Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-06-09

the river was so choked with ice as to be almost
impossible. Some boats, in beating against
ice-cnkes ma strong current were driven down
around Governors Island and then to Staten
Island. Thu Inconvenience was great, but
the losses sustained by certain bust
ness interests were such that q vigorous de-
OF capital obtained Il charter. and II bridge
company was formed with a capital OF S5,0W,-
goo. The charter was aftcrward amended so
clusively by the authorities of the two cities,
BrooRlyn a%rs &: to pay two-'lirds Of the
destle ess TO- h mit callnd :: tho hh,nih a1Gs. OF Of %5 }hn xrSa;
bridge. As early as 1865 he employed an en-
gineer to draw plans and make estimates
came for action he became the acknowledged
leader of the enterprise. May %, 1867. John A..
lRoetling was appointed Engineer. In Scptem-
veys. plans and e%sti,nates. Work was com
menccd on the site of the foundation of tho
Brooklyn tower January ., 1870. Engineer
work begun. In the summer of 1862. while at
work on the location of the Brooklyn tower,
an incoming. ferry-boat collided with some
llock-jaw about two weeks fater. His son,
Washington A. Roebling, was called upon to
take up and complete his fathers great work.
falling a 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
i The towers H,,e1 are 2S g. feet inv in ha aAfre'' Tie
cables are anchored inland ut Assistance OF $50
feet back from the towers on each side. The
1ncholageS are triumphs of stone-lnasonry,
1l9 by 1872 feet at the base and rising to an Gle
vation of 80 feet above E%igh-water mark.
Weighing about 10000 tons each. they arc Of
course capable OF resisting an enormous strain
from the cables. A stranger viewing the tow
ers for the first time naturally asks: "How was
it possible to obtain a proper foundation for
The query is easily answered. The subma-
rine section OF the tower was construct
ed above water in the open sair 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 f9rce.pumpA. The style of diving-be!l used
is called Il calssOn. 1t resembles nothing so
much as an inverted chest. 1t must be lined
with boiler-iron, scanned air-tight. with means
81 lngress. and egress for men and materials.
BY the use of this caisson many formidable
dlihcultics have been surmounted and a per-
feet Foundation laid where the waves will
G1ie 1i IS lai mdl siEl'ty Sd teet f befoW SE Is. s uns fou Of
hairs breadth. The cables sweep. grace
height. The bridge floor, which the cables
sustain, is an immense steel framework con-
slstlng OF two systems of girdcrs at right
porting the floor proper, are graceful trusses
f feis'y1 SIX ind inss's apa deep 20 R'aef fSese sey sTe
ron the cables see' Parallel sIRi and sSipe iongis
tudinal %trusses, with braces or stays, give the
combination strength in every direction. At
The weight of the central spar of the entire
suspended structure is 6,746 tons. 1t is esti-
mated that at no time will this weight be in
tian i,3so tons, giving atotal maximum weight
OF $40 tons. OF this enormous weight, $3.50
tons are sustained by the cables and 1870 tons
by the suspensory stays of steel wire ropes d.
verging from the tops of the towers to points
about fifteen feet apart along the bottom Of
1our OF the vertical trusses: These stays ex-
important auxiliarieS to the cables. The CEN
tral avenue OF the bridge is to be used US q
1ootway,. 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 a stationary en-
The cables suspended from tho great towers
are n1teen and threc-quarter inches thick. In
, Hnch S cable there are 5000 wires, the whole
1nShloned like skclns of yarn or thread. Each
cable contains nineteen OF these strands Of 27S
wire nearly 100000 feet i'm length Tho
flrst man to cross from tower to tower was 3.
r; r~arrlngton the Master Mechanic of the en-
derprlsc, who made the trip August 25, 1876,
Then the detail of the work went on. ench dav
adding to the number OF wires from tower to
tower. until finally Il light foot-bridge was run
across. and all who desired could walk from
one anchorage to the other over the tons of
inc towers and across the river. Then tho
cradles, ten i'll number, were got in position,
SO that the men engaged in the e-mnk
cou!d regulate the wires, n matter of no small
difficulty. since the atmospheric effects of the
sun ana wind were such that frequently the
cahies variedns much as half q foot in height
IN the course OF Il duy. The reflections were.
however, all overcome, and the last wire was
run across October Is. 1875.
sOME STATISTICS.
construction commenced january 8, 1870.
Bridge completed 1883.
Length OF river span. ], 1886 feet 6 inches.
Length OF both land spans, 1880 feet each).
1850 feet.
Length Of Brooklyn approach, 81 feet.
inches. '" GU
Total length of bridge, $3.50 feet.
Width OF bridge, IS feet.
Number of cables, 1.
diameter of each cable, l5lz inches
First wire run out May q, 1877,
Length OF wire in four cables. exclusive re
wrapping wire, II ,3Gl miles.
Length OF each single wire in cables. 2 57o
feet. o""os' o'o''
Weight of four cables, exclusive of warming
wire, 3.5Ss1S tons. "pp'ns
Depth OF tower foundation below high
water. Brooklyn, as feet. ~ ="
depth OF tower foundation below hipb
water, New York, IS feet. e
Total height OF overs above high watcr
2IS feet. eA ""'ci'
Clear height of bridge in center of river
span anoye high water, at 90 degrees Fuhrcn-
HeiEhtof towers above high water, 11e feet