166 



Popular Science Monthly 



the emergency. These plows pushed the 

 snow into the middle of the streets, 

 where it was carried away by the work- 

 ers. 



On Tuesday morning, nearly all of 

 the vast quantity of snow had disap- 

 peared from the main thoroughfares, 

 and the fleet of motor-trucks vanished 

 as suddenly as they had appeared. 

 Heaps of snow still clogged the middle 

 of many of the side streets, but the work 

 of removing this was done as it had 

 been in previous winters, by gangs of 

 men working twenty-four 

 hours a day, aided by 

 horse-drawn carts. 



Where did the motor- 

 trucks come from? Where 

 had they gone when the 

 main streets and avenues 

 had been cleared? 



Dissatisfied with the 

 slow methods of snow re- 

 moval last winter when 

 two or three heavy storms 

 paralyzed the traffic of the 

 city, Street Cleaning Com- 

 missioner Fetherstone ar- 

 ranged with a number of 

 large contractors to mobil- 

 ize a fleet of privately 

 owned motor-trucks, suit- 

 able for the removal of 

 snow, whenever a storm 

 threatened to disorganize 

 the transportation of the 

 city. 



A census was taken of 

 the owners of trucks who 

 were willing to furnish 

 them when needed for this 

 work. A large number of these power- 

 ful vehicles were placed at the disposal 

 of the contractors, and when the call 

 was sent, the trucks were quickly at 

 their appointed stations. 



The work done by these trucks was 

 remarkable. The ample bodies held an 

 average load of two and one-half times 

 the amount of snow that could be con- 

 tained in the largest of the old-style 

 carts and wagons, and the snow was 

 carried to the various disposal points in 

 a small part of the time usually required. 

 As a result, the snow disappeared from 

 the important streets as if by magic. 



A Gigantic Steel Bridge-Beam 



ONE of the greatest of modern en- 

 gineering undertakings is the con- 

 struction of the New Quebec Bridge, 

 which upon completion will span the St. 

 Lawrence near Quebec on the site of the 

 great Quebec Bridge which collapsed 

 several years ago with a great loss of 

 life. Work upon the foundations of 

 the original bridge was begun in the 

 early spring of 1910, but nearly all the 

 work accomplished when the bridge fell 



One of the largest steel beams ever used in bridge 



building, designed in place of the faulty members which 



caused the disastrous collapse of the new bridge at 



Quebec, before it was completed 



had to be practically abandoned and re- 

 commenced from the foundations them- 

 selves. 



Since the disastrous collapse was 

 caused by weak members, the en- 

 gineers have fitted to the new bridge 

 some of the largest steel beams ever 

 used in bridge building. An idea of 

 their great size may be gained from the 

 illustration, showing an end section of 

 one of the members. Half of the pin 

 hole shown is to receive a steel pin nearly 

 four feet in diameter. It is expected 

 that trains will be crossing the bridge in 

 another twelve months. 



