The Brooklyn Bridge Project   Term Paper ID:45434 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: This paper discusses the Brooklyn Bridge project emphasizing the challenges that the bridge's engineers ...... More...

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Paper Abstract: This paper discusses the Brooklyn Bridge project, emphasizing the challenges that the bridge's engineers had to overcome. Paper Introduction: The Brooklyn Bridge Project Of the many notable th-century engineering projects the BrooklynBridge project is one of the most interesting Considering that it wasbuilt without power tools or heavy construction machinery and only arudimentary and still emerging understanding of how to fabricate steel thesize scope and challenges of the project must have been daunting in itsday Lopp Even the idea of a suspension bridge in a neighborhoodwhere ferries were the best way to get to and from Brooklyn was startling especially since Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Once a skein was placed into position passing overthe tops of the towers, large clamp tongs were used to compress it intoposition, and then it was tightly bound with wire every 15 inches by menriding in a "buggy" slung by ropes, as seen in the image below ("TheBrooklyn Bridge" 1883). The cable consistedof more than 5, No. The cable's strength and unity depended on each strand being in its "exactand peculiar" place, and since the individual strands' locations vary inheight, the strands have to vary in length" ("The Brooklyn Bridge" 1883).If any strand were half an inch too short or too long for its position, itwould be too slack or too taut to be bound in one mass with the othersaround it ("The Brooklyn Bridge" 1883). Considering that it wasbuilt without power tools or heavy construction machinery and only arudimentary and still emerging understanding of how to fabricate steel, thesize, scope, and challenges of the project must have been daunting in itsday (Lopp 2 9). [pic] Brooklyn Bridge Caisson Drawn by Washington Roebling(from D.B. http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/bbstory.Html.Hollnagel, E. http://www.randsinrepose.com/archives/2 9/ 3/23/the_makers_of_things.h tml (March 23, 2 9).McCullough, D. (1996). References"The Brooklyn Bridge." (1883). The precision achieved as a result of this process resulted in the skein'sbeing wound "with unbroken continuity, with uniform tension, and with exactparallelism between all its threads" ("The Brooklyn Bridge" 1883). The challenges faced by the engineers on the Brooklyn Bridge projectseem all but insurmountable today, but Erik Hollnagel (2 3) attributes itssuccess to John Roebling's practice of exploring the failures of pastprojects. Planting the bridge's two towers in the East Riverwas one of these, since this would require digging a hole for each in thebottom of the riverbed (Lopp, 2 9). As a result,regulating the strands could not have been more complex, and the engineerscould not regulate them at all except when the strands were free from theinfluences of wind and direct sunshine, making the hours from daylight tosunrise and occasional hours of calm, cloudy weather the only times theengineer could adjust the strands ("Brooklyn Bridge" 1883). Theprocess was delayed not only by inclement weather but also by sun and wind. This approach is one that can enable modern engineers tocontinually perfect engineering designs, eliminating their weaknesses anddeveloping new and innovative designs that feature improved engineeringconcepts. Catskill Archive. An attendant wouldcrank the hatch shut by turning a windlass, leaving the person inside withthe sensation of being inside an iron coffin before a brass valve wasopened, unleashing "an unearthly and deafening screech, as from a steamwhistle" (McCullough 2 1). "The Makers of Things." Rands in Repose. He describes the inside of thecaisson as "unreal, weird" and says that the individual entering thecaisson had "a confused sensation in the head, like 'the rush of manywaters'" (McCullough 2 1). 7 wires laid parallel to each other in a 15.75-inch-thick bundle and then bound together by a continuous wire wrapping ("TheBrooklyn Bridge" 1883). They fell." Both the technical and the non-technical challenges inherent in the project were substantial. Then, it was necessary to dig another 45feet into the riverbed to find bedrock, using nothing more sophisticatedthat shovels, buckets, and the occasional charge of dynamite (Lopp, 2 9). Steinman, Builders of the Bridge,http://www.endex.com/gf/buildings/bbridge/bbridgefacts/steinman292b1c.jpg)Washington Roebling and his young bride had gone to Europe at his father'srequest to study pneumatic caissons in preparation for the building of theBrooklyn Bridge (Petroski 1996). As the sound ebbed, the person would note apainful sensation in his head that gave him the impression that his headwas "about to explode;" if the [pic] ("The Brooklyn Bridge," Harper's Monthly, 1883,http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/bbstory.Html)sensation did not diminish, he was said to be "caught in the lock"(McCullough 2 1). Using the primitive technology of theday, this was achieved by using a caisson-"a huge, watertight wooden boxhalf the size of a city block"-which was built on the river, madewatertight with pine tar, and then floated to the exact location needed onthe river before being slowly sunk by loading it with stone destined toform the foundation (Lopp, 2 9). (2 3). Handbook of Cognitive Task Design, Routledge, New York, New York.Lopp, M. It was a small iron room lighted byglass set into the overhead ironwork (McCullough 2 1). The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge , Simon & Schuster, New York, New York.Petroski, H. He was succeeded by hisson, Washington Roebling, the chief engineer, who finished the work whilebedridden from caisson disease, also referred to as "the bends," monitoringthe construction from his bedroom window, with his wife relaying hisdetailed instructions to the work team (Lopp 2 9).Despite this roundabout construction management method, the construction ofthe bridge carried on, and the real focus was on how to overcome thetechnical challenges. After completing the design in a mere three months,however, Roebling died of tetanus from an injury he sustained whilesurveying the site for the bridge (Lopp 2 9). Even the idea of a suspension bridge in a neighborhoodwhere ferries were the best way to get to and from Brooklyn was startling,especially since in the 18 s, as engineer Michael Lopp (2 9) puts it,"bridges were in beta. The return span was adjusted in exactly the same way inreverse order, starting at the New York tower ("The Brooklyn Bridge" 1883). The man's pulse would go higher, then too low,and he would find his voice sounding faraway and unnatural before he foundit difficult to speak (McCullough 2 1). [pic] ("The Brooklyn Bridge" 1883,http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/bbstory.Html) The greatest challenge in constructing the cable was "regulating" it-adjusting it to "the exact length and height required by its place in thestrand" ("The Brooklyn Bridge" 1883). The wires were first bundled into skeins of 278wires each and approximately 2 miles in length, and then united ("TheBrooklyn Bridge" 1883). Roebling also visiting Europeansuspension bridges, noting the problems they had, such as Telford'ssuspension bridge across the Menai Strait, a bridge subject to vibrations(Petroski 1996). The Brooklyn Bridge Project Of the many notable 19th-century engineering projects, the BrooklynBridge project is one of the most interesting. Harper's Monthly. (2 1). Engineers of Dreams: Great Bridge Builders and the Spanning of America, Vintage, New York, New York. If the construction of the bridge was a difficult feat, it was nothingcompared with the construction of the cables, a task that was incrediblycomplex due to the precision necessary and the fact that much of thecable's construction had to be completed in mid-air. However, the temperatureconstantly fluctuated, so that any particular strand rarely stayed the sametemperature for as long as an hour, and the placement of a strand in thesun or in shadow, or at a different angle from the sun, made it differenttemperatures all along its length ("Brooklyn Bridge" 1883). (2 9). David McCullough in his book, The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of theBuilding of the Brooklyn Bridge, provides a fascinating description ofwhat it was like to enter a caisson. To put theproject in its historical context, Lopp (2 9) points out that "five yearsafter we finished shooting each other in the American Civil War, we startedbuilding this:" [pic] (http://www.endex.com/gf/buildings/bbridge/bbpc192 ro.jpg) The design for the Brooklyn Bridge was the brainchild of engineer JohnRoebling, who tackled the challenge of building a suspension bridge thatwould remain standing by designing it half again as big as those that hadpreceded it and six times stronger than he estimated that it really neededto be (Lopp, 2 9). Once the pressure in the lock had stabilized, the hatchfell open on its own, and the attendant pointed the person toward an ironladder that led into the caisson (McCullough 2 1). What most men wantedat this point was to get back out into the open air as fast as they could(McCullough). This was accomplished by men on topof the Brooklyn tower fastening a clamp on the first span of wire byhooking on a small tackle-block and taking up the slack between the towerand the anchoring point until the men in the cradle gave the signalindicating that the position was adjusted at their respective points,before the same thing was done with the New York tower ("The BrooklynBridge" 1883). McCullough (2 1) adds, a bittongue in cheek, "What with the flaming lights, the deep shadows, theconfusing noise of hammers, drills, and chains, the half-naked formsflitting about, with here and there a Sisyphus rolling his stone, onemight...get a realizing sense of Dante's inferno." The air lock (see image below) was also an uncomfortable place to beand could also be extremely painful. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.