Emmett Hunt's diary entry for October 8, 1890

Fine and sunny but a stiff North breeze all day and night so far.  Towed the Gig in pile driver to the Clay Works and boot back a scow load of sewer pipe.


© 2012 Harbor History Museum. All rights reserved.

The Purdy Bridge

The Purdy Bridge

“The future is the past”,

(Joseph Roth, “Report from a Parisian Paradise, Chap. 18, Nîmes and Arles”) 

Current Purdy Bridge (Harbor History Museum Smugmug, BD&R-072-Pdy.jpeg

When I read that sentence, I immediately thought how true, and yet how few people realize the truth of it.  And what does that have to do with a blog about the Purdy Bridge in the greater Gig Harbor community?

In 1936 when Homer More Hadley (1885-1967) came up with the idea behind the design of this, the fourth bridge to be constructed across the Purdy Spit in Henderson Bay, it was and still today considered to be the most innovative, especially when you consider its central span is 190 feet in length.  In 1936 this was the longest single span among concrete girder forms.  There are two additional 140 foot girder spans and two 40 foot cantilever ends extending beyond the concrete box piers.  The roadway provided by the bridge is 2 lanes measuring 20 feet wide from curb to curb.  (The bridge was rehabilitated in 1966)

The Purdy Bridge is on the National Register of Historic Place, NRHP #82004274, Smithsonian Number 45P100658, and was listed July 16, 1982.  Washington HAER No. WA-101.

As mentioned previously this is the fourth bridge —- the first was just a wooden structure supported by timber piers built in 1892.  It was replaced in 1905 but the swift tidal currents which can reach 10 miles per hour washed away some of the pilings and the bridge collapsed.  The waterway was under the jurisdiction of the US Department of War, and after receiving complaints from the ship owners, Pierce County was ordered to tear down the temporary bridge that was built following the collapse.

Pilings from the first bridge , Harbor History Museum Smugmug, Pdy-05.jpeg

Erik Sandin near second bridge, Harbor History Museum Smugmug, BD&R-110-Pdy.jpeg

So in 1919-1920 the County widen the roadway and rebuilt the bridge with a steel swing span.  But again problems arose but this time it was not the tidal currents but instead a lawsuit filed by the nearby property owners and residents.

2nd Steel swing span bridge, Harbor History Museum Smugmug, BD&R-036-Pdy.jpeg

This is when the hero appeared —- not a bridge engineer or architect but instead a regional structural engineer for the Portland Cement Association —-  Homer More Hadley!

Hadley suggested a design popular in Europe but rarely used in the US.  He suggested a concrete box girder and suggested W. H. Witt Company in Seattle prepare the engineered drawings and specifications, and to include W. H. Craft, a resident engineer, as a member of the team.  Pierce County Engineer and supervisor, Forest R. Easterday completed the team members.

There were several other designs submitted for the replacement bridge, but the major advantage of Hadley’s hollow box girder design was the low cost.  Using Hadley’s idea, the design cost came in at $62,000.

Current Purdy Bridge, Harbor History MuseumSmugmug, BD&R-075-Pdy.jpeg

During WWI - 1918 - Hadley worked as a concrete engineer for the United States Shipping Board Merchant Fleet Corporation.  In this capacity he had the opportunity to study and learn about concrete construction as used in Europe.  Because his bridge has been considered a rival to Eugène Freyssinet (1879-1962) we should have a quick glimpse into Freyssinet’s background.  

Freyssinet was a French structural and civil engineer and the major pioneer of prestressed concrete.  His most significant early bridge was the three span Pont le Veurdre near Vichy built in 1911 and 238 feet spans.  This bridge enabled Freyssinet to discover “the phenomenon of creep in concrete, whereby the concrete deforms with time when placed under stress.”  In 1919 he designed a 435 foot arch span at St. Pierre du Vauvray, and the largest single span in the world in his Pont de la Liberation in Villeneuve-sur-Lot measuring 315.78 feet.  Then in 1930 he designed his largest structure Plougastel Bridge with three identical spans of 592 feet, completed in 1930.  

When you get an idea of Freyssinet’s background it is easy to understand that Hadley, an American concrete engineer at the same time in history would be fascinated by the possibilities of concrete in his professional.

And all of this brings us back to 2018 and the conversations between the State of Washington Transportation Department and Pierce County Roads Department as they work through the problems currently presented by the Purdy Bridge.  

Daily traffic across the bridge is in the 20,000s (I don’t know the exact number although it has been report it was 21,268 in 2012), and the bridge condition is marked as poor by BridgeReports.com.  With an election just weeks away, all the local politicians are including the Purdy Bridge in their talking points.

Will the powers that be be able to save the historic bridge similar to how they saved the Narrows Bridge by building a second span and reconditioning the current span?  Will they demolish the existing bridge and start from scratch?  Do you think it is important to save the current bridge?  

Notes:

• Joseph Roth “Report from a Parisian Paradise”
• Washington HAER Inventory no. WA-101
• HistoryLink.org
• http:/bridgehunter.com/wa/pierce/purdy/
• Homer More Hadley (Civil Engineer) [pcad.lib.washington.edu]
• Eugène Freyssinet [wikipedia.org]

© 2012 Harbor History Museum. All rights reserved.

Emmett Hunt's diary entry for October 1, 1890

Rain very light the first half of the day some wind later.  Made out my accounts.  Thensteamed up to go to Seattle for Sanders but he was too much unsettled so we ???? away an hour with the Farrell haft & quit.


© 2012 Harbor History Museum. All rights reserved.

Emmett Hunt's diary entry for September 24, 1890

Nice day.  As soon as we got around we ran to town and thus the day ended as no one bothered us at all.

© 2012 Harbor History Museum. All rights reserved.

Emmett Hunt's diary entry - September 17, 1890

Cloudy and cool with an atmosphere free from smoke and haze.  Got hold of our scow and came to The Works and left it.   There to town and rest.

© 2012 Harbor History Museum. All rights reserved.

Is it Pasco Dorotich or Pave (Paul) Dorotich

Is it Pasco Dorotich or Pave (Paul) Dorotich

I’ve been spending a considerable amount of time trying to figure out how the Historic Property Report for the residence at 3400 Harborview came to the conclusion that “Paul “Pasco” Dorotich built this house in approximately 1900.  Pasco was the son of Gig Harbor founders, Joseph and Caroline Dorotich, who worked with his father and brothers as a commercial fisherman.”  

Joseph and Caroline did not have a son named Paul or Pasco, although they did have eleven children, five of which were boys.  Joseph and Caroline Jerisich’s children were:  John (1884), Amanda (1886), Annie (1888), Clementina (1890), Catherine (1893), George (1893), Mattie (1895), Jack F. (1899), Jacob (1900), and Marie (1904).  [Ancestry.com lists a second George born in 1895).]

Pasco M. Dorotich, born November 11, 1863 in Yugoslavia to Ivan Dorotich and Magdeline Lucich.  I do not know if he left home alone, but he arrived in Canada in 1875 at age 12.  This is not uncommon as several young boys left home alone at a very young age. He was living in Port Guichon, British Columbia when he married Matija Gilich on August 30, 1898.  Matija was born about 1873.  Their son John was born in 1901 while they were living in British Columbia, and his daughter, Lena (Magdalene) was born in 1903 also while living in British Columbia.  

I was unable to discover actually when Pasco and his family moved to Gig Harbor, but in 1915 he had Skansie Shipyard build him a 56 ft. seiner fishing boat which he named St. John.  Also, he and his family are identified as residents on the US Census report for Gig Harbor in 1920.  

In 1925 Pasco and his partners, Nick Bez (Nikola Bezmalinovic) and his daughter Lena, had Skansie Shipyard build the Shenandoah, a 65 ft. seiner, equipped with an Atlas Imperial diesel engine. By the year 1960 John, Pasco’s son, was skipper on the Shenandoah. John had a sudden heart attack on May 29, 1966, and the Shenandoah was left to his sister, Lena, wife of Nick Bez.   

Nick Bez had married Lena; Nick had built the residence at 3402 Harborview Drive for them to live in which was next door to her father’s home at 3400 Harborview Drive.  Lena and Nick lived in this house for approximately twenty years driving to Seattle each day to oversee his growing empire.  Eventually they moved to Seattle.  Following Lena death, her daughter finally sold all their Gig Harbor properties in 2014.

Pasco Dorotich died December 24, 1943, while working in Seattle, Washington, although he still lived in Gig Harbor.  His wife, Matija died in 1957.

The Shenandoah can be seen at the Harbor History Museum Maritime Gallery, 4121 Harborview Drive, Gig Harbor, WA where the museum volunteers are restoring the vessel.

Back row: Julia Skansie Babich, Lena Dorotich Bez, Kate Borovich Skanie, Matija Dorotich, Bertha Borovich Skansie
Front row: Marie Skansie Chesboro, Clementina Skansie Anderson, Antoni P. Skansie, Vicent A. Skansie, Jeroma Skansie McRae. (Harbor History Museum PF-187-Sk.jpeg) 

And now a little information about the other Dorotich mention in our opening paragraph .

Pave (Paul) Dorotich was born in St. Martin, Austria, on February 21, 1890, he died April 5, 1962 and is buried at Calvary Cemetery in Tacoma, Washington.  He too immigrated first to Canada where he met and married Milka Tonsich (8-14-1904/12-30-1993) on February 6, 1926 in Vancouver, British Columbia.  

He and Milka moved to Old Tacoma and their first child, Mary Dorotich Boskovich was born on November 17, 1926.  Her sister, Helen Teresa Dorotich Hamiton was born two years later on December 26, 1928.  The last daughter, Pauline Dorotich was born in 1934.  

Paul received his naturalization papers on July 3, 1910 in Seattle.  The family settled in Tacoma living  2614 North 30th, Tacoma, Washington.  It is interesting to see on his declaration of intention to become a US Citizen, that his last foreign residence was Auckland, New Zealand.  On his WWII Registration card, he shows Tony Dorotich, 914 So. I Street, Tacoma as the person who would always know his whereabouts.  

In 1915, Paul had Skansie Shipyard build a 60 ft. seiner for him which he named Louisiana.  His only connection that I found was that he had Skansie Shipyard build his boat.  It was not uncommon for Croatian fishermen living elsewhere to come to Gig Harbor for the Skansie Shipyard to build their boats.

Note:

• ancestry.com
• Harbor History Museum Research Room

© 2012 Harbor History Museum. All rights reserved.

Emmett Hunt's Diary Entry, Wednesday, September 10, 1890

Same.  In A.M. lay by the dock and in P.M. steamed to 15" St and ran on gridiron preparatory to cleaning and painting.


© 2012 Harbor History Museum. All rights reserved.