The Morning herald., 1876-11-13
The Drooklya DFAago.

Many nervous people, alter surveying
the immense span and imagining hundreds
sf persons psssing over the middle of the
river asthe height Of l80 feet, have doubted
that the four steel cables depending from
the top of the piers could support the weight
and when the la.e Mr.. Havemeyer was
Mayor of New York, he thought that the
CITY ought to require the engineer to erect
third pier in the middle Of the river be-
fore the city guaranteed the funds 70 COM
plste the bridge. II has been dennonsira-
ted by mathematical calculation, however,
that the greatest strain will only he one
tenth of what the cables are able to support,
Besides, the cables will not have 70 support
the whole bridge, a. they will be assisted BY
straight stays running from the top Of eacA
pier towards the bottom Of the bfidge.-
Colonel Roebling, the engineer. has as er'-
! ed that the bridge would not fall even If the
cables were removed. 1t has also been said
that the bridge would be endangered BY
heavy gales. A simple arrangement OF the
cables will secure the bridge against the ei'
feet Of wind storms. The outside ca
bles, instead Of running straight across, will
be much further apart at the piers than at
the middle OF the bridge, while the two
| middle cables will be near together at the
piers and diverge as they approach the mid.
die of the bridge This arrangement will
give the structure stiffness which the
strongest gales will not overcome. The
whole length ofthe bridge will be about one
mile, and the length OF the span from shore
10 shore will be $50 feet yearly double the
span of the Suspension Bridge at Niagsra
Falls
The Oldest suspension bridge in exist.
ence is supposed to be that mentioned by
Kirchen as having been seen by him in the
province of Yua-nan, China. This bridge,
according 70 tradition, was built BY the
Emperor Ming in the year 65. 1t is $50
feet in length, and is formed of chains sup
porting plank roadway. It's known
that suspension bridges were also built
over ravines in the Andes Mountains by
the ancisn, Peruvians. The principal
material used in the construction of these
, bridges was rope made Of the bark of trees
Sometimes roadway was laid, supported
BY these ropes, but oftener the transit was
effected by means Of baskets drawn over
from one side to the other, just as work
men have already been pulled over the
greater span of the Eas. River in a
buggy" by means Of the working cable
or Traveller" The Peruvians employ
the same means to the present day, that
country not having produced a Roebling
as vet; Rope suspension bridges have
been used in Europe, having been en-
ployed in France a; the siege Of Poitiers to
cross the river CLAIM. Mention is also
made of their use in Italy in 1742. Sus
pension bridges made Of iron are Of modern
date. In l74l q chain bridge was built
across the river Tees in England. 1t was
rude work and attracted little attention.
=, AMERICAN ENGINEERS AHEAD.
The credit of putting the theory of sus
pension bridges into practical operation l.
gwen to the American engineers. Eight
bridges of our pattern are known to have
been in existence in this country prior tc
/. 1910 The frs, one of this plan, pa,ente'
. by TIE inventor, James Finley, in 1905
was constructed in 1901 over Jacobs Creek
with span Of 10 feet. i cost only $4,000
and was warranted for fifty years, all ex
cept flooring" In 1913 the erection Of TIL
Fairmount Colossus" over the Schuylki
River, near Philadelphia, was begun b.
L. Wernwsg. lie span was $40 feet. Th
first large suspension bridge in Englan'
Was that across the Tweed, at Berwick
This Was constructed by Captain 81
Samuel Brown, in 1919. 1t was supporte
hy chain cables, over span OF 44e fee
The same engineer built the chain pier a
Brighton, and Ae bridge a, Montrose. B'
e the first work of this kind that excited ,h
VI wonder aud admiration OF mankind va
II Roeblings railway bridge across III
e Niagara River, below the Falls built i
> 1855. l,> span is S2l feet, and the raj
road pass over at the h-isht ol 245 fe'
above the water, which comes down foam