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Quebec Bridge
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==First design and collapse of 29 August 1907== [[File:Quebec Bridge Collapse of 1907.jpg|thumb|Wreckage of the 1907 collapse]] The Quebec Bridge was included in the [[National Transcontinental Railway]] project, undertaken by the federal government. The Quebec Bridge Company was first incorporated by Act of Parliament under the government of Sir [[John A. Macdonald]] in 1887,<ref>50β51 Vic c.98</ref> later revived in 1891,<ref>54β55 Vic c.107</ref> and revived for good in 1897 by the government of [[Wilfrid Laurier]],<ref>60β61 Vic c.69</ref> who granted them an extension of time in 1900.<ref>63β64 Vic c.115</ref> In 1903, the bond issue was increased to $6,000,000 and power to grant preference shares was authorised, along with a name change to the Quebec Bridge and Railway Company (QBRC).<ref>3 Edw VII c.177</ref> An Act of Parliament the same year was necessary to guarantee the bonds by the public purse.<ref>3 Edw VII c.54</ref> Laurier was the MP for [[Quebec East]] riding, while the president of the QBRC, [[Simon-Napoleon Parent]], was Quebec City's mayor from 1894 to 1906 and simultaneously served as Premier of Quebec from 1900 to 1905.{{citation needed|date = June 2014}} [[Edward A. Hoare]] was selected as Chief Engineer for the Company throughout this time,<ref name=wdm>Wm. D. Middleton: ''The Bridge at Quebec'', Indiana University Press, 2001</ref> while [[Collingwood Schreiber]] was the Chief Engineer of the Department of Railways and Canals in Ottawa.<ref name=dcbschreiber>[http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/schreiber_collingwood_14E.html Dictionary of Canadian Biography: "Schreiber, Sir Collingwood"]</ref> Hoare had never worked on a cantilever bridge structure longer than {{convert|300|ft|m}}.<ref name=wdm/><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.engr.usask.ca/classes/GE/449/notes/Quebec_Bridge_story.pdf |title=Notes from USask Notes on General Engineering, 'Engineering in Society 449' |access-date=2014-01-07 |archive-date=2014-03-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326193502/http://www.engr.usask.ca/classes/GE/449/notes/Quebec_Bridge_story.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Schreiber was assisted until 9 July 1903 by Department bridge engineer R.C. Douglas, at which time Douglas was deposed for his opposition to the calculations that were submitted by the contractors.<ref>Royal Commission, p. 41</ref> Schreiber subsequently requested the support of another qualified bridge engineer, but was effectively overruled by the Cabinet on 15 August 1903. Thereafter, QBRC consulting engineer [[Theodore Cooper]] was completely in charge of the works.<ref>Royal Commission, p. 48</ref> On 1 July 1905, Schreiber was demoted and replaced as deputy minister and chief engineer by [[Matthew Joseph Butler|Matthew J Butler]].<ref name=dcbschreiber/><ref>[http://history.uwo.ca/cdneng/butler.html ''Biographical Dictionary of Canadian Engineers'' (at UWO): "Butler, Matthew Joseph"]</ref> By 1904, the southern half of the structure was taking shape. However, preliminary calculations made early in the planning stages were never properly checked when the design was completed. All went well until the bridge was nearing completion in the summer of 1907, when the QBRC site engineering team under Norman McLure began noticing increasing distortions of key structural members already in place: the bridgeβs [[dead load]] was proving too heavy, with its own weight being far in excess of its carrying capacity.{{citation needed|date = June 2014}} McLure became increasingly concerned and wrote repeatedly to QBRC consulting engineer [[Theodore Cooper]], who at first replied that the problems were minor. The [[Phoenix Bridge Company]] officials claimed that the beams must already have been bent before they were installed, but by 27 August it had become clear to McLure that this was wrong. A more experienced engineer might have telegraphed Cooper, but McLure wrote him a letter, and went to New York to meet with him two days later. Cooper agreed that the issue was serious, and promptly telegraphed to the Phoenix Bridge Company: "Add no more load to bridge till after due consideration of facts." The two engineers went to the Phoenix offices.{{citation needed|date = June 2014}} But, Cooper's message was not passed on to Quebec before it was too late. Near quitting time on the afternoon of 29 August, after four years of construction, the south arm and part of the central section of the bridge collapsed into the St. Lawrence River in 15 seconds. Of the 86 workers on the bridge that day, 75 were killed and the rest were injured,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/world/the-five-worst-bridge-collapses-in-canadian-history|title=The five worst bridge collapses in Canadian history|last=Deachman|first=Bruce|date=5 August 2016|publisher=[[Ottawa Citizen]]|language=en-US|access-date=5 August 2016}}</ref> making it the world's worst bridge construction disaster. Of these victims, 33 (some sources say 35) were [[Mohawk nation|Mohawk]] steelworkers from the [[Kahnawake]] reserve near Montreal; they were buried at Kahnawake under crosses made of steel beams.<ref>Cecil Adams, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20110628212726/http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/659/why-do-so-many-native-americans-work-on-skyscrapers The Straight Dope: Why do so many Native Americans work on skyscrapers?]", ''[[Chicago Reader]]'', 18 December 1992.</ref> On 30 August 1907, a [[Royal Commission]] of inquiry into the disaster was provisionally appointed by the Deputy Minister in charge of the Department of Railways and Canals (Butler), with the concurrence of the Minister. The Royal Commission, which was granted by [[Edward VII]] by advice of his Governor General, [[Albert Grey]], on 31 August 1907, consisted of three members, who were all engineers of good standing: Henry Holgate, of Montreal,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Millard|first=Rod|date=2011-07-06|title=Holgate, Henry|url=https://history.uwo.ca/cdneng/holgate.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706212950/https://history.uwo.ca/cdneng/holgate.html|archive-date=2011-07-06|access-date=2021-02-01|website=Biographical Dictionary of Canadian Engineers}}</ref> JGG Kerry, of [[Campbellford, Ontario]], also an instructor at [[McGill University]], and Professor John Galbraith, then dean of the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering at the [[University of Toronto]]. The Commission document conferred upon the commissioners full powers to summon witnesses and documents, and to express "any opinion they may see to express thereon". The Commissioners included the hindsight work of consulting bridge engineer C.C. Schneider, of Philadelphia (a fulfillment of the 1903 request of Schreiber, supra), and presented their Report in full on 20 February 1908, which issued 15 conclusions.<ref>{{cite report |title=Royal Commission Quebec Bridge Inquiry Report|date=1908|location=Ottawa|publisher=SE Dawson, by order of Parliament|url=https://archive.org/details/reportandplansa01schngoog }}</ref> The Commissioners attributed responsibility for the failure to two men, consulting engineer Theodore Cooper and [[Peter L. Szlapka]], Chief Designing Engineer for Phoenix Bridge Company: <blockquote> (c) The design of the chords that failed was made by Mr. P.L. Szlapka, the designing engineer of the Phoenix Bridge Company (d) This design was examined and officially approved by Mr. Theodore Cooper, consulting engineer of the Quebec Bridge and Railway Company. (e) The failure cannot be attributed directly to any cause other than errors in judgment on the part of these two engineers. </blockquote> Cooper escaped penal sanction.<ref>[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1919/08/25/103459362.pdf "Theodore Cooper Dies at 81" New York Times obituary.]</ref> It is presumed that Szlapka escaped as well. The Commissioners also found that: <blockquote> (k) The failure on the part of the Quebec Bridge and Railway Company to appoint an experienced bridge engineer to the position of chief engineer was a mistake. This resulted in a loose and inefficient supervision of all parts of the work on the part of the Quebec Bridge and Railway Company. </blockquote> The abortive construction of the Quebec Bridge spanned the careers of two [[Minister of Railways and Canals (Canada)|Ministers of Railways and Canals]], and one temporary replacement, who was on the job for five months immediately preceding the disaster. A popular myth is that the iron and the steel from the collapsed bridge, which could not be reused for construction, was used to forge the early [[Iron Ring]]s that started to be worn by graduates of Canadian engineering schools in 1925.<ref>[http://www.networx.on.ca/~njdevil/mainpage/E_Eng/Academic/jj-ring.htm#4 Information Relevant to the Iron Ring Ceremony] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706192330/http://www.networx.on.ca/~njdevil/mainpage/E_Eng/Academic/jj-ring.htm#4 |date=6 July 2011 }}, 22 November 2001; Retrieved 4 April 2010</ref> {{wide image|Bridges_25.png|600px|Drawing of the original design of Quebec Bridge}}
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