Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1877-07-18
THE NEW YORK AND BROOKLYN
BRIDGE.
Progress of the WOrk---HOw the Wires
Are Laid and the Strands Formed.
From the New York Times.

Ihe process OF laying the steel wire Tor
the great cables OF the East River Bridge
Is progressing in most satisfactory
manner. Several Improvements in the
preparation Of the wire have recently
been adopted, including change in the
process of coating the wire with linseed
oil. By the new method the oil is put
on while the wire is hot from the gal
vanizing bath, thus forming iapanned
coating impervious to moisture. The
bridge yard at the foot of the anchorage
on the Brooklyn side has been recently
enlarged for the admission of the large
quantity of wire needed, and is now Oc
cupied by large rolls of wire suspended
on a timber framework six feet IN
height. In one corner of the inclOsure
Is the bOiling-house in which the wire is
uncoiled and immersed before being
raised to the top of the tower When
all is In readiness the wire is hoisted to
the top of the anchorage Each lot Of
wire from below is first placed on a
swift" or reel, and carefully wound off
on another reel four feet in diameter.
From this it is again wound off on a large
wooden drum ten feet in diameter and
twenty-four feet wide. When the end Of
the coil is reached another is attached
the ends being coupled together by q
steel nut quarter of an inch thick and
an inch and half long, which is screwed
to the two ends of the coil. and possesses
a strength equal to 50 per cent. Of that
Of the wire itself In order to make the
joint entirely air and water tight it is
galvanized by immersion in melted zinc
A coat of red paint is then put on and
the coil wound off on the drum, coil
after coil being disposed of until fifty
thousand feet, or fifty coils, have been
joined into one continuous wire Four
drums, carrying up daily two hundred
tons of wire, are used when the cable
machinery is in operation.
The number of cables on the bridge
will be four, each consisting of nineteen
strands, and each strand of three hun
dred wires. Two of the four are con-
structed at the same time, and are made
strand by strand When finished the
cable will be fifteen inches thick The
cable proper is not twisted in any way.
1t is simply bundle of straight wires,
tightly bound together, and in engineer
ing parlance is " a laid cable" The OPP
Grafton of stretching the wire from one
anchorage to another is accomplished
by means of large horizontal wheel,
eleven feet in diameter, with a number
of horizontal pulleys behind it. Around
these pulleys passes the endless iron rope,
known as the working rope" which
serves to carry the wire across the
river The end of the wire is attached
to the steam-propelled " traveller" which
runs smoothly over the rope to the other
side. Wire after wire is then carried
across, all the while being kept in place
and bound together at intervals by work
men stationed in the hanging cradles y
or platforms on the foot bridge When
a sufficient number have been got across
to form strand, they are bound together
by smaller wires, arranged at intervals
of fifteen inches throughout the entire
strand, which, when completed, forms a
large rope Of straight wires three and a
half inches thick. AS the strand, when
completed, weighs fully seven tons, it
requires the heaviest description of
tackling to handle it. When the strands
are all completed the " servings " of the
small wire will be taken off and the en-
tire nineteen strands put together in a
circular cable, which, in turn, will be
wrapped from one end to the other with
wire of the same size as that used in the
construction of the cable The rapidity
of the work depends greatly on the con-
dition of the weather. In high wind
it proceeds slowly, but in pleasant wealth
er, such as that of the past few weeks,
the bridge grows visibly. At the present
time from twelve to fifteen minutes are
required to carry wire across the river,
a rate which the engineers expect to re-
duce to ten minutes when everything
works smoothly. At least two years
will be required to complete the cables
alone.