"العراق والخليج الفارسي" [و‎‎٣‎٧‎٩] (٨٦٢/٧٦٠)

RAILWAYS
5^9
The bridge was built in 1943 and is divided into two sections by
Coal Island, the total length from shore to shore of the Shatt al Arab
being about 800 yards. The west section between Maqil and Coal
Island is 1,150 feet long, and rests on 113 trestles about 10 feet apart,
each trestle being composed of 4 vertical piles driven below low-
water-level to depths up to 61 feet.
The east section is made up of 430 feet of similar piled trestling,
a 50‘5-foot Inglis span, a po-S-foot sinking-span, a second 50-5^001
Inglis span, and then 220 feet more of piled trestling, making a total
length of about 846 feet. The Inglis spans, which have a clearance of
40-3 feet between piers, permit small mastless river-craft of shallow
draught to pass under the bridge while it is in use by road and rail
traffic. The bridge is broken by submerging the sinking-span below
water-level, to a depth which permits steamers with a draft of 8 feet
to pass over it. The maximum movement necessary for this at low
tide during the low-water season is 28 feet. When submerged there
is a waterway between the sinking-span abutments of 74 feet.
The sinking-span is composed of 4 large box-girders braced to
gether for even distribution of load, weighing about 35 tons in all.
This rests at each end on compound transverse girders, spanning
recesses in the abutment piers. These piers are composed of 34 timber
piles driven to a depth of 74 feet below low-water level, encased in
Larssen coffer dams. Each pier has two steel towers of gantry-like
design which support pulleys for raising and lowering the bridge. To
break the bridge, the sinking-span is raised a few inches, the com
pound girders are withdrawn, and the span is lowered in the abut
ment recesses to the required depth.
The roadway over the pile trestling is 23 ft. 6 in. wide, of asphalt on
timber decking resting on timber road-bearers; that of the Inglis
spans is n feet wide, of asphalt on timber decking on steel joists; that
of the sinking-span is 10 ft. 3 in. wide, of asphalt between joists on
timber baulks.
It is uncertain whether this bridge will be maintained after the war.
Baghdad Railway Wagon Ferry
The distance between Baghdad West and Baghdad North by the
connecting lines and Wagon Ferry is about 4 miles. The ferry, just
north of the town, consists of 2 barges fixed together, taking 48 four-
wheeled wagons, with a total weight of 540 tons. Normal turn-round
takes about 6 hours, but could be decreased with special labour and
lighting arrangements to 5 hours.