History and Development of Steel Railway Bridges - Design of Modern Steel Railway Bridges - page 30

FIGURE 1.15b The 1916 Quebec Bridge collapse, Canada. (A.A. Chesterfield, Library and
Archives Canada.)

FIGURE 1.15c The Quebec Bridge completed in 1917 across the St. Lawrence River at
Quebec City, Canada. (Carleton University Civil Engineering Exhibits.)

Many iron and steel railway bridges were replaced in the first decades of the
twentieth century due to the development of substantially more powerful and heavier
locomotives. ∗ Riveting was used extensively in Europe but only became a standard of
American long-span steel railway bridge fabrication after about 1915 † with construc-
tion of the Hell Gate and Sciotoville bridges. Hell Gate is a 978 ft two-hinged steel

∗

Locomotive weights were typically about 40 ton in 1860, 70 ton in 1880, 100 ton in 1890, 125 ton in
1900, and 150 ton in 1910.

†

Riveting was used on smaller spans earlier in the twentieth century.