New-York tribune., 1921-09-01
HudsonP
Bridg sc Assailed
BY River Men
Project Explained, Defend.
cd. Derided and Con.
demned at Hearing Before
Board cf Army Engineers
Serious Menace to Life
Structure Could Not With.
stand Currents of Tide
and Ice, 1t Is Asserted

AA SAztS Ol Ilc
and Ice, 1t Is Asserted
The Hudson River pontoon bridge
project, which would be authorized by
bill introduced by Senator Joseph
h. srelinghuysen of New Jersey, was
explained, defended, derided and con-
dernned yesterday at public hearing
cslore board of army engineers in
the Army Building, SO Whitehall Street.
1t was explained by DR.. Gustave Lin
denthal, bridge engineer: defended by
Or. George A. Post, prospective in
corporator Of the Hudson River Pom
'oon Bridge Company, and by represent
a'lVes OF several counties of New York
ana New Jersey; derided by grizzled
tI,.,I rIver men and condemned by Professor
imam Ii. Burr. an engineer of note
DR.. Iindenthal came to the hearing
armed with hlueprints of the proposed
structure. The bridge was to span the
river from Yonkers to Alpine. he said
1t was to have a roadway 80 feet
wide with three lanes, and q sidewalk
~ feet wide. The bridge proper was
TO be 4,32o feet in length and the trestle
approaches 1890 feet. There were to
from center to center Of pontoons. with
ITO feet between them in the clear, and
10 feet clearance above high water, for
small boats. A fixed span 27O feet in
the clear, 45 feet high, for tows and
canal boats. and a movable span of the
same width 1876 feet the clear when
opened.
Pontoons on Wooden Ships
The superstructure was to consist of
wooden planking placed on steel cross
beams. which in turn would rest on four
longitudinal lattice girders resting on
shallow steel towers connected to the
boats.
The pontoons were to be wooden ships
purchased from the United States Ship
ping Board anchored at each end by
two two-inch galvanized plow steel
cables connected to twelve-inch steel
piles screwed into the ground. The
vertical, horizontal and rocking mo-
tions of the boats were all to be taken
care Of by sack cables, while provision
was also made for expansion and con-
traction Of the superstructure on the
draw. Lighting and signals for the pro-
lection of river traffic were to be in
stalled as required by the War De-
partment, and three tugboats were to
be employed to break up this. ice in
winter. To protect the cables and
mark the openings dolphins or fender
piles were TO be used
Mr.. Post said that the two spans, one
Of them 2T0 feet wide, obviated the
danger to navigation which opponents
of the scheme said would be caused by
the bridge. He and his associates, he
said, realized the Importance of the
Hudson River as an artery of COM
merce and had no intention of closing
1t in the slightest. They were moved
to their proposed action simply by
desire to relieve the great congestion
Of vehicular traffic on both sides of The
river, he said.
River Men Ridcule Idea
Representatives of Rockland and
Bergen County in New Jersey gave
their approval to the plan, and then
came the turn of the river mer. If
it were not for the fact that such a
structure would be serious impedi-
lnent to navigation and a menace to
life, they said, the whole idea would
be ridiculous.
No portoon structure, they asserted,
could withstand the cross-currents of
the tide and the tremendous force of
the ice in the Hudson No tow, fight
ing wind and tide, they said, could
thread such a span as was to be opened
for tows in the proposed bridge. When
the weather conditions were unfavor-
able, they said, tows had hard work
negotiating the bridge at Poughkeepsie
whose span is more than 500 feet wide
and at a point where the tide is far
weaker and less treacherous than it is
at Yonkers.
Captain Keller of the w. Morse
said the bridge was impossible from
his standpoint Of river captain, as
we'll as from tow angle. "Suppose
we met one of Cornell's tows in the
draw" he said, "where would we go?
We are going to 60 into that bridge
or something is going to happen. 1t is
the most absurd thing l ever heard of.
You don't 80 down through a draw
straight in heavy wind. There will
be big loss of life if you ever build
this bridge. All the tug boats in. the
river won't be able to break up the ice
above the bridge in winter that comes
down from Tarrytown. I know, for l
nave tried to break it for Mr.. Morse
with a $4,000 tor tug"
Masters and Pilots Opposed
Captain Ulster Davis, representing
the masters, mates and pilots, said his
association opposed it. at is an OBJ
struction and you cannot make it any
thing else," he declared. "It is I'M
practical, impossible and temporary
dHC IHe HISC Ice OF tne WiHteT WOuiu
carry it away. l have fought the ice
in the Hudson for twenty-five to thirty
years and l knew its force. Another
thing, you cannot steer tow with
four barges abreast through the draw
in freshet with high wind blowing
The tow does not travel straight on
those conditions. but at a slant. Again,
What is going to become of the super
structure when the tide is flowing 2S l;,,an IN
one direction in the center of the river yer
and in the opposite direction on the
other two sds1 sid xed Ns s7ofoot sPsf Oass can
p"ps profaesor 1ae Burr. a consulting engs-
neer. who is a member of the Panama
canal board and the ss.ra New xas x'as sura ana
as tho river captains that the bridge
idea id Wv was unsound and dangerous:
"The motion caused by the wind and
agency ans ss'eo, Constantly working. do not
see how the expansion rdon and sonffact1a IA tHa
e,,nerstrncture, ear and deem the lift
draw raw menace to any boat passing be,