At last finality was reached, and the contract was secured by the American bridge-builders on April 28, 1899. They lost no time in hurrying forward the preparation of the steel. Three months later a special train of 45 cars, laden with 977 tons, left Steelton on the 201-miles run to New York, where a specially chartered steamer was in waiting to receive this steel cargo. The vessel left the American port on a journey of over 10,000 miles to Rangoon, where the freight was transferred to the small trucks of the railway and sent on the up-country journey of 460 miles to the Gokteik gorge. No less than three steamers were required to transport the 4,308 tons of steel, together with some 200 tons of requisite tackle for erection, and 35 American bridge-erectors. When the Americans arrived on the scene they were treated to their first experience of Indian weather. The rain fell in torrents; the roads were converted into rushing streams, and the low-lying stretches of land into lakes. This was something new to the Americans, and they chafed at being compelled to sit down to wait until the weather moderated. To make matters worse, the line was knocked about severely by the rain, no less than thirteen wash-outs occurring between the coast and the gorge. In one place a locomotive got caught. It could not advance and could not retreat, owing to breaches in the railway on either side, so quietly settled down to rest in the waterlogged embankment, and finally slipped into a field of rice, to the intense disgust of the owner. The result was that the port became congested with the steel and tackle awaiting dispatch up-country. The railway company repaired the wash-outs with all possible speed, and directly the line was opened the material poured towards Gokteik in a ceaseless stream. In fact, the American engineers were somewhat perplexed by the speed with which the material was sent up, and they had a spirited task in sorting out the pieces of steel as they arrived. The work proceeded so feverishly that the empty trains could not be backed out of the shunting-yard with sufficient alacrity to admit incoming loads. The bridge-builders extended assistance in a novel manner. Shunting was abandoned. The large steam derricks picked up the empty cars bodily off the one track, whipped them round, and deposited them upon a siding, from which the engines pulled them out as best they could. [Illustration: _Photo by permission of Pennsylvania Steel Co._] THE GOKTEIK VIADUCT UNDER CONSTRUCTION The railway track is 825 feet above the level of the Chungzoune River, which flows through a tunnel beneath the bridge.]