October
29, 1902 -- The
members of the Drainage Board approve the issuance of $1,000,000 worth of bonds
with the money from the sale to be used for the construction of bascule
bridges and for the widening of the
river. The bonds will be payable over a
20 year period and will pay four percent interest. Board members also approve the purchase of
the plant and property of the Norton Milling Company at the Madison Street
Bridge for $225,000. The property will
be cleared and used to widen the river at this point. The original asking price is $400,000, but
when the sanitary district threatens to acquire it by condemnation the offer is
lowered by $175,000. With this move the
city finally begins to deal with the problems that its antiquated center-pier
bridges cause, problems that go back years but which gain special emphasis in
January of 1901 when the city engineer refuses to take any further responsibility
for nine fragile bridges. The swing bridge at Madison Street, completed in 1893, is pictured above. Note the narrowness of the draw on either side of the turntable. Imagine piloting a boat headed toward the bridge in a strong west wind, and you get some idea of how little margin for error there was in navigating the river in the days before the bascule bridges.
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