Bradford opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1874-1881, 1876-08-05
THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE.
The Towers and the AnchsPases Cemplet
and the (ableu Rendv

o.
aad tho Gables Ready.
The towers and anchorages OF the East
River bridge arc now completed. Tho
plan OF operations for the construction
OF the bridge, as given by the engineer,
In On follows A steel rope, three. fourths
OF IN inch in diameter, will be tempo.
rarily fastened to tho New York anchor.
age. thence conveyed over the top of the
tower, and the coil conveyed to Brook
lyn by means OF scow. The rope will
then be passed over the Brooklyn tower
aud to tho anchorage, but will DO left
slack and under water until late at night
or early in the morning, when few yes
sells are passing, when il will be pulled
taut. This steel rope will be also tenn
porarily secured to the Brooklyn anchor
age, and tho coil borne back to New
York by the scow and tho ends connect.
cd, thus forming an endless rope, work
ing on pullies at each anchorage and on
each tower, and worked by machinery
on the Brooklyn side. By means OF
this endless rope other similar ones will
DO put up, as required for the further
construction Of the bridge. First, two
steel wire ropes, two and five-eighth
inches in diameter, will be'carried across
and made secure to temporary fastenings
at each anchorage. These will be three
and one.half feet apart, and placed a
little to the south OF the middle CT the
tower, running over the top. They will
be used for the construction OF tenn
porary bridge for the use OF the work
mer. Oak plank, an inch and a half
in thickness, will be laid upon the ropes
with spaces OF about half an inch, both
for the purposes of economizing ma
terial and to lessen the effect of tho
wind upon it. They will be fastened by
strips running lengthwise across the
ends, which will be bplted to the ropes
by y shaped clamps.
The bridge will be completed by
stretching small ropes on each sideabout
three feet above the flooring, and Sc
cured to it every ten feet. 1t will be
rendered firm by guys.
Three other steel ropes of the same
magnitude as those used in the construc-
ton of the foot bridges will be stretched
across the river over the tops of the
towers-one twenty seven feet south of
the foot bridge at the edge of the piers,
one over the north edge, and one mid
way between the north rope and the foot
bridge, with space between the north
and south ropes of eighty-one feet.
The object of these last mentioned
ropes is to support small cross bridges,
technically called "cradles," and neces-
sary for the construction OF the other
portions of the bridge.
There will be five of these cradles,
one in each land span between each
tower and its anchorage, and three at
equal distances in the river span. They
will project ten feet beyond the outside
cable, and will support pullies for the
endless ropes. The whole temporary
structure will be two hundred feet above
high water ut its center and lowest point.
After this work is completed the con-
struction of the bridge proper will be
proceeded with, and the first step will
be the stretching of the main cables,
which will Re put up at the same eleva-
ton as the temporary bridge and low
cred. These cables will be composed of
nineteen strands, each strand being
made up of three hundred and thirty
wires, No. z gauge-that is, little
more than one-eighth of IN inch in di-
ametsr. The material used will be the
best quality of steel wire. The ropes of
the temporary bridge will not be taken
down, but finally Incorporated into the
superstructure Of the bridge. The work
men to be employed on this dizzy plat
form are for the mostpart men who were
originally sailors, and no loss of life is
anticipated if each will but take proper
precautions