Editing Quebec Bridge (section)

==Second design and collapse of 11 September 1916==
[[File:Quebec Bridge Collapse.jpg|thumb|right|11 September 1916, Quebec Bridge Collapse]]After a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the collapse, construction started on a second bridge. Three engineers were appointed: H. E. Vautelet, a former engineer for the Canadian Pacific Railways, Maurice FitzMaurice from Britain, who worked on the construction of the [[Forth Railway Bridge|Forth Bridge]], and [[Ralph Modjeski]] from [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]]. Vautelet was President and Chief Engineer. The new design was again for a bridge with a single long compound cantilever span but with a more massive structure.

On 11 September 1916, when the central span was being raised into position, it fell into the river, killing 13 workers.<ref name=":0" /> The chief engineer had been made aware of the problem six weeks before the collapse. The chief engineer had been alerted to a problem by Frants Lichtenberg, the engineer responsible for the construction of the centre section. Lichtenberg was also working as an inspector for the federal government of Canada at the time.<ref>Frants Lichtenberg's letter to his son Steen Lichtenberg in 1954, describing the construction of the Quebec Bridge.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Middleton|first=William D.|title=The Bridge at Quebec|year=2001|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=0-253-33761-5|page=158|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JjdRuG7xmlwC|access-date=2012-01-11}}</ref>{{Verify source|date=February 2020}} Fears of German sabotage were reported{{citation needed|date=December 2021}} because the [[Great War]] had begun, but it became apparent that the central span had collapsed because of the failure of a casting in the erection equipment.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Whalen |first1=James M. |title=A Bridge With Two Tragedies |url=https://legionmagazine.com/a-bridge-with-two-tragedies/ |publisher=Legion: Canada's Military History Magazine |access-date=3 December 2021 |date=1 November 2000}}</ref>

Re-construction began almost immediately after the accident, and the government granted special permission for the bridge builders to acquire the needed steel, which was in high demand because of the War effort. The fallen central span still lies at the bottom of the river.{{dubious|reason=First, as the image shows, it did not even land in the river when it fell; second, if steel was that precious (during wartime) it would not have been actively sunk, then not salvaged.  A reliable citation is required for this claim.|date=May 2025}} After the bridge was completed in 1917, special passes were required for those wanting to cross the bridge. Armed soldiers, and later [[Dominion Police]], guarded the structure and checked passes until the end of the War.