Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1883-05-30


,..rauel iron bars, which rnn up through the
solid masonry as in the diagram, and through
the face of the anchorage walls some twen-
ty-fiye feet where they meet the end OF the
cable. Tho bridge is held up. by cables,
four huge punches of wires, laid parallel and
bound together by an unbroken wrapping,
also of wire. Each viee is an eighth OF an
inch thick, and as there oro 1000 of them
in each cable, making bunch or bundle SIX
te on inches thick the physical difficulty OF
binding them TO either may DO ready mag
med. To do this it was necessary TO arrange
the wires in small parcels, nineteen
TO cable, and each holding 100 single
wires. These parcels or bundles form
n continuous wire rope 200 miles long, which
was carried from anchorage 10 anchorage,
back and forth, 27S times. The ropes when
laid were bound together, and then the sew
eral ropes were tightly wound into one huge
cable. In this way four cables were made.
Ii was no easy task to send the first wire rope
across fTom tower to tower. II was first
coiled on scow. One end was raised TO
the tower top, dropped on the other side,
taken back to the anchorage and made
fast. The scow was then towed across the
river, the wire rope running from the
coil as it went. Once there it was
hoisted TO the top of the second tower.
and in turn fastened MT the anchorage. When
a second rope was carried over in the same
way the two were joined over windlass, and
an endless wire rope or bolt was then work.
able through the entire distance. 1t became
necessary for succeeding ope. ations that the
men should work hanging from this slender
cord, and as the work seemed dangerous
ono the master mechanic MIR. Harrington,
crossed the bridge himself as an example to
the men.
The bridge has five parallel avenues run
ming over it; the center one, which is elevated
above the others, will be for the use of pedes-
TRANS. Next TO this, on either side, will be
uaI ln. Job &c arta
hell be run on an endless cable, and those on
the outside will be for vehicles. Wagons
coming from either city will have to take
cert ainavenue, and, of course, in returning
take the other. Although the bridge is now
thrown open to the general public, it is not
expected that the cars will be put into opera
ton much before July1. By means of a con-
tinous chain, the ears will be kept on the go
all the time, but no passengers can alight or
board any car EXCEPT at the termini
of the road, and this rule will
be strictly enforced. The cars, it is in
tended shall be built on the style of palace
cars, and they will be something over fifty
feet in length. The direct load coming on
a single floor, as nearly as can be ascertained,
is about forty-four tons, exclusive of the
permanent load, and the cars Will weigh
about thirty tons. The weight of the cen
trail span is Gao tons, and the estimat d
weight of crowded bridge, wagons, cars
and people, is 1,3SO tons. The supporting
cables must therefore be capable of holding
up S,12O tons, and it is calculated that the
| lengthwise pull i'll the cables becomes about
1000 tons, and their extreme strength
5000 tons.
The bridge may be said to begin at Chat
ham square and ends at the corner of Sands
and Washington streets, in Brooklyn, but
tie bridge proper-the span between the
towers-stretches 1,595 feet from tower to
tower, and 3,4G0 feet from anchorage to
~ OH tha hriI fra ia
feet above high water mark, and l35 feet in
! the center The anchorages which hold the
wires are located $50 feet inland from the
tower on each side, and they measure
a; the base 1872 feet by 119 feet, and
they are estimated to weigh 10000
tons each. At the bottom of these vast struc-
lures are large cast iron plates 8. one for each
cable, l6l5 by III feet in size and two and
i half feet thick. They weigh 5000 pounds
each, and TO them are fastened parallel iron
bars which run up through the solid masonry
and through tho face of the anchorage walls
where they meet the ends of the cable.
The trustees and officers of the bridge are
as follows
Brooklyn William g. Kingsley, William
Marshall, Henry w. Slocum, James S. 4.
Stranahan, Alfred @. Barnes, Alden s. S.
Swan, Otto Witte, James Howell, Seth Low
mayor, ex-otlicio), and Aaron Brinkerhoff
| lcomptroller oX-oilicio).
New Yorl.--John 7. Agnew, John g.
| Davis, j. Adriance Bush, Henry Clausen,
Thomas c. Clarke, Charles Macdonald, II.
| X. Thurber, Jenkins Van Setback, Franklin
Edison (mayor, eX oiiiciol and Allan Camp
bell Comptroller, ex-oificio).
| william G. king+ley is the acting presi-
! dent; OTTO Witte, treasurer; Orestes p. Quint-
ard. secretary.
On each tower brass plate, about four
feet square, Will be placed, and beneath, the
date