The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-04-20
Steel FOR THE BRIDGE,
The Trustees Discussing What Kind should
be Used for tho superstructure.


A special meeting OF tho trustees Of the
New York and Brooklyn Bridge was called for
yesterday afternoon. at tho request Of Mayor
Howell Of brooklyn and Comptroller William
G. Stenmciz. TO reconsider the decision 10 use
steel instead Of iron in the superstructuro Of
the bridge In ordor that thoy might be better
satisfied az 10 tho advsability Of the change.
Comptroller Stoinmets sent q letter to President
Murphy. In which no said he Mr.. steinmotg)
had found In tho specifications that low grade
Of steel was TO DO used and thnt a certain
patented process was specified. lie adds;'
S@Po S S eGS WIZ any my ah s So Goua us
as and do n0' ssn say61s but Ts 2 . bay
with an elastic sirong'h u rom 500 .? q ~ pounds
eg cant sct ga t & Sgn sSs - s'S q3
wci{h on Tho cables the sshy oe9ioHMt % which GER
ulo weight N tho whole means alec reduction q sizes
wadase and consequently tbs gives additional stfcnstR
% tho structure as whole Il is evident that the 70
AMI 7OOO pounds ultimate limit will not be furnished by
% % M s gHy sa0t an Snlar1 Sd inn 3s,
mate strength required We are assured BY Tho tes 70
acuy what's nee,.od
Mr.. Steinmeta In his lettor. also refers TO SOW
oral requirements OF doubtful meaning In the
Specifications rolGtive to inspection and deliv-
cry He says. in reference to the manner Of
payments. that II Ia Of great Importance to have
Board may not bind itsclf TO pay without being
assured Of having tho means at Its disposal n
iulill its promises. ~ q failure 70 do 50 might
lead to voxatious aud expensive litigation
The specn1atiops under which advertise-
ments have already Icon published. ask for
proposals Tor about 5000 tone Of steel required
for tho main span and two land spans OF tho
Sg5pSnd9d structure 81 the bridge This s1
from centre 10 centre Of tho towers, and each
land span has length Of go feet from the con-
Tho structure is 10 he 50 feet wide. and sus-
pended from tho four l6-inch cables by means
OF suspendgrs. Tho only retarenco Ia tho speci-
cation to tho quality aud kind Of steel is rs lol
lows:
Al OF The steel sol mus, bo of mLl Uniform elastic
mensNsrun ~ open hoarth steel Or Be.-ner u. ei
under tic Hay process, WILL ho preferred
All OF tho stecl used IN the superstructure
| must be OF the same character. unless specially
Crlsrod otherwise.
The speailcat,on was prepared ne II Is given
by tho trustees. IL has boon taken "a being in
favor of those stecls named, tho patented pro-
crssea. instead OF cruciblo stool The object Of
the meeting Of Yesterday was 10 discuss tho sub
more strength would be obtained with less
weight and Il was also claimed In favor 81
crucible steel that OWING to the great improve
mont in two years past In its manufacture.
tending 10 render 1t cheaper with tho reduced
weight consequent on its use. the trustees mi yht
adopt II with little additional expense Tho
qlnsreut members Of the Board have formed
d Se 2P12 inns T y nth the agS merit Of
and Messrs Henry W. Slocum. J. ). T. Strana-
han. COMPTROLLER W q. SteinmetB Themes
Hitchcock John T. Agnew, DR.. Samuel Hall
Thomas Carroll, and 3lr. J. q. Davis met Ia the
trustees rooms tut "a there was no quorum no
action was taken although the subject was fully
discussed.
Col Paine. q the Engineer Corrs. said 10 a
reporter that there hal been muoh time spent
In reaching determination ~ 10 the choice OF
steel and there could he no expression OF dis
favor Inferred from tho specification toward
any steel except low grade 81 Bessemor stool
BIDS were cXperei Tor ctuciblO steel but tho
ohAracter latics which they most seek for are
mildnes4 dlctllity. and elasticity. 1t Ia a set
enuh1 fact that AZ stool aeoends In strength IL
decreascs In other 4uSllties. Tho great danger
o. bridge comes at tho point Of Impact. and IL
was more 81 an Ob!ect 10 get steel with quali-
ties 10 resist aud carry qn the blow than 10 got
one ~ more strength OF such a nature rs lies In
erucihl9 stool. Tho question 81 windgge was a
serious one On tho East River Bridge. The
-hter tho structure the more liable 1t Is to
lamage from the winds. II 1t IL OF tho wei ght
should be u sun tent weight 20 resist the mo-
menlum ~ the load which comes upon H. and
lnr th purpose must be greater than the l1al
ln weight. There w-To Ll.og0u. other scien-
f.n' r4,-s on5 which maf1 IL necessary NOT 10
-H'tiI' 20 mNlne=s md ductihty % msre
strength. H. hat h.ilrN him tho results u
many u7ts. which hs believed fully lemon
strNl- f-e corla tno-1 ~ the lulgu..ut ~ tic
engine 'rs lu luvor ri goua stfHl whit b has 20
h''on~i ler'si ter ~ virtues l- we'll Us for us
a. '!.-'e.s are 10 discuss the subject again
ca VI Iue-ily.