Ferrocarril del Este. Venezuela. Economic. Engineering. Constructio.

Mounted photographs, some in color; maps, some folded, tables and xvi and 255 pp. pp. Folio, maroon cloth, partially unopened. No other copy located although there is a 1950 publication with the same title and author, but with a different pagination which is held by five US institutions.The volume is a study for a proposed railroad to run from the east of Caracas and Barcelona on the Caribbean coast, southward, crossing the Orinoco at Ciudad Bolivar to El Trueno, the center of a very large iron ore deposit. A total distance of some 267 miles. It would be standard gauge and would carry 100 trucks each containing 100 tons of iron ore, in addition to passenger cars, thereby opening up what had been a very isolated area.The bridge over the Orinoco would have two levels, the upper would accommodate motor traffic and would replace the ferry then in use; the train would use the lower level.The study is very detailed and covers every aspect of construction, cost of materials, payment of work crews, etc. The benefits to the agricultural interests of neighboring state of Bolivar are emphasized.This proposal does not seem to have been adopted. The first bridge built over the Orinoco was the Angostura Bridge at Ciudad Bol'var which was completed in 1967. It is a suspension bridgethat spans the Orinoco River, Venezuela. The Spanish word Angostura means "narrows". Built at a cost of $35 million the bridge has a main span of 712 metres. Until the opening of the Second Orinoco crossing 100 km downstream near Ciudad Guayana on November 2006 it was the only bridge across the Orinoco.No limitation is given, but would probably be under 100 and closer to 50.…