Editing Hell Gate Bridge (section)

==== Pier construction ====
The construction of piers on Randalls and Wards Islands and in Queens began in February 1913.<ref name="p128359243" /> [[Derrick]]s were used to construct the concrete piers under the Bronx Kill, Randalls Island, Little Hell Gate, and Wards Island spans. The foundations of the Bronx Kill span's piers were constructed using caissons, since the underlying layer of rock was nearly {{Convert | 100 | ft}} deep.<ref name="n142439586" /> The foundations of the Little Hell Gate span's piers were built in open [[cofferdam]]s due to the shallowness of that strait.<ref name="RAG1914 pp. 889–890">{{harvnb|Railway Age Gazette|1914|ps=.|pages=889–890}}</ref> The contractor built a dock on Wards Island to load and unload material. Derricks carried solid materials from the dock to a conveyor belts, which in turn led to covered storage bins, while cement was poured down a chute to a cement house next to the storage bins. Sand, stone, and cement from the bins were dumped into "charging cars" and carried to a mixing plant, where the material was mixed into concrete.<ref name="RAG1914 p. 890" /> Elevators were used to transport concrete to the top of each pier.<ref name="nyt-1913-07-06" /><ref name="n142388040" />

By July 1913, some of the piers and retaining walls for the Bronx and Queens viaducts had been constructed, and contractors had installed temporary plants on Randalls and Wards Islands.<ref name="nyt-1913-07-06" /><ref>{{cite news |date=July 3, 1913 |title=New York Connecting Railroad: Work on New Four-track Line to Begin This Summer-- Road to Cost $30,000,000. |work=The Wall Street Journal |page=7 |issn=0099-9660 |id={{ProQuest|129418454}}}}</ref> The next month, the PRR and NH announced that the NYCR would issue a $30 million mortgage and $11 million in bonds{{Efn-lr|The mortgage would be about ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|start_year=1913|value=30|fmt=c}} million, while the bonds would be ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|start_year=1913|value=30|fmt=c}} million in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}} to fund the construction of the Hell Gate Bridge and associated lines;<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 27, 1913 |title=New York Connecting Road Seeks Bond Issue |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-wall-street-journal-new-york-connect/142395390/ |access-date=February 29, 2024 |work=The Wall Street Journal |pages=5 |issn=0099-9660 |archive-date=February 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229225309/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-wall-street-journal-new-york-connect/142395390/ |url-status=live}}</ref> the railroads had spent $8.6 million{{Efn-lr|About ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|start_year=1913|value=8.6|fmt=c}} million in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}} to date on the bridge.<ref>{{cite news |date=September 18, 1913 |title=New York Connecting Railway's New Financing |work=The Christian Science Monitor |page=17 |issn=0882-7729 |id={{ProQuest|193288095}}}}</ref> The bonds were issued later that year.<ref>{{cite news |date=November 15, 1913 |title=N.Y. Connecting Railroad Bond Issue Approved.: Public Service Board Permits Immediate Issue of $11,000,000 Bonds Under the $30,000,000 Mortgage Proceeds to Take Care of Short Term Notes |work=The Wall Street Journal |page=5 |issn=0099-9660 |id={{ProQuest|129431137}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=November 21, 1913 |title=Connecting R.R. Bonds; $11,000,000 4 1–2 Per Cent. Issue Quickly Taken at 94 1–2. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1913/11/21/archives/connecting-rr-bonds-11000000-4-12-per-cent-issue-quickly-taken-at.html |access-date=February 29, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=February 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229225258/https://www.nytimes.com/1913/11/21/archives/connecting-rr-bonds-11000000-4-12-per-cent-issue-quickly-taken-at.html |url-status=live}}</ref> During a site visit in mid-1914, a local civic group noted that a temporary span had been finished across Bronx Kill and that piers were being built within the riverbed of Little Hell Gate.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 12, 1914 |title=Report on Progress of Hell Gate Bridge |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-report-on-progr/142399884/ |access-date=February 29, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |pages=4 |postscript=none |archive-date=February 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229225310/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-report-on-progr/142399884/ |url-status=live}}; {{Cite news |date=May 13, 1914 |title=Long Island News |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-long-island-news/142399934/ |access-date=February 29, 2024 |work=Times Union |pages=8 |archive-date=February 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229225307/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-long-island-news/142399934/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The main span's towers had reached the height of the deck by the end of 1914, while almost all of the other piers had been completed by then.<ref name="n142397488">{{Cite news |date=December 27, 1914 |title=Make Big Progress on Connecting Road |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-make-big-progre/142397488/ |access-date=February 29, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |pages=59 |archive-date=February 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229225308/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-make-big-progre/142397488/ |url-status=live}}</ref>