Sie sind auf Seite 1von 5

Design and Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge

Introduction:
Brooklyn Bridge is a two tower suspension bridge passing over the East River, connecting the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. When built in 1883, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world at a span of 1834m (Brooklyn Bridge). The construction of the bridge was chartered by the New York Bridge Company, which was created for the sole purpose of building and maintaining a bridge across the East River (Brooklyn Bridge). The bridge was designed by John Roebling, and built under supervision and instruction of Washington Roebling and Emily Roebling. In 1869, President Ulysses Grant approved construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. The New York City Council appropriated $1.5 million for initial construction costs.

Formatted: Centered

Construction
While conducting site surveys, John Roebling was severely injured by the Fulton Ferry. He passed away on 22nd July 1869. Washington Roebling succeeded him as chief engineer. Construction work began on 3rd January 1870 with groundbreaking on the Brooklyn Tower site. Excavation was carried out using Pneumatic Caissons. Caissons are large air-tight cylinders on which the towers are built. At the bottom of the caisson, is a compressed air chamber in which workers excavate silt and rock on the river bed. Compressed air is used to prevent water from flooding the chamber. Excavation was done by minor tools such as shovel, pick and wheelbarrow as well as ten-ton hydraulic jacks and, for the first time in bridge construction, dynamite. The Brooklyn Tower caisson weighed 3000 tons (Brookyn Bridge Facts & Infromation). It sits at a depth of 13.6m on consolidated material and was finished in March 1871 (Steinmann, 1945). The New York caisson weighed 3250 tons (George, 1982). It sits at a depth of 24m below mean high tide on sand (Steinmann, 1945). It was completed in May 1872. The caissons were constructed of yellow pine (a type of wood) and had 2 water shafts, 2 man shafts and 2 supply shafts (Steinmann, 1945). Debris from the excavation was brought to the surface by means of a

clam-shell passing through the supply shaft. The pressure inside the chamber reached as much as 23 psig. As excavation went on below the surface, construction of the towers began on top of the caisson. The weight of the towers pushed the caissons into the earth. It took a total of 3 years to construct both the foundations. The towers of the Brooklyn Bridge are built of granite, with concrete filled in the spaces. The bridge was styled with a Neo Gothic architecture. Two arched portals on each tower rise 36m above the roadway to withstand strong winds and provide support for rail lines. They also gave the bridge its distinct shape. The towers soar 84m above the river and were completed by July 1876. They were to serve two main purposes, bear the weight of the bridge-deck and hold the roadway high enough to not interfere with the East River ship traffic. A temporary bridge was then constructed to connect the two towers. As the towers took shape, work started on the anchorages at the two ends of the bridge. The anchorages were meant to hold the long steel suspension cables in place. The cables would be fixed to chains of long iron I-bars which were in turn connected to large cast-iron plates embedded deep into the granite. Each anchorage weighed 60,000 tons. The bridge-deck would be suspended by vertical suspenders connected to four long suspension cables. This was the first bridge that utilized steel wire-rope instead of iron wire-rope, an idea insisted upon by Washington. The wire would be untwined at the Brooklyn anchorage, taken by traveler rope over the Brooklyn Tower, over the river, over the New York Tower, around the New York Anchorage and back to the Brooklyn Anchorage. The wire measured 3.264mm in diameter (Burns, 1981). The wires in each cable were laid parallel to each other. Each cable contained 19 strands, each strand in-turn having 331 wires, making a total of 6289 wires per cable (Burns, 1981). However, when a strand in one of the cables snapped, investigations revealed that the wires were faulty. Thus 150 wires were added to each cable to reduce effect of the faulty wires. Also the initial design of the cable was made to be 6 times stronger than the required. The faulty wire reduced this safety factor to 4. From the long suspension cables, vertical suspenders were strung down to the bridge floor. Once the deck beams were in place, the suspenders were connected to the beams and the diagonal stays from the top of the towers were installed. These diagonal stays are what give Roeblings designs their exquisite beauty.

Description
The Brooklyn Bridge measures 1834m in length (including approaches). Its main center span measures 486.3m. The two side spans measure 283.5m each giving the bridge an anchorage to anchorage length of 1053.3m. The deck is 25.3m wide and at the center point is 41.15m above the mean high tide, a standard for bridges in todays world. Itself, it weighed almost 14680 tons (George, 1982).Because of the high elevation of the main span and the low lying shore, the bridge had to extend far inland on both sides to have safe and easy gradients.

The bridge was designed for a load capacity of 18700 tons (Brooklyn Bridge). Four lanes of road (two on each side) were intended for carriage and horseback riders. In the middle two elevated railroad tracks were built. And exactly over the tracks, an elevated pathway for cyclists and pedestrians was also constructed. To support the of the railways load, and to prevent serious vibrations, deep stiffening trusses were installed. At the two ends of the bridge, terminals buildings were constructed for collecting toll charges and as railway stations. Along the bridge, seventy blue-white arc lamps were installed along the bridge at improve the bridges aesthetics.

Conclusion
The Brooklyn Bridge opened to public on 23rd May 1883 with President Chester Arthur in attendance. It had cost a staggering $15.1 million dollars, twice the initial estimate. It is currently the second busiest bridge in New York. Despite all the problems encountered during its design and construction, the bridge became one of the major engineering feats of the 19th century. Designated a National Historic and Civil Engineering Landmark, it is today a symbol of great pride for Americans.

Appendix

A blueprint showing the tower and bridge design

Tower construction being carried out on the caisson

Picture showing series of stiffening trusses along the roadway.

Brooklyn Bridge at the near end, Manhattan Bridge at the far end

References
Brooklyn Bridge. (n.d.). Retrieved 11 14, 2009, from http://www.nycroads.com/crossings/brooklyn/ Brookyn Bridge Facts & Infromation. (n.d.). Retrieved 11 15, 2009, from Endex: http://www.endex.com/gf/buildings/bbridge/bbridgefacts.htm Burns, K. (Director). (1981). American Experience - Brooklyn Bridge [Motion Picture]. George, J. S. (1982). The Brooklyn Bridge: They Said It Couldn't Be Built. New York: GP Putnam's and Sons. McCoulough, D. (1972). The Great Bridge: Epic Story of Building the Brooklyn Bridge. Simon & Schuster. Steinmann, D. B. (1945). Builders of the Bridge: The Story of John Roebling and His S. Harcourt, Brace and Co Inc.

Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen