CHAPTER IV.

MASONRY.

THE contract for the masonry of the bridge was originally let to Messrs.
Vipond and Walker, of Kansas City. On the 1st of July, 1867, Mr. Walker
retired from the firm, and his place was supplied by Mr. J. H. Burns ; on the
25th of November, in the same year, Mr. Vipond died, and the work under the
contract was completed by Mr. Burns.

By the terms of the contract the Company agreed to furnish all derricks
required for handling’ stone, both at the quarries and on the river, and also
stone-boats for transporting stone to the pier sites, and the use of their steam-
boat to tow these boats to the points desired. The contractors were to furnish
all smaller tools, to provide power for the derricks, and to keep derricks and
boats in repair while in their use. The cement was to be purchased by the
Company and charged to the contractor at cost.

The stone used was limestone, the greater part of which was quarried in
the bluffs south-west of the city, and within three miles of the bridge site ; a
quarry was also opened on the north side of the river, from which a portion of
the stone used in Piers 5 and 6 was obtained. Several varieties of stone were
worked, the best of which was a compact blue limestone, of nearly uniform
color, found in continuous layers varying from 16 inches to two feet in thick-
ness. As this stone could not be obtained in large quantities without very
expensive stripping, its use was confined to the ashlar work of the upper parts
of the piers ; the whole of the piers, below the top of the ice-breakers, was built
of a more coarsely grained stone, of a white or gray color, which worked into
thicker courses than the blue stone, and which was used for backing throughout.
The stone was quarried in the summer and early autumn of 1867, so as to allow

a sufficient time for seasoning ; it was found in general to stand the frost well,
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