main piers so as to carry the loads from the three heavy posts to the masonry without overstraining any of the metal in the pedestal, and so as to distribute the total pressure uniformly over the masonry bearing. Until recently the author has adopted pedestals built of plates and shapes, but has lately decided to try steel castings, as the pound price for these has now come down to something like a reasonable figure. The difficulty in finding room for the proper number of rivets for attaching together their component parts renders built pedestals clumsy and expensive.

The anchorage details require special care, and no rules can be given to govern their designing, for the reason that the conditions vary for all crossings. The following hints, though, may be of use to the designer:

First. The anchor-bars should be made as long and as narrow as practicable, and should be divided into short lengths by pins, for the same reason as given in the case of the suspenders of the suspended span.

Second. All anchorage details should be accessible to the paint-brush, excepting, of course, those portions of the bottom girders which are buried in the masonry. This result is accomplished by leaving wells in the anchorages of sufficient size to permit the passage of a man to do the painting. If these wells are at any time partially filled with water temporarily by the rise of the stream, no harm will be done, provided that the painting of the metal-work therein be always attended to properly.

Third. Concrete for anchorages is always preferable to masonry, because it can readily be made to take any required form. If necessary, its exterior can be protected against abrasion from ice or drift by facing with granite or other hard rock.

Fourth. There should be an independent anchorage against wind-pressure, obtained by sliding surfaces of steel, one of each pair of same forming part of a heavy detail which is rigidly attached to the bottom of the end floor-beam, and the other forming part of a heavy detail that is anchored firmly to the masonry.