National opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1865-1874, 1873-05-02
The Great East River Bridge.
The Structure Towering Above sur.
rounding Objrcts.-Foreign Engineers
Taking an Interest In the Work.

!, The work on the East river bridge
: being pushed forward with renewe
n vigor, and the working force has bee
I doubled on both sides Of the river. TIL
tower on the Brooklyn side is complete
to height OF about $50 feet, and til
= men are working on the three tower
q which rise from the main body on
/ level with the roadway Of the structure
I. These towers are now twenty-five fee
above the level of the roadway, and ar
being added to ut the rate of foot
I day. Nearly all the work is be-. .0n
, by steam. A steam derrick ho.
vast block Of stone from the pier to ~
. top Of the tower. 1t is then placed OF
car, which moves on what is termed
travelling crane, in other words n tract
, fixed on movable road bed, and from
this position il moves by means of
, balance derrick, also worked by steam
, to its appropriate place on the tower.
The outer upper towers on the Brook
Ign side are As by "a feet at the base
and as they ascend there are what en-
gineers term "sloping offset" that il
to say, the tower as it nears completion
becomes narrower, but without assum
ing the shape of cone or an Egyptiar
pyramid. This the engineer in charge
Mr.. @. G. Martini says gives relief to
the gloomy heaviness of the structure
for wherever there is an "ofiset' the
stone is smooth-cut, instead of being
left in rough jaggedness. This is also
the case with the main tower, whose
dark outlines are much relieved by oc-
casional narrow strsaks of cut stone,
contrasting strinkingly with the rough
surface of the other portions of the
work. BY graduating the structure in
this way great saving of material is
effected, while the strength of the towers
remains about the same as though they
were built in solid form. The centre
tower is AZ by 15I feet at the base.
AS the Brooklyn tower makes its slow
but sure ascent, it is wonderful how it
dwarfs the buildings in its neighbor-
hood. Once the flour. mill at Fulton
ferry doomed up as an immense struc-
ture, but now it shrinks into compar-
alive insignifcance beside its more lofty
neighbor. The new ferry house, when
it was built, had an imposing appear
ance as to the height of its towers, but
now even the golden ball which tips its
flagstaff is far below the bridge tower.
AS for the stores and dwellings ON Full
ton street, they have sunk below notice.
Compared to the tower they look as in
signicant as though they were old-fash-
Toned watch boxes placed beside the
new Court House, or East river oyster
sloops ranged alongside the Great
Eastern. Looking from the street at
| tho NIX of nnrk ~ tho fnWar fhau
pear like dwafs, while on them the pass
ers-by below have the appearance of
lilliputians.
The Brooklyn tower now employs only
80 men, including carpenters, masons,
blacksmiths, and engineers, but 70 ha, e
been engaged for some time past in the
excavations for the anchorage tower,
which is to be erected in James street,
above Front, near the old market. The
excavation will be 1919 by 119 =. and
25 feet deep. SO far the work h ,een
easy and rapid, the soil being a light
sand, well suited for building purposes.
Mr. Martin says that this is worth ST. 25
per cubic yard, and as he expects to
take at least u, 900 yards from the ex-
cavation, worth $4,000, the building
sand will pay all the working expenses.
In this work, also, steam is employed
wherever practicable. The sand is
shovelled by men into box holding two
cubic yards and steam engine hoists
the box and dumps its contents into a
cart. The foundation for the anchorage
will be timber platform, and it will
contain 33, 900 yards of masonry. Its
height will be SO feet above the level Of
the river. The excavation will be COM
pletad early in May, and the masons
will probably begin werk on the anchor
age tower in June.
On the New York side the force, in
Guiding masons, carpenters, and black
smiths, is fifty men. Col. Payne, the
engineer in charge, says that the pro-
gress made is equal to two feet in three
days. The tower is sixty feet high, and
it is expected that by the end of the
season it will be raised to the at of
the roadway-l19 feet. The premises
belonging to the Bridge Company are
those formerly occupied by the Will
liamsburg ferry. The yard contains
carpenter, machine and blacksmith
shops, storehouses, machinery for mix
ing cement, and four engines for hoist
iuR pun POoCo UIunWdNS
sect it at various points, and all mater
ial IS conveyed to the works in small
cars.
Late in the fall or early next season the
excavation of the site for the New York
tower will be begun. This
tower will be of the same dimensions as
that on the Brooklyn side 1t will be
few feet west of Water street,
and north of Dover street. The ap-
proaches to the New York terminus of
the bridge will begin at Chatham street,
and by an easy grade ascend to the height
of the tower, being supported at conven-
lent distances by iron girders and trus-
SEES, together with small piers of mason
ry or iron columns built within the
blocks of building which will be cross
ed and occupied.
Col. Payne says that of all the visitors
who have inspected the caissons, which
ire regarded as the most successful of
5he kind in the world, a small per cent
age only were from this city. But ,
French, English, German, and Austrian !
engineers have visited and thoroughly
the works, which have been
lonored also by the presence of several
delegations of Chinese and Japanese
nagnates, who have expressed unbound
I'd admiration and surprise at the ease
with which vast masses of granite are
'aised from the ground and placed in
To give a correct idea of the immense i
of material used in the caissons
md towers it need only be said that each
# the former contains 4, 300 600 feet of :.
of it heavy yellow pine, 4
$50 tons of iron in bolts and sheathing. IL
nd 80, 900 tons of masonry-the weight
r. Tho -bo1 n - "a, = nnn