New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-01-08
RAILWAY INTERESTS.

! WrAE ANp IfAR OF1lIF -TRCC1CE -E PAIRS HAT
HIVE BftnNE NECESSARY - -lAIrMt%ls OF
hNGINtEEs AND OTHFES.
An engineer having some knowledge of tho clr-
waited railroad structures stated saturday evening
that the Third Avenue R,aI had b gun to show
signs uf weakness IN some Of the grl"r" ANA othcr
part, of the structure. and th,t repairs had
been made III several PAGES recently. Many ol
the bolts had become broHcn. he sIid and many "i
the rivet heads had been wTenchcd II by III N'rl-
mons when the trains passed owl: recently ole Of
tbe prrrs ON the man Line b low ChataAin-,q square.
had cracked and had beea repaired: and Al one OF
the supports below MaIlcn-llnr II had been nrrr,-
sary 20 run four long iron bolts from III" EIrer 10
fine track at a spot winch had become weakened.
The structure near Cooper Institute also showed
An unduc detection OF In" g!dcTs whcH the traif,
passed over.
IuouIrlrs we're made yesterday bya tribune re-
potter III order 10 learn the foundation ct these
statements. One of The most prominent engineers
IN the cIty expressed views directly NJ variance
with those given aboye.
"On the THIRD Ayrnu" Elevated Road" he sad.
ro.erIal u applIcd TO bert avant lgc han the
other elevated lines. That II. ton OF IRON there
does more work in the WA It - u'uiz !. Ca the
old Greenwich Street Road tn re- was not
enough niaterial-it too hight for the
wear and tear and had to be taken down. On tho
Sixth Avenue Line Con~d' ra'lc repairing and
strcupthcuing ~ gong on. The Third Avcuu" Road
conslIcr 10 be built tho best Wy. iGcrc l. SOM
trouble from mIsplac"d nvcts as III nll rlveted
structures and originally there were not enough
nut m The same deficiency III thu number II The
rIycts mas been found and rrm"dicd Oh many r.ui-
way bridge. Whcn TWO Surltc.s are attached by
short DOl,- aHd ryeiS, ana submitted To vertical
or lateral STRAIN, unless the bolts ana uSctS
are accurately fitted To their holes t""r"
4 l.,lfg aft..,r . IN. fr..fftt
worn aud sometimes cut ~ brOkrn. Then this
snraring' when play II gwen hy lac iEpTuprily
fitting edges the noes tends To enlarge ihc holes
and make the bolts loose, lhs ~ not extremity
uncommon and cannot be considered marked
cement OF Danger. The rackmrn who are con-
sauly the watch easily detect o's"n"d rlVct, OF
broken bOlrs. Then the hole, aIc Framed
that tho edges smOnth. and new bolts hit nc
tgn.Iy are inserted aud closely Hvcted. Iac dis
coyery Of lOOse bolts and the Insertion of new
IA not q matter worthy ( any notice.
Il know oi no cracked gudcr. but should
consider II extraordinarily good luck If one
crack, girdc;s didn't occur III ten miles of iron
work. hat the public - Interested III knowing Is
whether the road Is sale OF that think there IL
doubt Whether 1t Will last thirty or forty years
anOt her matter, and one thar doesn't concern tie
public now. know of no necessity for any rcbuild
inv nt the road at present unless a greatly iucre,d
traffic should call for the Use of heavier engines and
subj ct the structure Ia additional strain. But the
road ~ secure, my opinion, and these light re-
paIrs are SIMPLY what - Ia he expected on any
stIlciuTo enc0unteTing constant wear aud tear"
w alter Katie VINO WAS engineer n-chIe1 of the
rlird AVrnu. Elevated Road, cOUsidCTcd the ROAD
better built. anu slated mat II required fewer
paus than the other elevated rOals He secuted
t,e idea OF danger from broken bolts crack ii
Orders and said that few repairs were made and
that those were Of "A KIND constantly QuIrrd IN
structures secured by rivctS. Mr. Katta knew
nothing of any trouble at the curve near Cooper
Union and considered the idea that any potion of
the road needed rebuilding a. ndlcdIons He be-
evcd the road to be perfectly safe and IN good
dItlOn.
lane Chat nam-squaic. one could notice Yesterday
neither sprInglng OF Orders trains passed over
nor any vibration at curves. At FrankIn-squaro
the clalL OF Il hammer heard from amid The
iabyrlntn Of iron rods underneath the station and
party of men found engaged III rIvrtng Others
were busIly engaged between the tracks just south
We're rlvcting Oh fomc fatIron rods to the cir
ders," sad one If the wOrkuen i'll reply to the
TRIBUNE reporters questions.
do you think there II any danger y
No, but we'ro strengthening tho gIrder under
the water tank here 30 That greater weight can he
put on"
" DO you do much of this work along the track ~
"NO; only where greater weight Is to DO carried
or there SOME spcclai reason for putting more
III the way of support"
DO you find many loose botsT
"Nery few"
Iucu the sectlOn-Ina5teT came up and the uueg-
mo, SIR; We find very few loose or broken hots.D
he SAID. My section is from Chatham -sqlarr to
the Battery IL Is the best part Of the rJa,i. Since
the road was built don't believe We put IN moro
than two dozen new bolts on our section"
Have any long IRON bolts reaching from the
girders to the track been recently pat III near
Malden-lane ~
mo, don't know of any,"
" Do you know anything about cracked girdcr
near Chatham-squar y
The only cracked urder Pye known of WAS a
long way up tins road. more than Il year ago"
Has any danger been feared from the sharp
curve at Cooper Unionf'
No danger that | ever heard of. The wooden
guard rails got worn away by the wheels in swing
ing around the curve and AN IRON guard rall was
substituted. But there's 10 trouble to be feared
from that. never could see any bending IN tho
glrders swaylnR OF the track there
{" Is any fault found with the Inaterial-the iron
Used in the istIuctIOn of the rOadp
/" | think it proved satisfactory. OF course
rvets sometimes get OOsc. and there bits OF re-
pairing ana Strengthening TO stand extra strains
ike this here but all that is to be expected
How il the track watched ~
"Trackmen go over 1t morning aud night striking