USA > New York > Kings County > Brooklyn > The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884 Volume I > Part 108
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At 118 feet above high-water mark, cach of the towers of the bridge is divided into three masses by the two broad openings, 312 feet wide, which here commence. The six lines of the great steel trusses or frame-work forming the bridge, pass unbroken in their continuity through these openings of the piers, resting on the ma- sonry underneath, and firmly anchored down to it by huge bolts and ties of wire rope. An idea of the
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HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.
strength of these trusses may be obtained, when it is considered that for over one hundred feet out from each side of the tower they are of themselves, without any support whatever from the cables or stays, sufficiently strong to carry all the load that may ever come upon them. The openings continue to the height of 120} feet, where they are closed by pointed arches. Above these arches the reunited tower rises thirty feet higher, where it receives a set of iron bed-plates, on which rest the " saddles " in which the great suspension cables ride. These are iron castings in the form of a segment of a circle, with a Cable Storm Rope Bridge grove to receive the cable on the upper and convex side. The Tower under and plane side lies on a 116 100 fr. Dock -1241 layer of small iron rollers held in place by flanges on the surface of the bed-plate. The object of these is to give sufficient play to the bearings on which the cables rest to prevent the cables themselves slipping and chafing in the saddles if affected by the force of storms or variations of load, or when lengthening and contracting under changes of temperature. From the saddles each way the cables sweep downward in a graceful curve, the landward ends entering the anchor walls, as already described, and supporting the shore ends of the bridge, while the main bow, or inverted arch, hanging between the towers, holds up the central truss of nearly 1600 feet span.
Italian school, and bringing into superb effect the splendid rise of the roadway. Prospect and York streets are crossed by formidable iron girders. The excessive length and height of the New York ap- proach made work upon it much more difficult than on the Brooklyn side. Every effort was made to achieve the full architectural effect, and the result was the completion of a viaduct that for years to come will attract the admiration of mankind. Some of
1595 6
Foot bridge Rope
Foot bridge Rope
Cable
Cable
Bridge
Storm Rope
Towe
600
.
Dock
380
100 fr. Dock
ELEVATION OF BRIDGE, SHOWING TEMPORARY ROPES USED IN CABLE MAKING.
The Bridge Approaches .- The elder Roebling intended that the approaches to the bridge should con- sist of iron girders and trusses, supported at short in- tervals on small piers of masonry or iron columns. With the growing magnitude of the structure, and the prospect of its increasing importance, the management determined to construct the approaches of masonry in a style fully up to the standard of that adopted in the building Brooklyn of the towers and the anchorages. The length of the New York approach is 1,562 feet and that of the Brooklyn approach 971 feet. In the main the approaches consist of a series of longitudinal Florentine arches, admirably proportioned and faced with elaborately cut granite. These arches are supported on brick piers of massive construction. The parapets of those magnificent viaducts are elabo- rately ornamented with cut granite, fashioned after the
the spaces spanned on the New York side are so wide that the structural crossings form in themselves good sized buildings. The Franklin square bridge is the longest span over any street in either city. Beneath the approaches the vacant arches are being fitted up for use as warehouses.
The increased cost over the estimates that had been made of the approaches to the bridge, and some changes in the details of the superstructure, necessi- tated the expenditure of more than the $13,000,000 which had been estimated; and $15,000,000 was in 1882 fixed as the limit beyond which the cost of the bridge would probably not reach. S_PL
The first estimated cost of the bridge was $7,000,000, ex- clusive of land for the ap- proaches.
It is the fate of all great public enterprises to encounter violent opposition from a portion of the people. This opposition is usually prompted by a variety of mo- tives, some of which will hardly bear close scrutiny. The East river bridge has not enjoyed immunity from
Mereein St.
Stewarts Aliny
Water St.
St.
Maur St.
Washington St.
Fulton Ferry
Fulton St.
Sands SL
SITUATION PLAN OF BROOKLYN APPROACH.
this fate. Notwithstanding the high character of those who, from the first, have been prominently identified with the undertaking, they have been fiercely assailed by a portion of the public, and efforts have been made to embarrass them in their work. As time has gone
Sduch St.
New Frank fort S
Anchorae
Water
Pearl Street
Alque S
Vand
Chatham St.
SITUATION PLAN OF NEW YORK APPROACH.
Dover St.
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THE EAST RIVER BRIDGE.
on, however, and the bridge has approached completion, its prospective utility has become more and more appar- ent to all, and this opposition has become more impotent.
The completion of this bridge inaugurates a new era in the already rapidly increasing prosperity of Brook- lyn, and Western Long Island; but it is quite safe to predict, that, in the not distant future, other avenues of transit across East river will be found necessary, and that the skill and energy for their construction will not be wanting.
The Bridge Railway .- The question of railroad transit over the bridge has from the commencement received the attentive consideration of both the engi- neers and directors. Numerous plans were suggested, all were carefully examined, and the result was the adoption of a system believed to be the most servicea- ble that could have been selected. Fully twenty-five years ago, in advancing suggestions for a bridge, Mr. John A. Roebling advised the construction of a double railroad track over the river. His plan contemplated the running of trains by an endless cable, something after the method now in use, but experience in the use of such appliance in San Francisco and Chicago, com- pelled within the past few years many modifications of the original plan cars. The mode of operating the railroad was for years widely discussed and many diff- erences of opinion arose in regard to it. Early in 1878 Colonel W. A. Roebling, in response to a request from the trustees, submitted at length his views upon the question of transit. There were, he pointed out, two methods of effecting transit, namely, by the inclined plane system, with an endless rope (which was adopted), or the use of locomotives. Objections were made to the introduction of the latter on various grounds. The principal one of these being the grade, which in the winter season amounts to over 200 feet per mile.
The matter was finally referred to Committee on Transit across the Bridge. In May, 1878, on motion of Mr. Thomas Kinsella, a committee was appointed to confer with any other body or corporation, having for its purpose the construction or running of a rapid tran- sit road, or other steam roads to either terminus of the bridge, to the end that the facilities of intercourse be- tween the two cities might be promoted.
This committee in due time submitted their report, and, among other matters, threw out a suggestion as to a possible change in the central trusses, that would ad- mit of the passage of a palace car, and this was even- tually accomplished. Resolutions based upon the re- port of the committee were adopted, fixing the gauge of the railroad at 4 feet 82 inches, and also that it be held practicable to transfer the design of car, known as the palace or sleeping car, upon the bridge, under the con- ditions already stated, and so that the stress of the car might be distributed over two or more beams, provi- ded that no train should consist of a greater number of cars than three.
The Board of Trustees decided at the beginning of last year to adopt the circulating system of running the cars by an endless wire rope. This method is in successful operation on street railways in San Francisco and Chicago. Its operation is very simple, and seems to be growing in popular favor. An endless rope is run over the bridge along the middle of one of the rail- way tracks, and is returned along the other. It is sup- ported throughout its length on (490) pulleys, placed 22} feet apart, and run continuously in one direction. Motion is communicated to the rope by passing it three times around a pair of grooved rope driving drums, each 12 feet in diameter, placed facing each other. These drums are revolved by means of a friction drum located between and in contact with each. The pri- mary operative power is furnished by two steam en- gines, located in the large new engine house beside the Brooklyn approach on the Washington street side. They are horizontal, with cylinders twenty-six inches in diameter and forty-eight inch stroke, and are capa- ble of running with one hundred pounds steam pres- sure. There are to be used upon the line twenty-four large and twenty-four small passenger cars, nearly all of which have been completed. These cars receive their passengers at one end of the bridge and discharge them at the other from the elevated platforms of the iron depot buildings. Each car is mounted on two four-wheeled trucks. They have side seats and dou- ble sliding doors at the ends. Each of the larger cars comfortably seats forty-six persons, twenty-three along each side, and are capable of safely carrying all that may crowd into them. In their general style they cor- respond with the cars in use on the Manhattan Elevated Railway, although they are wider and higher, have wider doorways and platforms and differ in several dc- tails. As completed they are furnished with all that is necessary for placing them on the tracks in running order, with the exception of grips for attaching them to the rope. The grips used are supplied under the direc- tion of Colonel W. H. Painc, of the engineering staff.
This method of attaching the cars permits endless ropes to be run continuously at an even speed by means of stationary engines. The cars can be attached while the rope is running at full speed. They can be started slowly, and gradually brought to the speed of the rope, the movements of the car being completely under the control of a brakeman on the platform.
The plans for the rope traction were all prepared by Colonel William H. Paine, who has been indefatigable in his endeavors to improve the methods of transit over the bridge and contribute as much as possible to the comfort and convenience of the public.
The engincers estimate at present that the time ordi- narily required to cross the bridge from one extreme to the other will be about six minutes, although it may be reduced to four minutes. The railway depots at either end are highly ornamental structures, made of
4
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HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.
ornate iron work and riehly painted within and with- out. The space for the storage of ears will be between Washington, Sands, High and Fulton streets on the Brooklyn side.
The engines at the Brooklyn side switch the cars from one track to the other. When a ear is ready to start it is pushed by the engine a few rods, where it connects with the cable. At the New York end the cars are switched by a truck run by cables. The switching arrangements are temporary, and liable to be changed, or further developed in their present form.
The present difficulty in the railway system of the bridge, is a laek of room at the New York terminus, but this will probably be speedily remedied by a re- moval of the Third Avenne Elevated Railway Station, or a connection of the two systems by the proper switelies, &e. At 9 A. M. on September 24, 1883, the railway transit of the bridge was publicly inaugurated, and though some vexations delays have oeeurred, which have necessitated slight changes in the details of the system, it may now be considered an accomplished fact.
Accidents and Casualties .- The great work of engineering is a battle with nature, in which, as in other wars, Death must take his toll. There have been employed upon the works at one time as many as six hundred men, a small army in themselves ; and in the fourteen years since the master-mind, John A. Roeb- ling himself, became the first sacrifiee, more than twenty men have been fatally hurt. Several more have been victims to the "caisson disease,"* resulting from working in compressed air; but, despite the dizzy height, no one has fallen from the main span into the water below. Besides the fire in the Brooklyn caisson, which cost no lives, and the fall of the derricks on the Brooklyn tower, which had more serions results, there has been one great accident only; but the imagination ean searcely picture anything more dreadful. On June 19, 1878, one of the great strands broke loose from the New York anchorage, carrying with it the " shoe " and its ponderous attachments. As the end swept from the anchorage it dashed off several of the men at work, and then, with a frightful leap, grazing the houses and peopled streets below, it landed for the instant in the bridge yard close under the New York tower. The great weight mid-stream whizzed it over the tower with frightful and increasing rapidity, and the whole span pinnged madly into the river, narrowly
missing the ferry-boats that ply, crowded with human freight, below the line of the bridge. In these years the enterprise has lost also its president, Henry C. Murphy, and its first treasurer, J. H. Prentice, as well as its first engineer. But, in strange and happy eon- trast, there has not been a single break in the engineer- ing staff, Engineers Martin, Paine, Collingwood, Me Nulty, Probaseo, and Hildenbrand having served con- tinuously, most of them from the very first.
Bridge Statistics .- The following figures, eare- fully compiled from the records by the officials, give in concise form the dimensions of the great structure, and a list of the materials used in its erection:
Construction commenced January 3, 1870.
Bridge completed 1883.
Size of New York caisson, 172x102 feet.
Size of Brooklyn caisson, 168x102 feet.
Timber and iron in caisson, 5,253 cubic yards.
Concrete in well holes, chambers, etc,, 5,669 cubic feet.
Weight of New York cassion, about 7,000 tons.
Weight of concrete filling, 8,000 tons.
New York tower contains 46,945 cubic yards masonry.
Brooklyn tower contains 38,214 cubic yards masonry,
Length of river span, 1,595 fcet six inches.
Length of each land span, 930 feet, 1,860 feet.
Length of Brooklyn approach, 971 feet.
Length of New York approach, 1,562 feet six inches.
Total length of bridge, 5,689 feet.
Width of bridge, 85 feet.
Number of cables, 4.
Diameter of each cable, 15g inches.
First wirc was run out May 29, 1877.
Cable making really commenced, June 11, 1877.
Length of each single wire in cables, 3,579 feet.
Length of wire in four cables, exclusive of wrapping wire, 14,361 miles.
Weight of four cables, inclusive of wrapping wire, 3,588} tons.
Ultimate strength of each cable, 12,200 tons.
Weight of wire (nearly) 11 feet per lb.
Each cable contains 5,296 parallel (not twisted) galvanized steel, oil coated wires, closely wrapped to a solid cylinder 15g inches in diameter,
Depth of tower foundations below high water, Brooklyn, 45 fcet.
Depth of tower foundation below high water, New York, 78 feet.
Size of towers at high water line, 140x59 feet.
Size of towers at roof course, 136x53 feet.
Total height of towers above high water, 278 feet.
Clear height of bridge in center of river span above high water, at 90 degs. F., 135 feet.
Height of floor at towers above high water, 119 feet 3 inches.
Grade of roadway, 3} feet in 100 feet.
Height of towers above roadway, 159 feet.
Size of anchorages at base, 129x119 feet.
Size of anchorages at top, 117x104 feet.
Height of anchorages, 89 feet front, 85 feet rear.
Weight of each anchor plate, 23 tons.
The Formal Opening of the Bridge .- The " Eighth Wonder of the World"-eighth in point of time, but first in point of significance-was dedieated
* The "caisson disease" is the result of living under atmospheric pressure greatly above that to which the human system Is normally adapted. The blood Is driven in from the Interior and soft parts of the body to the central organs, especially the brain and spinal cord. On emerging Into the open air, violent neuralgle pains and sometimes paralysis follow. Advanced consumption Is, on the other hand, stayed, and sometimes remedled, by compressed air. Dr. Andrew II. Smith, surgeon to the Bridge Company, reported one hundred and ten cases of the " calsson disease," of which three were presently, and probably more finally, fatal.
457
THE EAST RIVER BRIDGE.
May 24, 1883, to the use of the People. Amid the booming of cannon, the shrill whistling of a thousand steamers and the plaudits of great masses of citizens, the Brooklyn Bridge (for so it will be called despite all formal titles, and so it will be known so long as it shall stand) was formally presented to the Citics of New York and Brooklyn, in the presence of the President of the United States and officers of his Cabi- net, the Governor of the State of New York and his Staff, Senators and Rep- resentatives from many States and Ter- ritories, and the Mayors of both cities.
The weather was clear and bright, and the population of the two cities turned out almost en masse, to witness the imposing ceremonies. Both New York and Brooklyn were profusely decorated; but Brooklyn naturally took the lead in celebrating the completion of the Bridge, as she had been the earliest and chief mover in its designs and building.
Flags and bunting, and bright colored lanterns, waved in the breeze as far away as East New York, all over Gow- anus, and the Eastern District; and the car horses and every passing vehicle sported the Stars and Stripes and waving plumes of red, white and bluc. Although the general decorations were put up hastily, much artistic taste was shown. The flags of all nations, and flags which represented no nation, were made to pay tribute to the occasion, testifying to the cosmopolitan character of the finished enterprise.
The ceremonies commenced with pa- rades in both cities, composed of mili- tary and civic bodies, acting as escort to the National and State officials and distinguished citizens who were to honor the occasion with their presence.
The two processions met at the Brooklyn end of the Bridge, amid the booming of cannons and the screaming of thousands of steam-whistles. After prayer by Bishop Littlejohn, the Bridge was formally presented to the two cities by Acting-President Kingsley in behalf of the Board of Trustees, and accepted in appropriate speeches by Mayors Low and Edson. Addresses by Hon. A. S. Hewitt and Rev. Dr. R. S. Storrs were then listened to by the vast assemblage,
THOMAS SMITH Y
SAM BERGENSCONPHOTO. ELECTROTYPE. ENG. COMN.Y.
THE BRIDGE AS SEEN FROM THE BROOKLYN SIDE, INCLUDING THE FULTON FERRY-HOUSE.
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HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.
and at the close of the ceremonies, the Bridge was de- clared formally opened to the public. In the evening, President Arthur and Governor Cleveland were enter- tained at a reception at the residence of Mayor Low. A magnificient display of fire-works was given on the bridge at night, during which every roof and window, or other coign of vantage, within miles of the bridge, was crowded with an admiring multitude.
Probably in no more fitting way can we close our account of the great Bridge, than in the eloquent last words of Mr. Hewitt's address at the opening cere- monies :
" At the oceau gateway of such a nation well may stand the stately figure of 'Liberty Enlightening the World,' and in hope and faith, as well as gratitude, we write upon the towers of our beautiful bridge, to be illuminated by her electric ray, the words of exultation : 'Finis coronat opus.'"
JOHN A. ROEBLING .- The great mind who con- ceived the wonderful work which we have thus de- scribed, deserves a fuller notice than the limits of our pages permit :
JOHN A. ROEBLING.
JOHN A. ROEBLING was born in the City of Muhlhausen, Thuringia, Prussia, June 12, 1806. He received a thorough academical instruction, and subsequently attended the Royal Polytechnic School in Berlin, from which he graduated with the degree of civil engineer. It is a notable fact that as early as these college days he devoted much study to the construction of suspension bridges, and made them the sub- ject of his graduating thesis. Following the stern require- ments of the Prussian administrative system, he served for three years after his graduation upon governmental works.
At the age of 25 he emigrated to the United States, and went at once to Pennsylvania and settled near Pittsburg. It was about this time that the energies of the great Middle States were being exerted in the direction of improving trans- portation by a system of canals and slack-water navigation on the rivers. Mr. Roebling first engaged in this work in his career as an American engineer. His first operations were on the Beaver river, a tributary of the Ohio. Subsequently he was interested in a project for connecting the Ohio River with Lake Erie, but this enterprise, owing to the growth of the railroad system of the country, proved unsuccessful. Mr. Roebling next entered the service of the State of Penn- sylvania, located a feeder for the Pennsylvania Canal on
the upper Alleghany, and afterwards was engaged in survey- ing and locating the route of the Pennsylvania Central Rail- road across the Alleghany Mountains from Harrisburg to Pittsburg. At about this time he entered upon the manufac- ture of iron and steel wire, an occupation in which he gained the wonderful knowledge of the nature, capabilities and re- quirements of wire, which enabled him to revolutionize the construction of bridges.
As early as 1844-5 he successfully constructed an aqueduct over the Alleghany River (in the face of the opposition of nearly all of his profession), on the principle of a suspension bridge, the cables of which were of wires. After the com- pletion of this structure Mr. Roebling built the Monongahela River bridge at Pittsburg; four of the suspended Aque- ducts for the Delaware Canal ; in 1851, the great railroad bridge over the Niagara River (at the time of its completion, the longest suspension bridge in the world); the suspension bridge over the Alleghany River at Pittsburg, and the one over the Ohio at Cincinnati, which, with a span of nearly two hundred feet more than the Niagara Bridge was another great step in advance in the science of wire bridge building. Mr. Roebling had the utmost confidence in the Cincinnati bridge, and its wonderful success impressed upon en- gineers throughout the country that the problem of the bridge building was solved upon a principle that could not be superseded. The excellence of that structure had much to do with the selection of Mr. Roebling as chief engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge. How he came to Brooklyn, his labors upon the early plans, and his fatal injury at his post, are fully told elsewhere in these pages. Undoubtedly, he intended the East River span to be the achievement of his long, active and useful life. Personally, few men were better liked than Mr. Roebling. He was admirably fitted for the task assigned him, and in his profession, as in the ordinary walks of life, he endeavored to live up to the full measure of his duty. Dur- ing the War of the Rebellion he was firm in his devotion to the cause of the Union. He was of a kindly and benevolent disposition, although exacting in professional matters, and his domestic relations were of the most agreeable character.
COL. WASHINGTON A. ROEBLING is a native of Pennsyl- vania, born in 1837, and a graduate of the Rensselaer Poly- technic Institute at Troy. He assisted his father in the construction of the Alleghany Suspension Bridge, and soon afterwards enlisted as a private, in the Sixth N. Y. artillery.
COL. WASHINGTON A. ROEBLING.
After a year's service he was called to Staff duty, and re- mained in the army until 1865, when he resigned, and went to Cincinnati to aid his father in the completion of the great
(THOMAS SMITH
BONDED WAREHOUSE LIQUORS
LENTINE BERGEN&CO.
SMOISI
WHOLESALE GROCERS
THE BROOKLYN DAILY EXCLU
THE "BROOKLYN EAGLE" OFFICE AND BRIDGE TOWER. (This view used by permission of the "Brooklyn Eagle.")
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HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.
bridge over the Ohio. He had almost sole charge of the superstructure, and finished the work after his father had left it to begin the plans of the East River Bridge.
Col. Roebling took great interest in the new enterprise, and went to England, France and Germany to collect the latest scientific information upon the subject of pneumatic foundations. He was in Enrope for a year, studying all the important engineering works in England and on the Conti- nent, and inspecting the manufacture of steel in the great works of Krupp. He returned to this country in February, 1869. His father's death made him responsible for the future work on the Brooklyn Bridge. His greatest anxiety was as to the sinking of the caissons for the great towers, and, day and night, he was at the work going on under the water.
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