A GIGANTIC BRIDGE.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4367, 18 January 1922, Page 3

A GIGANTIC BRIDGE.

Some idea of the magnitude of the proposed bridge over the Hudson River, between New York City and New Jersey, is conveyed in an article in the “Sicentific American.” The main outlines of the bridge, as at present determined', call for a total length from anchorade to anchorage of 6660 feet, divided into two shore spans each 1710 feet long, and a centran span across the river of 3240 feet. Including anchorages, the length is 7460 feet. The ronlway, 220 feet in width, will be suspended from four steel chain cables, each consisting of 80 lines of eyebars, arranged in three banks and enclosed in a watertight tubular casting of bronze plating, whose diameter will be 15 feet. The upper deck will consist of a broad automobile and motor truck roadway 155 feet in the clear, and there will also be provision for two trolley line tracks and two 17 feet'walks for passengers. On the lower deck will be ten trunk railroad tracks. The function of a suspension bridge anchorage is to resist the horizontal pull ,of the cables. This, in the Hudson Riverbridge, amounts to 260,000 tons. Resistance to this pull, with a wide margin to spare, is obtained by bulding the anchorage of such size and weight that the frictional resistance to movement between itself and the ground is sufficient to hold the ctables taunt, and serve to prevent the slightest movedo so with a sufficient friction in rement. The engineers’ calculations call for a mass of masonry measuring on its base 400 feet in the direction of the length of the bridge, 375 feet in width and 220 feet in height, while upon this base will stand two office buildings 70 feet in width, 250 feet in length and 280 feet in height. Looking along the axis of the bridge there will be a space of 100 feet between the inner faces of these buildings. On the two. anchorages there will thus be four modern office buildings, which will contribute considerably to tie annual receipts from the bridge. In order to secure sufficient height to give the chain cables the proper curve or cetenary and also to secure a well-balanced architectural effect, it was found necessary to carry the main towers up to a full finished height of 840 feet. Also, to secure sufficient breadth to give stability, it was necessary to make the base of the towers 200 feet in depth by 400 feet in width. From this base the towers rise with a very pleasing curve to the summit, where they measure 100 feet in length by 200 feet in width. Externally the towers are of granite, but this stone work is merely a covering for the internal, very massive and strongly braced towers, which carry the load of the cables.

At a height of 170 feet above the ground level the tower will be pierced by three arches —a central arch 150 feet wide and 100 feet high, and two side arches, each 30 feet in width. In the centre of the face of the tower will be a round arch window, 120 feet in width and 275 feet in height. Its frame work will be of steel, and it will be filled in with heavy wired glass. The purpose of the windows is to light the interior, also, of course, they add to the architectural effect by breaking up the vast blank front of the tower. The total weight of steel in each tower will be 35,000 tons. On an equal scale of magnitude with the. rest of this great structure is the double deck, suspended floor of the bridge. On the upper deck on the extreme outside will be two

17-foot passenger footways. Adjoining these will be two tracks for trolley cars. Between the cables will be found one of the greatest boulevards in the world —a clear, unobstructed roadway, 155 feet in width and 12,000 feet in length. The anchorage will be pierced by three arches, one central arch 150 feet wide by 100 feet high, and two 30-foot side arches. The roadway will be covered .-^ v h asphalted concrete.

It will be absolutely watertight, and its broad surface will give "ample room for sixteen automobiles and motor trucks to pass abreast across the bridge if a rush of traffic made this necessaiy. On the lower deck will be ten railway tracks, over which will pass the transcontinental 4sains of all the roalroads that come into Jersey City from the west, and also such freight trains as are destined for Manhattan, the Bronx and Long Island.

"George, although I refused to marry you, I promised to be.a sister to you, you know/’ George (gloomily) : “Y-e-s.” “And you know you said I might, and you said you’d be a brother to me" “Did I?" “Yes, I’m sure you said something like that." "Well, I’ll try,” grumbled George. “That’s good of you. Can you spare a little time for me now 7” “A lifetime, if you ask it.” “Nd, only a few hours.” “Certainly.. What is it you want ?” “That hooked-nosed old lady over there is my chaperon. I wish you would take her off and flirt with her this evening, so I can have a chat with Mr Handsom.” Archie, aged seven, had told a fib, and his mother commanded him to go to bed in the dark. Archie reluctantly started, but, upon taking one look at the dark stairway, he turned to his mother. “Mummie,” he said, "don’t you .think that you had better come along and see if I really go to bed ?” An Englishman was complaining,, while he mopped his brow, to an American friend about the heat. The American laughed. “My dear fellow,” he said, “you people over here don't know what heat is. Just before I left home I was down in the country on a really hot day and saw a dog chasing a rabbit. They were both walking!” Are You Coughing Yejt? It is unwise to let your cough run on, for this frequent coughing naturally increases the irritation of the bronchial passages. You are wondering what to take—suppose you try relieve you. Pleasant to take —soothCharnberlain’s Cough Remedy this time. It has relieved others, and will ing and healing. Sold by All Chemists and Storekeepers.