Building the railroad that 'Went to Sea' with photos.
Page 6

Building piers for the concrete arch railroad bridges continued by adding the 'arches' between the piers.

This step was basically done in five operations: 1) install and secure pre made wooden arch forms between the existing piers. 2) Build a wooden base between and connected to the existing piers, 2) Build a wooden floor or base on top of the arch forms, 3) add and secure wooden walls, called spandrel walls, on top of the base, 4) build and attach to the base and walls the inner forms for space to fill with soil and gravel on which to lay the cross ties and steel track, and 5) After pouring and hardening these wooden forms would be removed and most likely reused at another location. Steps four and five are often not shown in photos. These five steps were the same along the project, but the mixing and pouring of the concrete varied.

The base and spandrel wall forms were built in Miami and numbered for assembly on site.

The curved arch and the walls were barged to the location.

The arch forms are in place and attached to the piers, and a floor is being laid.

The spandrel walls are placed and secured on top of the completed arches.

     Above is a close-up view of traveling concrete plant's track and the mixer drum in the upper right corner. Concrete was mixed and poured as the mixer slowly moved across the forms on tracks attached outside of the entire setup. It straddles the wooden form structure and mixes, pours and moves along the structure.

     A top view of a series of arches in the Lower Keys after the wooden forms have been removed. Note that the center portion is hollow to be filled later and the cross ties laid on the fill. This will absorb the shock and vibration as well as be a quieter ride. The track to the right is a work track for derricks, etc. to have easy access.
      This concludes the presentation of construction railbeds. Now for a look at some of the equipment used in construction.
Railbed Construction Continued on shelf 7
Go to shelf 7, or

Return to the Railroom

E-Mail to editor

Return to Cybermuseum