72 THE KANSAS CITY BRIDGE. exceedingly troublesome. The piles were cut off and capped, and the masonry started on the lst of October, at an elevation of 101.1. The earth was after- wards replaced around the pier and carefully paved with rubble, effectually excluding the timber-work from the air, while the moist nature of the soil renders it as imperishable as if perpetually below the level of the water in the river.