Eight Hundred Men, a Tunnel, and a Bridge
The I.W.N. extension put hundreds of laborers to work on grades, bridges and the Blueslide tunnel—while a bridge contractor was hurt by a falling timber.
Jones Onserud started Wednesday on the work of grading from the present end of the I.W.N. main line through the yards to a connection with the work near Ashenfelter Bay.
About 200 feet of the tunnel at Blueslide has been finished, half of which is on either end of the tunnel. The work is progressing at the rate of about 16 feet per double shift. No accidents of any kind have occurred since starting work on the tunnel.
Contractors Durkee and Tobin have started work grading with teams. Up to this time the mud and slush have been too bad for this kind of work, but now that the frost is coming out the work will be rushed. There will be about 300 teams employed on the job.
About 800 men are now at work on the grading work of the I. & W. N. extension, and this force will be increased as rapidly as they can be worked to advantage. About 100 more men are needed at this time.
Several cars of bridge timbers and dinky cars arrived on Wednesday. It now looks as though work would be opened up with a rush within the next ten days.
Contractor Kelly, one of the firm that has the contract for building the bridge across Ashenfelter Bay for the railroad extension, was quite badly hurt Sunday. While superintending work on the bridge he was struck by a falling timber and rolled down the side of the big fill with the timber. Fortunately no bones were broken and he is recovering.
“About 800 men are now at work on the grading work of the I. & W. N. extension, and this force will be increased as rapidly as they can be worked to advantage.”
The I.W.N. extension promised work for hundreds of men, but the jobs came with mud, falling timber and a tunnel driven by double shifts. The same tension between big infrastructure promises and the safety of the workers who build them remains familiar.
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