Connecticut western news., 1872-04-19
The Brooklyn Bridge.


 A New York paper, speaking of the East River Bridge, says that the pres sure of air in the caisson now building is thirty pounds to the square inch, or twice the ordinary atmospheric pressure, Once in the lock and the entrance closed, it becomes necessary to have an equal amount of pressure before the door into the caisson can be opened. To this end pressure is reached.
 Between twenty and thirty men are at work in the chambers. The lowest point reached in the excavations is within nine feet of the bed of the rock. The aver age depth of the sand, however, is about fifteen feet. Already boulders of trap rock are found imbedded in the quick sand these are broken up and hoisted out by means of an apparatus similar to a dredging-machine, working in 8 huge shaft filled with water. The men work in relays or watches," each "watch " remaining in the caisson for three hours Working iA that compressed atmosphere has its disadvantages, and the men com plain of cramps sometimes, which, judg- ing from their description, must be very painful, as one of the men hkened it to tearln' the flesh from yer leg. The low, dim-lighted chambers, filled with mist, the shining pools of water, and tha men toiling in the flaming ,gas-Ight amid the rushing, rumbling noise of the sand syphons, combine to make an in teresting scene not easily forgotten. 'Try and whistle" suggested the con- ductor of the party, and try they did, but without success. Fucker their lips, and blow as hard as they could, no sound approaching a whistle can be produced. The voice, too, had strange, unnatu- ral sound, as though uttered in 8 high key, all due to the compressed atmos- phere. , s-..- .t5 .,-.. ..,
 The interior of the sides of the caisson slopes outward, not unlike the lips of an enormous bell In fact, the working o1 the structure is upon nearly the same principle as that of diving-b bell, the pressure of the air keeping out the wa ter. When the bed rock Is reached, and the caisson fairly settled upon it, the in. terior will be filled with concrete and masonry. 1 Twenty courses of stone have been laid upon the caisson, and the work is being pushed forward as rapidly as pos sible. At present the work is somewhat retarded for lack of stone, which car not be supplied fast enough. The Company has expended $2,2OO, ,OOO This includes the amount paid for right of way. They have on hand materia amounting to nearly $350, ,OOO. Foul hundred thousand dollars has been ex pended for lumber, and $12O, 900 for ma chinery. Itis worthy of remark that tht Company having the stone contract of fered $20, ,0O0 to be released from theil contract This offer the Company de clined, believing that they could no make such advantageous terms else where. ''14
 Doubts have been expressed as to tn, stability of so huge 8 structure. In re gard to this point, the superintendent states that the opinions of the most dis tinguished engineers have been sough upon the subject, and they fully indorse the plans It has been thought by some that it would be necessary to build { pier in the middle of the river. Thi' would be impossible, from the fact tha Congress would never permit it, an( even if it were built vessels would bt constantly carried against it by the fore of the current -and injured, and tn Company continually involved in suit for damages. A wind travelling at tn rate of sixty miles an hour, which is al extreme case, would not sway the bridge even at it's great elevation. It is ex pected that steam cars will run acros the bridge at the rate of twenty mile an hour. The entire cost of the struc ture, when completed, is estimated a $12 100000. This is thought to be al outside figure.