New-York tribune., 1903-02-14
II BRIDGE; NO APPROACH
That VII Be the Situation 5Cith
the williamsburg Structure.

"A great bridge across the East River without
any Manhattan feeder to it,
This is the way the Williamsburg bridge is
now referred to by engineers who see the COM
petion of the structure by the close of this year
without any definite plans for taking care of
the traffic after il lands in Manhattan A MEM
Der of the Board of Estimate and Apportion-
nent in referring yesterday to the delay III fur
nishing so-called comprehensive plans for a
rapid transit system connecting the three
bridges with the surface and elevated lines in
Manhattan. said to a Tribune reporter;
The Williamsburg bridge will be done inside
of twelve months 1t will take from eighteen
months TO two years to build connection with
the bridge so as to take care of the passengers,
who. until the connection is provided. will he
dumped at the plaza at Clinton and Delaney
SITS by the Brooklyn trolley and elevated cars.
Two somewhat decrepit horsecar lines are the
only facilities now in operation for carrying
passengers away from the Manhattan end of the
bridge Even if the steel contracts were let at
once. it would take more than year to bulid
the necessary connections on the Manhattan
side For these reasons. ii is safe to say that
the big new bridge. with almost twice the car
rying capacity of the Brooklyn Bridge, will be
of little practical use in solving the congestion
problem which will grow more and more for
Of solution
Chief Engineer Parsons may not have MS
plans ready for submission to the Board of Esti-
mate at the meeting on Thursday of next week
When seen yesterday by Tribune reporter he
said that several important points had not been
settled and that until he had the plans COM
plete he would not submit them. After sub
mission. they will need to be carefully considered
before final action can be taken on them Mean
while neither the Metropolitan nor the Man
haitian Elevated people will make any move
toward connecting with the new bridge.
The work on the bridge is going forward now
with great speed The steel floor beams are
nearly all in place and the Bridge Department
is confident that the structure will be ready for
traffic by the end of the year.
The plans for the Manhattan bridge, span
ming the East River between a shore point at
Washington-st in Brooklyn. and Pike Slip in
Manhattan were sent TO the Municipal Art
Commission yesterday by Commissioner Lin
denthal who received them several days ago
from Mr. Hornbostel. the bridge architect
The new bridge the plans proposed, is a
surprising departure from the conventional sus-
nension bridge The towers are different. in
that they are fixed pvots. The cables are
radically different. in that. instead of calling
for wire strands, they are made of short eye
har q steel.
hicvcle chain The advantage claimed for the
new ca bles is that they can be built quickly at
the steel works and assembled like any sec
tioral steel work, making II feasible to build
the ables while the towers are being construct
ed whereas under the old plan the covers
n,ust he in place before the wire stringing is
begun Mayor Low has appointed commits
sion of engineers 10 consider the practicahlity
of the new plans Commissioner Lindenthal is
confident that the structure can be built com
pIete from the pier tops in three years time The
Williamsburg bridge already has been about
seven years in building.
The eyebar abies win be built of nickel steel
of tremendous tensile strength. The same k1nd
of steel will be introduced where there is
great strain. The nickel in the steel VIII add
greatly 10 its cost but, inasmuch as the com
pletion will be greatly accelerated, 1t is con
sidered wise investment by Commissioner
Iindenthal The new bridge will have four troll
lev tracks four elevated railroad tracks. drive
way thirty feet wide and promenade of sulta-
BILE width The Brooklyn approach will reach
10 Fiatbush-ave. and Fulton-st while that on
the Manhattan side will reach to Chatham
Square The tracks for the elevated trains VIII
be above the tracks of the trolley cars, and
the promenade will he the outside of the
roadway The driveway viii be in the centre
of the bridge.
TENT LIFE FOR CONSERVATIVES