Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1881-08-12
Soma Of the Great Bridges.

Soma Of the Great Bridges
Robert Stephenson, great engineer as
h. was reported that suspension brliges
wonld never DO for steam. John A
E,eblipg answered with the Niagara
bridge, the cheapest stLuet'
ure. and one If the best ever bu!it ior
such q necessity. Eoeblipg Is the author
of most o. the bridge TO Brooklyn.
In Menai Strait. which divides an
island from the northwestern corner OF
Wales. the tides rise to the height OF
thirty feet sometimes. and generally
twelve feet. The B,i'ish Government
erected a bridge on the great high road
from England to Ireland over THIS STRAIT
in 1926. 1t is a suspension bridge bnlit
by Ielford on chains. and cost Sooo 'ooo
(gold) at that time; it is l0o feet aoove
water. Twenty years afterward, George
st. phenson began to build the tubular
bridge three miles above, spanning tie
same strait. 1t took five years. and
trains crossed it in 1870. 1t has tour
spans, the two in the middle being l6O
feet wide each, and the whole bridge Is
about 1910 feet lolg. 1t Is l23 feet
above high water mark. and cost
80 600 600.
The Niagara suspension bridge. built
by Roebling in 1872. cost only Sooo,0OO
is 500 feet long, 30 feet above the
river, and its towers are about 81 fee'
high. The Niagara foot bridge, bull
in 1869, cost $4,000, and Was said tt
be, when opened, the longest suspect
sion bridge in the world, or l,2GS fee
between towers.
The Cincinnati suspension bridge
by RoebllBg, stands next to the l. ast
River bridge, and is .057 feet between
towers, and 2, 252 between the ends
the bridge is 103 feet above low water
the towers are go feet high, and eaei
is taller and larger than the Bunker
Hill Monument, and the structure cos
81 500 900; it was built 10y II company
and charges three cents toll per man
This bridge has been in most usefu
operation siuce about 1861; 1t Wa:
eleven years between Its commence
ment and opening.
Roebling, tue protector OF the Brook
lyn bridge. was the greatest bridge
builder in the world. lie started the
making of wire cordage in America
and built suspension bridges 10 carr,
the aGue iucts of canals across rivers
and engineered the Pennsylvania rail
road across the mountains. The Brook
lyn bridge, between towers, Is l,59'
feet long. Behind the towers there ar.
$40 feet each side. back to the anchor
ages. The whole length of the bridge
and approaches is 4. 600 feet. 1t is on'
of the widest bridges in the world, 81
feet, with a promenade IL feet wide
two railroad tracks and four carriage
and two horse, car tracks. lt.is l3i
feet in the center above the water. tn,
rock on which the towers rest is abou
ninety feet below the surface of thu
water on the New York side, and bal
that depth on the Brooklyn side-ths
most stupendous thing about the struc
ture. Each tower is 134 feet long b,
56 wide, and at the top these dimension,
are reduced to 100 fee. by 40. or the
SIZE of a very large house. Each tower
is 26S feet above high water. tits l .53t
feet from the beginning OF the suse
way on Chatham street out to the an
chorage on the New York shore. The
architect Of the bridge received hi
deoth wound almost at its Inception
standing ON the upper frame work o.
Falton ferry slip as boat came in an
threw it's weight against tie piles
which yielded, and crushed his foot
as if the spirit of the old ferry, abou
to be supplanted, had IeveDged ltsei
on the innovator! They buried Roeb
ling in the simmer of 1869, at Trenton
N j.. near the spot where poor JOIN
Fitch, the watch maker. eighty-twt
years before had started the steamboat
But Roebling's true monument is thu
Brooklyn bridge towers, aud between
theE, IN tho nerves und tendUns, trem
bling like weaver's web, plies th,
shuttle of his soul. You can hear hi
own words. if you are reverent. callins
to the ships and steamers beneath. " |
will be the greatest engineering worl
OF the Continent, and tho creates
bridge in existence. Its towers will b.
national monuments. 1t will foreve
testify to the energy, enterprise ant
wealth of the great community it over
hangs" Upon the portal of the bridg
; they might also inscribe this motto
81 have no fear of honest difference o
opinion; it is only cavilers that
dread. II Baldwin's Monthly.