New-York tribune., 1901-07-27
OVERBURDEN AND NEGLECT
ENGINEERS THINK THE BRIDGE IS NOT
PROPERLY CARED FOR.

ENGINEERS THINK THE BRIDGE IS NOT
PROPERLY CARED FOR.
The trouble with the Brooklyn Bridge Is that
it is overloaded and neglected
This is the verdict Of every civil engineer who
is not connected with municipal affairs and who
would speak on the subject yesterday. Among
those who are in the employ OF the city there is
a natural hesitation about giving an opinion.
C. s Hill Editor Of THE Engineering News,
said he had sent several expert engineers to ex-
anime the breaks and report TO MIN Oh the
reason for the breakage-
.They found" he said. that the bearings or
The susnender rods were rusted fast. thus pre-
venting them from yielding to the motion that
ALWAYS exists In a bridge Of this kind. Botn
above and below. where the rods are connecteo
with the structure, the connections are always
SO made that they will play as the prlose swings
OF course they were made on the Brookyh
Bridge But they have become rusted and are
now as rigid as though they had been rVeteo
at the points of Joining There are two mo-
TONS latitudinal and longitudinal. ana tney
have the same effect on the rods that twisting
a niece of wire has on it. If you wish to break
a niece of wire and have no tools handy you can
bend IL back and forth until 1t separates mat
is what happened In this case. The rods were
trv;s+ed hack and forth until they could stand IT
no longer. the particles Of which they are COM
posed became disintegrated and they broke.
II have no doubt that there are other fods III
the same condition as these were before they
broke and unless they are released by being
freed from the rust that now covers them II Is
only a ouestion of time before they Will break
as these did.
NOT BUILT FOR PRESENT LOAD.
1.-The bridge was never built to carry the heaVy
it-trackS,
cables and cars-and 1t is my bellef that 'he
ssratv noint has been passed Bridges pulit as
this one s should last for generations lHele
is In fact no period Of time that can De caiieu
the life Of bridge. and II there WERE 'i'is o".
ia so young that it cannot have approacheu
what might be called old age But youHs '
,s II can be overburdened Trolley cars 9ll'
I believe maintain distance apart OF io- ie
according 10 their agreement with the cl'!'
I,.-o.,,od,, prbo crosses the bridge knows that
at certain hours of the day cars are run 81 N'o'
,oge+bar that they form almost a continuous
.rs,n This is dangerous and ought 10 DE
stopped. ,,horovar
Paint, proper and immediate repairs
snd whenever they are needed. ana careiui u'
inspection are the only things neeoed 10 NAM
the bridge as safe it can be with the Dulueh
Of weight ii is carrying.
.I see that the theory of atomic olslh'esi "'i0t
CONSEQUENT NN
as the cause of the breaking of the suspenders.
40 not believe in the theory, but II | did
,,,o,,,s have 70 observe that none Of the rest OF
.ba bridee has been affected. Provision ample
hos been made for taking up the vibration OF
the bridge as is shown by the good state OF
preservation of parts that have not oeeii aiio"eN
TO rust fast or through. So far as kho" 'he'e
is no fault in the construction OF the span oul
7 reneat that there has been fault in the care
Of it."
CALLS ELECTROLYSIs THEORY ABSURD
..T see that the theory has been advanced that
the breaking Of the suspenders OF the Brooklyn
Bridge has been attributed TO electroiysis'' salc
H w Blake. electrical engineer ana EoltoF oi
''The Street Railway Journal"
Nothing could be more absurd. Electrolysis
can he produced only by running current OF
electricity through liquid medium ana the
current must first pass through the object TO be
affected That phase of 1t is not worth as
cussing.
"wbat fs worth discussing, however. is the
neglect of the bridge and the excessive weight
IL is called on to carry. 1t is well known that
n was not at first intended that any cars should
run across the bridge Then the plans were
modified TO allow the regular bridge trains to
cross but not in such numbers as they do now
Since then not only have more cars been allowed
ON the structure but cables and tubes weighing
MANY tons have been thrust upon the bridge
which was never built for them. Every civil
engineer In the country knows that the bridge
is overloaded even though he has not the hgures
giving the factor Of safety.
aThe vibration consequent upon the traffic is
provided sor, and this cannot, therefore. be con-
sidered the cause of the breakage; mat ls not
prImarily / can see how 1t might affect the
auspenders under certain circumstances. If.
however proper care were taken of the bridge,
the vibration would not be Of consequence.
NEGLECT CHARGED.
ITO what do 1 attribute the damage? Neglect.
What else is there? The places where the breaks
occurred were as understand, exposed to the
weather Steel will rust out, I need not say. If
IL Is not covered by something that will abso-
lutely exclude the moisture. Where any part Of
the bridge is not we'll painted there is neglect.
The breaking of one suspender would not be
dangerous If it were attended to promptly. But
IL the weight that this broken suspender is sup
posed TO support be thrown on the ones next to
it. they are obliged to carry more than they
were made for, and consequently. cannot stand
the strain. They must, therefore. communicate
| their loads to other suspenders the excess OF
| weight increasing with the loss of each sus-
pender and adding greater and greater LOADS to
| the sound ones.
There is where the fault lies. outside of the
| great weight the bridge has TO carry. Too much
weight, too much neglect and then catas-
1 trophe Fortunately, no catastrophe resulted
this time but that is not the fault of those VINO
| neglected the structure nor of those who allow
| 1t to be overwhelmed"