The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1883-06-01

n0n given TO the President and other guests
Of Brooklyn's Mayor. There was no hand
shaking, the guests merely bowling their ac-
acknowledgements to the salutations. A num-
Der of minor accidents occurred during
the day, but not of a serious character.
THE WORK.
A TRIUMPH OF ENGINEERING SKILL.
The great bridge is largely the product OF
the severe winter of 1867. During that winter
the East River ferry-boats came to grief.
Brooklyn businessmen embarking on a Fulton
ferry-bOat found themselves, after an hours
cruising, iii the vicinity of Hellgate. For DAYS
the river was so choked with ice as to be almost
impossible Some boats, in beating against
ice-cakes in strong current, were driven down
around Gogernor's Island and then to Staten
Island The Inconvenience was great, but
the losses sustained by certain bust
ness interests were such that vigorous de-
mand was made for a bridge. Soon after men
OF capital obtained a charter, and a bridge
company was formed with a capital of S., 000,-
900. The charter was afterward amended so
that the enterprise should be managed ex-
clusively by the authorities of the two cities,
Brooklyn agreeing to pay two-thirds of the
entire cost. William O. Kingsley, of Brooklyn,
deserves to be called the father of the great
bridge. AS early as 1866 he employed an en-
gineer to draw plans and make estimates
for suspension-bridge, and when the time
came for action he became the acknowledged
leader OF the enterprise. May 20, 1867, John A.
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
Roebling. however, did not live to see this
work begun. In the summer of 1862 while at
work on the location OF the Brooklyn tower,
an incoming ferry boat collided with some
ttmbers which crushed his foot and he died of
lock-Jaw about two weeks later. His son,
Washington A. Roebling, was called upon to
take up and complete his fathers great work
a IN 70 rnr1nv a 1Oph
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 cobwebfor
travel has furnished an episode of engineer
1ng fRe M aT99itafdde Wfhdieb few aRprsecats
cables are anchored inland at distance of $50
feet back from the towers on each side. The
anchorages are triumphS of st0ne-masonry,
l19 by 1872 feet at the base and rising to an ele-
vation of 80 feet above high-water mark.
Weighing about 10000 tons each, they are of
course capable of resisting an enormous strain
from the cables. A stranger viewing the tow
ers for the first time naturally asks: III ow was
it possible to obtain proper foundation for
such structures so near the water =
The query is easily answered. The subma-
rine section of the tower was construct
ed above water in the open eair and then
sunk to. Its bed deep down in the sand or
where the fishes were wont to diSport This
was accomplished by the diving-bell and the
air force-pump. The style of diving-bell used
is called caisson 1t resembles nothing SO
much as an inverted chest. Lit must be lined
with boiler-iron, scanned air-tight, with means
OF ingress and egresS for men and materials
by the use OF this caisson many formidable
difficulties have been SurmOunted and per-
feet foundation laid where the waves will
wash their mighty bases for ages. The fOun-
dation is laid eighty feet below the surface of
the river and the granite masonry is true to
hairs breadth. The cables sweep grace
fully over the top of the towers 276 feet in
height. The bridge floor, which the cables
sustain, is an immense steel framework con-
sisting Of two systems of girders at right
angles to each other. The main girders, sup
porting l the floor proper are graceful trusses
ea tH ndR inches ans deep placed seven a
attached four steel rope suspenders
from the cables. Parallel and longi-
tuuinal trusses, with braces or stays give the
combination strength in every direction. At
the towers the framework IS firmly anchored.
The weight of the central span OF the entire
suspended structure is 6,740 tons. 1t is esti-
mated that at no time will this weight be in
creased by cars, vehicles and passengers more
than $3.50 tons, giving q total maximum weight
of $40 tons. OF this enormous weight, $3.50
tons are sustained by the cables and ], $50 tons
by the susDensory stays of ste ell wire ropes di-
verging from the tops of the towers to points
about fifteen feet apart along the bottom Of
four OF the vertical trusSes. These stays ex-
tend out from the towers 400 feet. They form
important auXilaiieS to the cables. Tue CEN
trail avenue of the bridge is to be used as a
footway. Its width is nineteen feet, and it is
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 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
mass being Subdiyided into skeins or strands
fashioned like skelns of yarn or thread Each
cable contains nineteen of these strands OF 27S
wires each, and each Skein is continuous
wire nearly 100000 feet in length. The
cross from
+. harrington, the Master Mechanic of the er
terprise, who made the trip August %, 1876
Then the detail of the work went on, each day
adding to the number of wires from tower to
tower, until finally light Ot-brdge was run
across and ali 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 eable-makn9
could regulate the wires, Il 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
in the course of day. The reflections were.
however, all overcome. and the last wire was
run across October 10. 1878.
SOME STATISTICS.
Construction commenced January 3, 1870.
Bridge completed 1888.
Length of river span. 1885 feet 6 inches.
Length of both land spans, $3.50 feet each).
1850 feet.
Length of BROOKLYN approach, 971 feet.
Length of New York approach, l,562 feet
inches. e
Total length of bridge, $3.50 feet.
Width of bridge, 85 feet.
Number of cables, 4.
Diameter of each cable, 15A inches.
First wire run out May 20, 1877.
Length of wire in four cables, exclusive OF
wrapping wire, 1851 miles.
Length of each single wire in cables. 1878
feet.
Weight of four cables, exclusive of wrapping
wire, 3,58S1z tons.
Depth OF tower foundation below high
water. Brooklyn As feet.
Depth of tower foundation below high
water, New York, rs feet.
Total height of towers above high water,
278 feet
Clear height of bridge in center of river
span above high water, at 80 degrees Fahren-
heit, 135 feet.
Height of towers above high water, 10 feet
8 inches.
Grade Of roadway, 81 feet in 100 feet.
Height of towers above roadway, 159 feet.
According to the estimate at first made the
bridge with the land required would cost $l0,-
S00.Oe0 Its actual cost when completed win
be about $l5,509.000.
THE BRIDGE TOLLS.
One horse or horse and man. ................
One horse and vehicle. ......................10
Two horses and vehicle. .................. 20
FOOT passengers. -.....-.........--..-.-..
IWo-horse trucks or wagons. -...-........-.. 80
Cattle, each OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES.
Sheep and hogs, each. Observation-Disclosures.
The Brooklyn bridge is the longest suspen-
sion bridge in the world. The Victoria iron
bridge over the st. Lawrence River, which is
9.457 feet long: Maintenon Aqueduet, stone,
St Charles, Mo-, iron bridge. 6536. and the
Firth Of Tav bridge. I0s21. are the only 6truct'