THE KANSAS CITY BRIDGE. 63

bags were filled with sand and thrown overboard among the piles and along the
side of the caisson, which suspended the scour.

On the 13th the masons began work, laying the first course of stones on
the hardened surface of the beton ; in the evening of the same day the dredges
were again set in motion, and the work of sinking resumed. The following day
the river began to rise again, repeating the scour of the preceding week ; the
wash was again restrained by the use of sand bags, over five hundred of which
were thrown around the works on this and the two succeeding days. This
method of protection was found effective, while it was free from the objections
which prevented the use of riprap ; if stones had been thrown around the pier
it was feared that they might work under the edge of the caisson and obstruct
the descent ; the sand bags might also work under the edge, but their soft and
yielding nature would prevent their doing harm ; some of them did actually find
their way inside of the caisson, and one was brought up in a dredge bucket
uninjured. )

It being found impossible to lay masonry as fast as the dredges could sink
the caisson, the plan was adopted of running the machinery only by night, and
giving the masons every convenience for work by day. Mr. Tomlinson then
took charge of the night shift, and the pier was sunk for the remaining distance
under his directions. The masons were often unable to do more than set the
face stones of a course, together with a few of the heavier pieces of backing, in a
day, in which case the night force would be employed during the first hours of
their shift in backing up with beton. The material excavated had changed to a
coarse sand which was easily handled, each dredge throwing six full buckets in
a minute ; the pier also settled more rapidly than hitherto, sinking five inches in
an hour when everything was working well. The lower platform and the second
floor were lighted by locomotive head-lights, which threw a strong glare over the
works and men, and a visit to the pier late in the evening, when the machinery
was all working to its best advantage, and half an hour showed a decided settle-
ment, became a very interesting thing.

On the 19th, a pile top was found buried in the sand below dredge No. 2,
which was secured by a diver and drawn out with little trouble. The next day
some timber, supposed at first to be the branches of a large snag or tree, was