Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-06-08
THE WORK.

The great bridge is largely the product Of
the severe winter of 1867. During that winter
Brooklyn businessmen embarkinr on a Fnlfon
ferry-boat found themselves after an hours
cruising, IN the vicinity of Hellgate. For days
tne river was so choked with ice as Ia be almost
impossible. Some boats, in beating against
lce-cakeS In strong current,were driven down
around Governors Island and then to Staten
Island. The Inconvenience was great but
the losses sustained by certain busi-
ness interests were such that vigorous de-
mand was made for bridge. Soon after men
of capital obtained a charter, and bridge
company was formed with n capital of 81, OO0-
90. The charter was afteTward amended SO
that the enterprise should be managed ex-
cmslyety by the authorities of the two cities,
brooklyn agreeing to pay two-thirds of the
deserves TO be called the father of the great
bridge. As early as 1865 he employed an en-
gineer TO draw plans and make estimates
Tor suspension-bridge and when the time
came for action he became the acknowledged
leader of the enterprise. May -. 1867, Johr a.
Roebling 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 tho
brooklyn tower January 3. 1870. Engineer
Roebling. however. did not live to see this
work begun. In the summer of 1862 while Mt
work on the location of the Brooklyn tower
an incoming ferry-boat colided with some
timbers which crushed his foot, and he died of
lOck-jaw about two weeks later. His son.
Washington A. Roebing. was called upon TO
take up and complete his fathers great work.
He was equal to the emergency. Although
falling victim to the "caissdn disease" in
December, ISL. 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 che magnitude of which few appreciate
The towers are 21Gai feet i'm height. The
cables are anchored inland al distance of G3O
feet back from the towers on each side. The
anchorages are triumphs of stone-masonry
1l9 by lie feet at the base and rising to an ele.
Xation OF 80 feet above high-water mark
tom anh fhsxr NJ
course capable of resisting enormous strain
from the cables. A stranger viewing the tow.
ers for the first time naturally asks: allow wac
IL 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 i'm the open ,air and then
sunk to its bed deep down in the sand or
where the fishes were wont to disport. This
was accomplished by the divng-bell and the
air force-pump. The style of diving-bell used
Is called caisson. 1t resembles nothing SO
much as an inverted chest 1t 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
difhcuitleS have been surmOunted and q 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 2a6 feet in
helght. 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 girdcrS, sup
porting the floor proper, are graceful trusses
thirty-three inches deep, placed seven
feet six inches apart. TO these are
attached tour steel rope suspenders
tudinal trusses, with braces or stays, give the
combination strength in every direction. At
the towers the framework is firmly anchored
Inc weight OF the central span of the entire
suspended structure is 6,140 TONS 1t is esti-
mated that at no time will this weight be in
creased by cars, vehicles and passengers more
than LOU tons giving f0I Nimllm weight
OF Stu tons. OF this enormous weight, $3.50
tons are sustained by the cables and 100 tons
by the suSpensory stays of ST. cl wire ropes di-
Verglng tfOm the tops of the towers to points
about fifteen feet apart along the bottom of
four of the vertical trusses. These stays cX-
tend out from the towers 400 feet. They form
important auxiliarieS to the cables. The cen
tral avenue of the bridge is to be used as
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
ears moving from end TO end by means of an
endless wire rope operated by stationary CHI
ginc.
The cables suspended from the great towers
are niteen and three-quarter inches thick, In
each cable there are 5000 wires, the whole
mass being subdivided into skeins or strands
fashioned like skeins of yarn or thread Each
cable contains nineteen of these strands of 21S
wires each, and each skein is a continuous
wire nearly 1,000,000 feet in length. The
first man to cross from tower to tower was f.
+. harrington, the Master Mechanic of the en-
tcrprise, who made the trip August p. 1876.
Then The detail of the work went on, each day
auuli1R 10 the NUMBER OIL wires from tower TO
tower. until finally light foot-brdgc 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-makng
could regulate the wires, matter of no small
uifhcuIty, since the atmospheric effects OF the
sun ana wind were such that frequently the
cables varied rs much as hair foot in height
IN the course OF day. The reflections were.
however, all overcome, and the last wire was
run across October 10. 1873.
SOME STATISTICS.
Construction commenced January 3, 1870.
Bridge completed 1883.
Length of river span. ,595 feet inches.
Length of both land spans, $3.50 feet eachl.
Length of Brooklyn approach, gu feet.
Length of New York approach. l,562 feet
inches
Total length of bridge, $3.50 feet.
Width of bridge, S. feet.
Number of cables, 4.
Diameter of each cable, l5l< inches.
First wire run out May % 1877.
Length of wire in four cables, exclusive of
wrapping wire, IA, 361 miles.
Length of each single wire in cables, 3,5t
feet.
Weight of four cables. exclusive of wrapping
wire, 3,5SS1. tons.
Depth of tower foundation below high
water. Brooklyn, 45 feet.
Depth of tower foundation below high
water, New York, IS feet.
Total height of towers above high water
Clear height of bridge in center of rive,
span above high water, at 90 degrees Fahrcn
heit, rs feet.
Height of towers above high water, 1l9 fee.
3 inches.
Grade of roadway. ga fee. 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 So.
eOO,OOO. Its actual cost when completed will
be about Sl5,500,0O.
THE BRIDGE TOLLS.