East River Bridge

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jan 8, 1902

East River Bridge.

When the Brooklyn Bridge was opened for traffic eighteen years ago, an epoch in the history of New York and Brooklyn was marked. The structure was a marvel, and continues to this day to be one of the sights of this great metropolis. But it will have to divide the honors now with what is called the New East River Bridge, which crosses the river a short distance north of the first bridge; and in a few years these two structures will be overshadowed, so to speak, by the greater bridge which is to cross the river at Blackwell's Island. These three in time and turn will be small and insignificant indeed when the proposed Hudson River Bridge connects New Jersey and New York and is open for business.

A few weeks ago three steel cables, the first to connect the New East River Bridge, were stretched and secured, and now the vast undertaking will be pushed rapidly to completion. Altho by no means the handsomest among notable suspension bridges of this country, the New East River structure will at least be the largest and stiffest. The span from tower to tower is 1,500 feet, the length from terminal to terminal 7,200 feet, and the width 148 feet, providing for four trolley tracks, roadways, bicycle paths, and promenades.

The suspended structure will weigh 7,500 tons, and 45,000 tons of steel will be used all told. Besides this enormous amount of steel material, the bridge will require 60,000 cubic feet of cement, 130,000 cubic feet of masonry, and 6,500,000 feet of timber. More than 500 houses in New York and Brooklyn will have been destroyed before the approaches and plazas are completed.

For 800 feet the central span will hang 135 feet above mean high water. The tower foundations are built on solid rock, standing twenty feet out of the water, and upon them the massive, curiously shaped steel towers rise to a height of 310 feet. For 100 feet at each tower the span will be supported on the cantilever principle. Unlike the span of the present bridge, which is joined in the center, the span of the new bridge will be unbroken throughout its entire length.

The cost of the new bridge has been estimated at $8,000,000, but it may largely exceed that sum when provision has been made for the purchase of the necessary real estate.—New York Christian Advocate.