The Scandinavian peninsula has been the battle-ground of many titanic struggles on behalf of the railway. In this country the iron horse has forced its way to the most northerly point in the world where the shriek of a locomotive whistle may be heard. This is Ofoten, a port on the Atlantic seaboard of Norway, beyond the 68th parallel, and well into the Arctic circle, where the famous iron mines of Gellivare in Sweden find a western point for shipping the ore.

It was in Sweden that steel was pressed into service for the first time in connection with the erection of bridges by the late Major C. Adelsköld, R.E., and Member of the Academy of Sciences. This was so far back as 1866, and the daring engineer designed, superintended the preparation of the metal, and also the erection of the bridge. The claim of being the first steel bridge has been advanced on behalf of other structures in different parts of the world, but the records are against all such statements, for they were anticipated by a decade at least in a convincing, practical manner.

Major Adelsköld’s bridge is highly interesting, not only from the historical point of view, but because of its unusual design, and the methods adopted in its erection. Through the courtesy of Madam Gustafva Adelsköld, I am enabled to give the following particulars of its evolution and construction.

The bridge was designed to carry the Uddevalla-Wenersborg-Herljunga railway across the Huvudnas Falls, just above the Tröllhätten Falls. At this point the Göta River forces its way through a gorge 137½ feet wide, just above a fall over a lofty ledge of rock. The depth and velocity of the water prevented any intermediate pier being erected in the waterway, so in order to span the gap it was necessary to lift the girders bodily to set them into position. To enable this end to be achieved it was imperative that the main girders should be as light as possible. An iron girder, which was the metal in exclusive vogue at that time for this work, 153 feet in length by 12 inches wide, of the requisite strength, would have weighed over 700 tons, and to have handled such a weight would have demanded expensive and elaborate erecting tackle.

Major Adelsköld consequently rejected iron as the structural material in favour of light steel girders. Once these were set he anticipated no further hindrance to completing the structure as a “suspension bridge.” Up to this time steel girders never had been employed in such work, and the engineer, when he revealed his intentions, was urged by experts and fellow-craftsmen not to use “such a brittle and untrustworthy material” for so long a span.

Major Adelsköld, however, was convinced of the soundness of his proposal, and consequently continued his efforts in the face of spirited opposition. The bridge was built at Bergsund, and the dimensions were calculated for a strain of 8 tons per square inch, though the metal was tested to twice that stress before being set in position. The total weight was only 50 tons.

From the engineering point of view the design is considered somewhat novel, for it bears no resemblance to the general conception of a suspension bridge. It is an inverted structure of this class. The upper members act merely as struts to keep apart the ends of the chains below, which really carry the load through the medium of the triangular members.

The method by which the structure was erected was quite as interesting as the design of the bridge itself. The girders were brought to the western bank of the river. To swing them into position a derrick was rigged up on either bank so as to overhang the water. The outer ends of these masts, which measured 60 feet in length, were fitted with heavy pulleys, over which ropes were passed and carried from capstans installed for hauling purposes. The pulley ropes on the eastern bank were pulled across the waterway and secured to one end of the girder, while the western bank pulley ropes were secured to the other end of the steel member, which measured 153 feet in length. In this way the girder was lifted, swung over the water, and lowered into position. The event was regarded as so unusual that crowds of people from Gothenburg and Tröllhätten assembled on the banks to witness the setting of the steel on February 8, 1866.

Owing to the roar of the waters, the engineer could not make his voice heard, so orders were communicated across the river in Morse code by hand-signalling. The first girder was lifted and set in position in thirty minutes, while the second was handled in half that time. Once the girders were set it was an easy matter to complete the remainder of the structure.

It may be interesting to relate that the total cost of setting the main girders, together with the hire of the tackle borrowed from a Gothenburg shipbuilding-yard, and including the wages of the men assisting in the task, was only £25, or $125. At that time Major Adelsköld’s feat was regarded as an audacious stroke of engineering, but to-day steel is the exclusive material employed in the erection of bridges.

Railway-building in these twin countries has been attended always with grave difficulties, owing to the rugged nature of the country and the extreme hardness of the rock. When the sea is left, and the interior plateau is gained, the full brunt of the Arctic weather is experienced, and it is of a character to deter the most intrepid engineer.

One of the most momentous enterprises that has been carried to fulfilment in this northern country is the trans-Norwegian railway, whereby Christiania is brought into direct communication with the Atlantic seaboard at Bergen. Owing to the prodigious difficulties involved, however, it occupied some thirty years to carry the scheme through, although the line is only 306 miles in length.

In 1870, commercial interests petitioned for the establishment of a shorter route between the east coast and the Norwegian capital. Surveyors, therefore, were deputed to investigate the interior and to ascertain the practicability of building such a railway. After infinite labour the engineers reported favourably upon the project, but pointed out that the work would be unprecedentedly arduous, and would be highly expensive.

For five years the scheme lay dormant, but in 1875 the Government decided to commence the enterprise, with a section of line 67½ miles long, connecting the seaboard at Bergen with Vossevangen. In deference to views prevailing at the time, however, the narrow- or metre-gauge was adopted, and in 1883 it was opened for traffic.

Although no further headway was made with the continuation of the main scheme, it was not abandoned by any means. A mountain barrier, the Dovrejelf range, barred the way to the interior. Its penetration was recognised as one demanding great skill, for the peaks are precipitous, with sides dropping into valleys so narrow as to be mere defiles on the sea side of the chain. Apart from these physical handicaps, however, the rain- and snow-falls upon the highest levels were found to be tremendous, and it was essential that elaborate examination should be made concerning these adverse influences before the location was decided definitely.

A cautious policy was practised. No attempt to proceed beyond Vossevangen was made until the mountain wall had been searched through and through. No less than twelve alternative routes were prepared and submitted to the Government. These demonstrated the conclusive fact that no route could offer avoidance of the snow and rain. The question was to follow a location, if possible, where these drawbacks were emphasised to the least degree. For this purpose several meteorological stations were established among the mountains and on the plateau to gather exhaustive data by daily observations.

The outcome was the production of some decidedly startling facts, even to those who were convinced of the extremely inclement conditions prevailing inland. The observers had been instructed to record particularly the maximum fall of snow during twenty-four hours, the depth of the snow among the mountains during the winter, and the effect of the winds which swept the plateau mercilessly during the latter season. It was found that snow fell every month during the year at Fjeldberg, even June, July and August not being free from such visitations, while at another point the snowfall in winter aggregated no less than 11 feet. At no point along the projected location of the line was a depth of less than 8 feet recorded, while the general average was from 10 feet to 14 feet.

The winds were found to drive the dry, fleecy flakes before them like dust, to pile up huge drifts in sheltered places, running up to 161 feet deep. Some of these drifts remained throughout the summer, and were found to be of respectable proportions. The sum of these reports presaged the fact that, when the line was completed, the question of maintaining it free from snow-blocks would demand superhuman effort.

At last the Government decided to proceed with the undertaking. The advantages and disadvantages of the various locations had been weighed diligently, and promoted the decision to adopt the Gravehals route. The authorities regarded this location with misgiving in the first instance, because it involved the piercing of a tunnel 17,420 feet in length, at an elevation of 2,818 feet. Funds were voted to build the next section from Vossevangen to Taugevand, a distance of 47 miles. In this distance the line was to be lifted a matter of 4000 feet to the highest point to be attained between the Atlantic seaboard and Christiania.

The route selected comprised the boring of no less than 12 tunnels, making in the aggregate not less than 11¼ miles, of which the Gravehals tunnel represented over 3 miles. While this difficult section was being prosecuted, the Government resolved to come to a definite conclusion as to the route the railway should follow after attaining the summit at Taugevand, so as to enable operations to be continued without delay when the latter point was reached.

The exposed position of the Gravehals tunnel rendered the work exhausting to the men. As the timber line is about 2000 feet below, the mountain-sides are quite bare, and there is no protection against the elements whatever. The work is the longest of its kind in Northern Europe, and has proved probably one of the most exacting to construct. It extends through granite which was found to be exceedingly tough, so that boring was unavoidably slow, especially at times when everything appeared to be pitted against the contractors.

The firm who accepted the contract undertook to complete the work for £158,400, or $792,000, which was considered to be a very low price. It was attacked from both ends, and mechanical boring was adopted. Convenient water power was harnessed to drive the Brandt rock drills, which worked under a pressure of some 1,200 pounds per square inch. Boring proceeded somewhat slowly, more so, in fact, than the contractors had anticipated; but this was due to the extreme hardness of the rock encountered, while the work was handicapped by delays which the contractors could not have controlled. In the first place labour proved scarce and expensive. The men working on the coast, although experienced in drilling and blasting rock, could not be persuaded to proceed up-country to practise their skill. The situation was too remote, and the elements were too bitter, and seeing that extensive railway construction was proceeding at the same time in other and more congenial parts of the country, there was no cogent reason why the men should hie to an inhospitable locality for work.

The tunnel-borers, however, were spared the tribulations which have assailed their colleagues in other parts of Europe. Faults in the rock strata were very few and far between, while subterranean streams and pockets of viscous mud did not overwhelm them. The temperature within the boring, moreover, never rose to an intolerable point, the maximum recorded being 52° Fahrenheit. This was in striking contrast to the conditions on the Gotthard, Cenis, Simplon, and other central European tunnels, where the mercury rose at times to the vicinity of 90 degrees.

Yet the workers in the Gravehals tunnel experienced their own peculiar dangers and exasperating misadventures. The climatic conditions were the most trying, and many men abandoned their tasks after a short experience in this bleak situation, for work at a lower level. This monotony was varied one day by an avalanche, which crashed down the mountain-side, smashed into the power-house and carried away some of the machinery. Work had to be suspended for some six weeks while the damage thus caused was repaired. At another time work could not be carried forward because no water was available, and about two months of enforced idleness had to be endured until the turbines could be set going once more.

On the same section is another heavy piece of work of this character, the Reinunga tunnel, extending for 5,217 feet through a massive mountain shoulder. Here the country is extremely wild, and the location of the line taxed the plotters supremely. The track crawls along a narrow ledge for some distance, poised nearly 500 feet above the highroad. The situation is precarious, for landslides and avalanches are of frequent occurrence, while detached boulders rattle down the slopes at times and threaten the railway with extinction. Fortunately, as the metals are laid on a gallery of solid rock hewn in the mountain-side, the extent of the damage inflicted by these visitations is limited to the permanent way, though the presence of these untoward obstacles, and the result of their impact with the metals, may interrupt communication for a short time.

Seeing that a difference in level of over 4,100 feet has to be overcome in the 47 miles between Vossevangen and Taugevand, it is a teasing up-hill pull all the way. The grades are very abrupt at places, and impose a severe tax upon the locomotives. The passenger, however, has one compensation for slowness in travel. Some of the grandest scenery to be seen on the European continent is unfolded to the train as it glides in and out among the mountain rifts, and consequently, from the tourist point of view, the route possesses illimitable attractions, inasmuch as it offers facilities to gain some of the most beautiful parts of the country, which hitherto have been unapproachable, except in the face of an arduous and tedious journey by primitive means of conveyance.

After crossing the summit level the railway commences an easy descent, for the inland plateau is gently undulating, and the valleys being wider, the surveyors were assisted appreciably in their task of discovering an easy location. The downward run continues until Bromma, 205 miles west of Bergen, is gained at an altitude of some 450 feet. Then comes another rise to overcome a low range, which is accomplished through a tunnel 7,644 feet in length.

This tunnel proved a more exacting and troublesome undertaking than either the Gravehals or Reinunga works. The boring was attempted at first on the time system, but the advance was so slow and unsatisfactory that this principle was abandoned. The whole tunnel was then handed over to a contractor, but he found the rock so hard that a piece-work system was instituted. In this arrangement the workmen were stimulated to supreme effort by the offer of tempting premiums. Issuing from this tunnel, there is another descent for some miles, when another ridge intervenes, necessitating a sharp climb of 700 feet, followed by a smart downward run to Roa, where a junction is effected with the Norwegian eastern railway system.

Contemporaneously with the building of this line between Vossevangen and Roa, the original section between Bergen and Vossevangen had to be overhauled. The metre gauge was in vogue upon this division, whereas the rest of the line was being built on the standard gauge to secure uniformity with the other lines. Accordingly, the narrow-gauge was replaced by standard-gauge track.

The Bergen-Christiania line ranks as one of the most striking pieces of railway engineering in Europe, and testifies to the remarkable skill and dogged perseverance of the Scandinavians in breaking down tremendous obstacles as they arose, with complete success. It is no light undertaking to attempt such an enterprise as this in such a latitude across a terribly exposed, storm-swept plateau, among the most sparsely populated regions of Europe, and where the winter lasts for eight or nine months. The rainfall is tropical in its severity, while the storms are of terrific fury, as the workmen found to their cost.

Some idea of the magnitude of the work consummated by the engineers may be gathered from a few general details. The line passes through no less than 184 tunnels, which represent an aggregate length of nearly 24 miles. To carry the line across depressions which could not be filled, 14 bridges, ranging from a single-span stone structure of 60 feet to a metal bridge 566 feet from end to end, had to be built. Between the two terminal points 55 stations and stopping-places have been provided. In order to fashion the permanent way the engineers had to excavate about 35,000,000 cubic feet of earth, and nearly 30,000,000 cubic feet of rock on the highest parts of the mountain section, this latter task being assisted by the expenditure of over 1,800,000 pounds of dynamite.

The anticipated task of maintaining communication, especially on the higher and more exposed sections of the railway, has been appreciated to the full. To deal with the snow three powerful rotary ploughs have been acquired, and one is kept in constant readiness. It is no unusual circumstance for this equipment to be called out in the middle of summer to cope with a block in one of the deep cuttings. The drift is a danger against which especial attention has to be devoted, for the wind catches up the fine, dry flakes and whirls them in clouds across the country. To prevent this being deposited upon the line, and thus obstructing traffic, timber screens have been erected beside the line, this defence continuing in an almost unbroken line for 60 miles between Mjolfjeld and Gjeilo.

The provision of the line, however, is of far-reaching importance to the commercial interests of Norway. Formerly, 54 hours were required to travel between Christiania and Bergen, but now, by cutting almost straight across the peninsula, the journey can be covered in 14 hours. To forge the link of 215 miles between Vossevangen and Roa, to complete this undertaking, occupied ten years, and the £3,333,000, or $16,665,000, expended upon the enterprise is considered an excellent investment for the country.