A more robust effort, a hastily constructed ferry boat named the J.K. Cullen, would be more successful. The size of the craft limited the load it could carry with further constraints from the variations of the river level and currents.
The ferry ran from April 23 until May 10, making 1,066 crossings in its 18 days of operation. What was need was a temporary bridge of substance that would allow a regular flow of traffic, including interurban rail cars, private cars, trucks and pedestrians as well as the installation of gas and water lines to the west side to allow the resumption of those services.
A number of contractors stepped up to make bids, but all would require months to marshal resources and materials to begin such a large project. Enter Daniel Willard, President of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. The B&O owned both the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton and the Cincinnati, Indianapolis & Western Railroads that bisected Hamilton. Upon hearing of the plight of the city, Willard offered the services of the CH&D crew that was just completing the temporary bridge for the CI&W Railroad just downstream of the now washed away High Street bridge.
The Butler County Commissioners would hire the B&O Railroad on April 23, 1913 to construct the temporary bridge at a maximum price of $11,984.11, with the railroad stating it would only charge for time and materials. Work on the temporary bridge started the next day, with employees from the CH&D simply moving a few blocks up the street to start on the new assignment.
The Ohio Electric Railway would contribute $2,500 of the reconstruction effort allowing their tracks across the river and return to operation.
The building of this “temporary” bridge as it was called, at High and Main Street, was an epic feat of efficiency, co-operation and resourcefulness. On the eastern side of town, in order to install wooden pilings upon which the temporary bridge would rest, the CH&D would utilize the tracks of the competing Ohio Electric Railway on High Street to deliver the equipment and material right to the river’s edge.
Across the river, on the west side, the CH&D would lay a temporary rail line down Main Street to bring supplies and a pile driver rented from the Rock Island Railroad, to begin construction from that side of town. Railroad engineers, known for productivity and speed, would work from both sides of the river simultaneously, literally 7 days a week, to complete the bridge.
The temporary bridge would be completed and opened to a much-relieved public on Saturday May 10, 1913. Work would continue to install various lines for utilities in the days following.
After completion, the temporary bridge would be faced with a new threat from the river, this time from an ice jam. In February of 1914, ice on the river was thick due to extremely cold weather. Placement of the wood pilings to support the bridge would not allow the resulting ice packs to easily move through the bridge supports.
Ever resourceful, on Feb. 19, 1914, the Butler County Commissioners arranged for dynamite, and a rented pile hammer delivered on the Ohio Electric Railway track on top of the bridge, to break up the ice pack and reopen the bridge to traffic.
On a happy note, it was reported that the final bill presented by the CH&D Railroad to the Butler County Commissioners was for only $6,500, far below bids received by other contractors, the highest of which was for $17,000. The temporary bridge would serve Hamilton for a year and a half until finally dismantled beginning in late January 1915 after completion of the permanent bridge.
The permanent structure, completed in December 1914, would serve Hamilton until dedication of the new High and Main Street bridge in 2007.
Jim Krause is the author of the newly published book “Wreck of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railway – A Pioneering Railroad Undone by Greed and Fraud”, available for purchase at the Butler County Historical Society. He can be reached at jdkrause@fuse.net.
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