The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1857-04-25
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Ziao 4 Co Mc,-ys
Zcrga Beoede,is



About hafpast three O'Clock this morning the
Suspension Bridge which spans the river Just below the
lower fall fell with crash. The fall wa doub,les<
ing to the heavy weight of imposed uIu t flooring
and cables al the bridge.
A. you approach the site OF the bridge FROM street
nothing be but the sign warning person. sgain
crossing the bridge faster than walk sing sriy useful
procauon at this time. The iron are brnkeu sad
shattered, and hardly one section remains upon 1n0cr.
and The wreck OF matter IS rs perfect aud entire pos
! siby can be. The facts are A. follows
On the west bank the south cable has given way IA,
anchorage. Gu the east bank the north olble has given
way a, The anchorage zach set Of of cable Consist Of
| one main cable surrounded by six smaller The
cables enter cones OF iron attached tn long rod.
which enter the anchorage. In no case b,s the ca
bic drawn out OF the The "lo4g rod at the
main cable has broken of SQUARE. on" % the
smaller cables has broken on just outside the The
"long rods" have at their ends "dcsd eyes, through
which rods passed TO init the pressure the masonry
In each the five remaining cables rods have given
away leaving tie dead eyes unbroken The masonry
appears but little disturbed though may have yielded
even bu, slightly underground, and thus have bcco the
real Of the tumble The irou however, does ng ep
pear 10 have been Of proper strength
The floor q the bridge, from either part IN the towers
ing given way Between the towers the flooring cable
are crushed between the banks the wood having noac
II Is every way total and entire loss and the s,5 0oO 81
ready expended, are forever "gone up"
The Gcnesce suspension bridge commenced in 1855
and finished last Mr. Bissell the engineer
and the Messrs. Hos the contractors. The bridge
constructed between iron towers standing the banks
The towers are built OF cast iron cyiinicrs. botcd
together and staining one above the othet They
lob feet high; their tops &h ice above the
water. The roadway Vas 10 feet above the water snt
proceeded IN slmos, straight line from the top 0t the
high bank the .iic N the other The cables
80 feet long and the entire length OF the bridge over
200 feet II calculated 10 sustain weight OF 1000
tons. An engineer informs that he does not consider
the fa of this bridge rejecting upon the style Ut tower
which adopted. Various speculitons are afoii n
gard 10 the of this Destruction; but the public
AMI have been unanimous in The opinion that the entire
concern, while n very pretty " book ~, not
worth for practical purposes the powder that would take
t. blow u up The nrst test has o,y ion
Id contras, 10 the lines OF Burns
Like n the falls . river
4 white. then z,ne forever
Is supposed 10 BIO very gentle but When in irg
ms~scs II Is terrible power.
Since writing the foregoing, We have sscersincd that
the cot u the Suspension Bridge thus far has heen
as Us ~, and the contractors claim three or four thou
sand dollars more, for which a suit Is pending
Our olaniOn IL, after taking good look The ruin, OF
the brslgc towers that the iron structure detective
and insufficient II has failed Of purpose mos, mi,crs
long and 20 broad and making an area OF 1900 siisre
could not have been, surprising the snow was ono
Zoo, deep and weighed Is pounds 20 the cubic foot over
175 tons but the dimensions have given are too
large, and the snow not eight decp
The weight was, therefore, not much over 100 tons N IN
dsd was ~ much as that. Tho bridge was calculated
n sustain weight OF 1000 tons, aud wa claiinei thai
The iron wires were capable OF sustaining such tntss
Rut they have cracked and broken under twentieth Of
the weight, and the whole has gone urs ruin
Yesterday was beautiful but decetf a. beautiful To-
mcckery Of the whole thing the broad board what
was The entrance u the bridge grins with rs device.
We ane Tor crossing this bridge faster than walk