Railroad Gazette/Volume 38/Number 5/Grand Trunk Terminal Improvements
Grand Trunk Terminal Improvements at Grand Rapids.
The present passenger and freight station of the Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee Railway at Grand Rapids, Mich., being about 1¾ miles from the center of the manufacturing and business district of the city, it was decided last July that the line should be extended into this district. For this purpose the Grand Rapids Terminal Railroad Company was organized, and an ordinance secured from the City Council of Grand Rapids permitting a line to be built from a point on the Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee just east of the bridge crossing Grand River, southerly and adjoining a dock line recently established on the east bank of the river to Bridge street, a distance of about 8,000 ft. The ordinance also provided for a further extension of the line under Bridge street and about 1,000 ft. further south, to form connection with industries established there. To build an embankment adjoining the dock line as established, it was necessary to build a protection wall in the river, about 7,000 ft. long, the face of which should be the dock line. The ordinance provided that at street crossings and across city property this, wall should be built to grade elevation. Elsewhere, on the score of economy, it is but a few feet above the ordinary stage of water in the river. The height of this protection wall thus varies from about 7 ft. to 20 ft. After the completion of the embankment it is to be further protected to high-water mark by hand-placed riprap, as shown on the sketch of the general section of embankment and wall.
Bridge and Canal streets are the most important in the city. At the former the city has recently completed a concrete arch bridge about 500 ft. long. In order to pass under the approach to this structure, the track extending below Bridge street has to be depressed considerably. The elevation of the roadway at Bridge street is 28 ft.; the floor of the passenger station will be at about that same elevation, while the station tracks will be 21 ft. The elevation of the depressed track under Bridge street will be 10½ ft. at that point. It will therefore be necessary for the Terminal Company to build in addition to the dock line wall, another wall supporting the filling for the station tracks, which will lie above the depressed track for about 1,000 ft.; also another wall protecting the property to the east and north of the company’s property, on account of the limited space that could be acquired for track purposes.
The crossing of the power canal and dam will require four 60-ft. and two 48-ft. double-track, through-girder spans. Between the dam and Bridge street there will be eight different arches from 8 ft. to 12 ft. span and of sufficient length to carry three tracks, to serve as tail-races for the various industries situated on the canal and receiving power therefrom. The masonry will all be concrete and will amount to over 16,500 cu. yds.
The foregoing information was obtained from Mr. R. S. Logan, Assistant to Second Vice-President of the Grand Trunk.
Grand Rapids Terminal Railroad Company—General Plan of Improvements at Grand Rapids, Michigan.