Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1883-06-07

the river was so choked with ice as to be almost
| impossible: Some boats, in beating against
icecakes in a strong current, were driven down
around Governors Island and then to Staten
| Island. The Inconvenience was great, but
the losses sustained by certain bust d
mand was made for a bridge. Soon after men
of capital obtained a CHARTER, and bridge
company was formed with capital of $4,000
600. The charter was afterward amended so
that the enterprise should be managed ex-
clusivey by the authorities of the two cities,
entire cost William c. kin y of Brooklyn Ok
deserves to be called the father of the great
gineer to draw plans and make estimates
for SuSpenSiOn-bridge, and when the time
came for action ne became the ae ,ss
Roehling was appointed Engineer. In Septem-
Der of the same year he made his report of sur
veyS, plans and estimates. Work was COM
menced on the site of the foundation of the
Brooklyn tower January 3. 1870. Engineer
Roeblng. however, did not live to see this
work begun. In the summer of 1869, while at
work on the location of the Brooklyn tower,
timbers which crushed his foot, and he died of
lock-jaw about two weeks, later. His son,
washington A. Roebling, was called upon to
| He was equal to the emergency. Although
falling victim to the "caisson disease" in
December, 1871, he supervised the work from
| his sick room. He has never recovered his
health and never will.
The construction of this gigantic cobweb for
| travel has furnished an episode of engineer
| ing the magnitude of which few appreciate.
| The towers are ZI6a1 feet in height. The
cables are anchored inland at distance of $50
| feet back from the towers on each side. The
anchorages are trinmphs of stonemasonry,
walton of 30 feet above Eigh-water mark.
| Weighing about $1,000 tons each, they are of
| course capable of resisting an enormous strain
from the cables. A stranger viewing the tow
erstorthe first lime naturally SKIS low was
pSssss to Sssn proRes fss Maser f9T
| The query is easily answered. The subma-
rine section of the tower was construct
ahss ep w a0T9 to IN ai she saf
was accomplished by the diving-bell andlthe
| air force-pump. The style of diving-bell!u used
| is called caissOn. 1t resembles nothing
! with boiIer-ron, scanned ar-tght, with means
OF ingress and egress for men and materials.
BY the use OF this eaisson many Formidable
| feet foundation laid where the waves. will
wash their mighty bases for ages. The foun-a
dation is laid eighty feet below the surface of
hairs breadth. The cables sweep, grace
height. The bridge floor which the cables
sustain, is an immense steel framework con-
angles to each oiher The main ardcrs. sup -
porting the floor proper, are graceful trtsses
hyhree inches deep placed fbess seven
attached four steel rope suspenders
from the cables. Parallel and longi-
tudinal truSseS, with braces or stays, give the
combination strength in every direction. At
the towers the framework is firmly anchored.
mated that at no time will this weight be in
creased by cars, vehicles and passengers more
than 1880 tons, giving total maximum weight
of S,l2O tons. OF this enormous weight, $3.50
tons are sustained by the cables and $50 tons
by the suspensory stays of steel wire ropes di-
vergng from the tops of the towers to points
about fifteen feet apart along the bottom of
tend out from the towers 400 feet. They form
important auxiliaries to the cables. The CEN
txyaU IfS Wi hi mir nd q
elevated above the avenues on the sides some
ten feet. The side.avenues are occupied by
cars moving from end to end by means of an
endless wire rope operated by a stationary en-
CINE.
The cables suspended from the great towers
are fifteen and three-quarter inches thick In
each cable there are 5000 wires, the whole
fashioned lik skeins of yarn or thread Each
cable contains nineteen of these strands OF 21S
wires each: and do each skeln is continn 9,n
first man TO cross from tower to tower was E.
+. Harrington, the Master Mechanic of the en-
Then the detail of the work went on, each day
adding to the number of wires from tower to
tower. until finally a light foot-brdge was run
across. and all who desired could walk from
one anchorage to the other over the tops of
the towers and across the river. Then the
cradles, ten in number, were got in position,
SO that the men engaged in the cable-making
could regulate the wires, matter of no small
difficulty, since the atmospheric effects of the
sun and wind were such that frequently the
cables varied as much as half foot in height
however, all overcome, and the last wire was
run across October Is. 1873.
&~soME STATISTICS.
Construction commenced January 8, 1870.
Bridge completed 1888.
Length of river span. 1885 feet inches.
n Length of both land spans, $3.50 feet each),
1850 feet.
Length of Brooklyn approach, 81 feet.
Length of-New York approach, l,562 feet
inches.
Width of bridge. So feet.
Number of cables, f.
Diameter of each cable, 15l4 inches.
First wire run out May ., 1877.
Length of wtse 10 four cables. exclusive of
wrapping wire, AtBEfnileS
Length of eachSsissle VIE h cables, s'S's
Weight of four cables, exclusive of wrapping
wire, 3.5SSh tons. -,
water, BROOKLYN, IS feet.
Dep4hs OF toNer foundation below n1gn
water New York, IS feet.
Total height of towers above high water,
2.S feet.
Clea. height of hsidss in sents # yer
heH 13 feet WHAEs
Hight of towers abdsehigh wAters 1ls feet
Sinches.