings, in proffer of assistance, suggestion and advice. With such support we may look confidently to the future to solve the problem confronting us; to establish the Engineers' Club and Associated Engineering Societies as real factors in the development of St. Louis and the engineering profession in St. Louis. J. L. HAMILTON, President. -0 Meetings in Prospect Mr. Leopold F. G. Heine, Electrical and Mechanical Engineer, associated with Mr. James E. Allison, will No. 9 address the Associated Engineering Societies on September 23 on the subject, "Facts About the Largest European Electrical Combine." Mr. Heine was born in the United States and spent twenty-four years in Europe. His talk will be a firsthand presentation of information derived from his association with the electrical industry abroad. It will contain much of interest to American engineers. The October program is tentative at present but gives promise of much interest. On the 14th, Mr. L. R. Stowe is listed for a talk on "Stokers." There will be an inspection trip on the 17th to the Water Works on the Missouri River for a view of the construction under way. Mr. E. E. F. Creighton will present a paper on "Lightning" on October 23. -0 The St. Louis Building Code The St. Louis Building Code has not been completely revised in eight years. In that time thirty-five amending ordinances have been passed. The result is a hodge-podge of disconnected matter, hard to read and practically unintelligible to the average citizen. The Code contains many obsolete and conflicting sections. It has not (Continued on page 10) Entered as second-class matter, February 11, 1916, at the post-office at St., Louis, Mo., under the Act of August 24, 1912. Acceptance for mailing at the special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized August 23, 1918. THE FOURTEENTH STREET VIADUCT BY L. R. BOWEN Engineer of Bridges and Buildings, Department of the President The new Fourteenth Street Viaduct in St. Louis was opened to traffic on July 10, 1925. Transportation over the railroad tracks at this point had been interrupted since February 12, 1920, when two spans of the old structure were wrecked by a Vandalia train which left the rails of the Terminal Railroad Association. The date of resumption of traffic was exactly two years from the day the contractor for the new viaduct began his work. The history of the Fourteenth Street Viaduct may be of some interest. The completion of the Eads Bridge over the Mississippi River with its accompanying tunnel under the streets of the city was celebrated on July 4, 1874. On July 10 of the same year a franchise was granted to the Union Depot Co., a forerunner of the Terminal Railroad Associa tion, to construct a station at Twelfth St. and to lay tracks as far west as Tayon Av., now Eighteenth St. One of the requirements of this franchise was that the Union Depot Co. pay the sum of $20,000 toward the construction of bridges over the railroad tracks at Twelfth St. and Fourteenth St. These bridges were built by the City of St. Louis in 1876 at which time the Pacific Railroad Co. (now the Missouri Pacific Railway Co.) had two tracks and the Union Depot Co. eight. Today the Missouri Pacific and the Terminal Association each have nineteen tracks at Fourteenth St. The original Fourteenth St. bridge cost $18,500. It consisted of wooden trestles throughout with the exception of one span over the tracks of the Pacific Railroad and four over those of the Union Depot Co. These spans were of iron. In 1882 the City spent $16,500 in replacing all of the wooden trestle with iron girders and posts. The Union Depot Co. added four spans to the length of the bridge in 1889 to accommodate extension of its tracks. Between the time of construction of the old bridge in 1876 and its destruction in 1920 practically all maintenance cost, amounting to $92,000, was paid by the City. The old Fourteenth St. bridge was 32 feet wide. It had narrow sidewalks and a roadway 19' 6" wide, all of which was occupied when two street cars passed each other. It had very steep grades at the south approach and its frail supports were subject to demolition by passing trains. The south approach of the old bridge began at Gratiot St. and the north approach at Poplar St. In 1918 detailed plans were prepared for constructing a new reinforced concrete viaduct to carry Fourteenth St. over the railroad tracks. These plans provided for a bridge 60 feet wide which should begin a few hundred feet farther north on Fourteenth St. than the old structure and extend over Gratiot St. so that a clear way would be left for tracks as far south as Singleton St. It was planned to bring the south approach of this bridge to grade at Chouteau Av. One of the reasons for carrying Fourteenth St. over Gratiot St. was to provide for the tracks of the proposed western approach to the Municipal Bridge which are planned to be located in Gratiot St. |