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SUNDAY JOURNAL. PORTLAND, SUNDAY MORNING,' JULY 3, 1312.
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NEW
Written for The Journal by Fred W.
Vincent.
I WO separate elevators, so con
structed that the lower one tel
escopes the upper one."
This ts the way George W.
BoscnKet cnier engineer or uie u.- i i 1ii !
vv. R. & N. company described the new
vertical. llft.hridetha,onLv -due .at 1 fi ! i i
Its kind In the world that the 'Oregon
Washington Railroad and Navigation
company has Just constructed across -the
Willamette river, above the old steel
bridge at Portland, which It will re-'
place.
The new bridge, a huge structure of
teel and concrete, 1611 feet from end
to end. Is one of the latest engineering
marvels. It was built hi the face of
the "pooh-poohs" of bridge builders of
renown, who asserted that the construc
tion of a bridge with two separate,
and serai-Independent lift spans, - would
not work.
Despite tne discouragement so iree- J
ly tendered rrom various "autnoriuve
quarters, the creators of the Idea held
firm to their opinion that the scheme
was feasible, and the O.-W. R. & N.
chieftans backed their faith with 1,
716,000 good cold dollars.
Their faith was Justified. The double
lift span worked the first time and
has operated since without a hitch.
Every experiment proved that the new TEAT'IER- "EAVEK "FISOTI
sound io each particular. TvTKW BRIDGE-
The double lift span Is truly two j-msw
elevator?, whose tips mount 265 feet Into the air,
a he lower deck, over Wltlch the rift- hre iocated four bis wheels, called
way trains pass, constitutes elevator ghcaves. over which the cables support
No. 1. The upper deck, made to acconi- lng tho ,ift gpang and the counter
modate traction, pedestrian and vehicle elgnt8 ae run. There are two sheaves
traffic, is elevator No. 2. t0 a t4Wer each 14 feet in diameter.
In their normal positions, the lower whcn fn operat0n these sheaves bear
deck is 22 feet above the low water a burden of aimoBt 9,000,000 pounds
mark of the river, and the upper deck tne we)gnt of the concrete counter bal
ls nearly 75 feet. By a clever system anM, thj llftlng span ana machinery In
Of cables and concrete counter weights, a(1(11t1on a few tona of trolley poles,
the lower deck can be raised 46 feet hand ralls etc whlch are founQ on the
uimi io uun wun me ouiiom oi me tw0 j20 foot lift spans Which Is COP.
uppsc tim'K, mis w.unoui aisiruuiug
U63rt CIA32K,
5PAN:MFTJNG,
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the tpafflc crossing the upper span.
The superstructure of the lower dealt
Is so arranged that the cables slid!
It inside til nig steel" columns, sup
porting 'the upper deck. Then, if It la
desired; the two elevators, now as one,
can be hoisted upward until Ihey rest,
164 feet above the Willamette river,
Space enough for ocean going ships to
stderable. compared to the strength of
the hundred odd men who put the titan
together with their hands and heads.
. An Idea of the immensity of the taak
can be gained when It Is remembered
tnat the weight of the entire bridge Is
in the neighborhood of 17,000,000
pounds, not Including the concrete piers
that rest on cement gravel, 123 feet be
low the surface of the river. Thirty
A'
i Vt-nv -ks
I 7fc , -if,
Sl i i
It
11 "I.
It
r.C P X thousand cubic yards of concrete wero
The bridge was built in this manner STr"V"t0 th' Ca'S8n9 t0
In.ray WVh th b01tI"'1r thV The hand mils and trolley poles
!m f , Pf fcl? t "If i " strung across the bridge look light and
old style drawbridges. In Portland the 1 f comparison with the towers and
drawbridges dally are opened anywhere . , ' . ' , ..,..,,.
from' 50 to 134 times. The result u ! ee' .p.?t8..mp"! "Kf
however. Each section of railing weighs
4.. CAA nnnnila an1 COfri trnllaV
,..v t would put several ohsese men to shame,
and river steamers, the tips 1 , ,,, ' ., v, ,
a ton.
congested traffic and delayed, angered
cltlsens. The great majority of open
ings are
of tugs
of whose masts, range from 30 to 60
feet above the surface.
-J-
COLOSSAL STRUCTURE THAT IS MONUMENT TO FAITH IN THE NICKEL
Woolworth Building in New York, World s Tallest Business Block, Signifies Triumph of Idea That 5 aid 10-Cent Counter Pays
half
Combined the railing and poles
a vlewlf en.bl.ng bo., LJ
of this character to pass through the
bridge, without disturbing vehicle and
streetcar traffic, that the new Vteel
bridge was constructed with two semi
independent lift spans.
"Experiments extending - over several
months, Indlcte that it will not be neces
sary to raise the upper deck more than
was necessary to employ 430 standard
freight cars to haul the steel that went
into the bridge from factory to bridge
islte and a few score more to transport
the concrete used In its construction.
WORLD'S TALLEST SETRUC
TURE9. ft Feet.
Eiffel Tower i .1 . . 985
WOOLWORTH BUILDING 760
Metropolitan Towtr 700
Singer BuUdlng 512
Cologne Cathedral 616
Washington Monument ....... . 600
Rouen Cathedral 4,90
Pyramid of Cheops 450
St. Peter's at Rome.T 400
Over Four Miles of Cables.
The steel cables employed on the lift
COLt)SSAL structure having the
came street frontage as the new
Lipman, Wolfe & Co. building In
Portland, a much greater depth,
and between five and nix times
the height siich is the new Woolworth
building in New York, the world's tall
est business structure, nuw nearlng
completion.
It. )&AAftn tnnt nf aiinjt mnti
ivttnUntr ( V. A i.rtTlA AAV v (.1.1.. , - ' ' . .
machinery, which Is """" v tJ . 7? ; concrete, erected after two years labor
What to do to keep the business going cent counter appealed to the buyers, have made possible the perpetuation of than 140,000 worth of glass will ba re- '
wis a perplexing question. Woolworth why not the ten cent counter, which the merchant's name In a metropolitan quired to provide wlndowa for th 1000 -r
decided to move and accordingly pulled would afford a wider range of goods? skyscraper that is a marvel of the age. offices under Us roof; for two years tha
stakes In Utica and removed to Lan- He tried it. The ten cena counter vas Presumably It wlU not b the world's payroll of ths men employed Jn Its con-,
caster, Pa., where the five cent store Woolworth's first step toward wealth, tallest building for long; but its claim structlon has amounted to 15000 dally;
Idea became as popular as In Utica The new five and ten cent store pros- to fame as the first business structure when completed the total cost of IJI,.fci j
with tho same result the stock was ptred; snother one was opened subse- to attain the height of 750'feet is estab- 600,000 wi- have been divided thus.'.j S
soon sold out and the demand supplied, quently in a neighboring town and lished for all time. For excavation, 11,000,000; for founda- -
Woolworth argued that he oould not placed In charge of Woolworth's brother- The magnitude of the new building is tlon, 4,500j000, and for construction,
keep moving; he must find a new way ln-Jaw. S...1L Knox. From this begin, apparent from these faw. figures: Sixty- $SU)0,000.Th-Cloor apace Is 21 4re - I
to reach the public He pondered long nlng -he develoiwd a glgantie bimlnees nine concrete pillars ettendlng down to and the building will housa-ai-'daUjr-'-
and hard. The idea came. If the five and the proceeds from, this business bedrock furnish a firm foundation; more working colony of 10,000 persons. .
twa or three times eaeh day, - thereby "Pan, If . atretclied . endt end, woUld
Insuring a flow of traffic. Dractciallv extend a distance of four and one-half
unhampered by delays. The value of miles. They wotgh 182,000 pounds. In
the Innovation cannot be estimated in addition to the approaches, three spans
money, especially when the fact is con- were necessary to bridge the rlfer. The
sldered that both spans can be raised w0 flx1 Pans, each are 287 feet long,
to the very top and lowered in two rain- an1 'he llft Pan 220 feet ln '"'th.
ute8 The east end highway viaduct approach
is 305 feet long and the west side vla-
ODerated bv Electricity. duct approach is 61 2 H feet. In con-
A'
The operating
housed by a wooden structure atop the
upper span. Is run by electricity, all
of which is controlled by the bridge en
gineer from his position In the little
coop Immediately beneath the machinery
brakes that resemble the controllers p
peen on street cars, he handles the huge
steel mass, almost as easily as a child
does a mechanical toy.
A crook of his finger over a switch,
and one of the big motors in the ma
chinery house begins to grind, the 56
big cables of the lower deck, each an
inch and a quarter thick tauten, and the
tention was paid to the matter of ar
ranging for the handling of heavy traf
fic. From hand rail- to hand rail, the
upper deck is 72 feet wide, and Is so
at a cost of J13.600.000 stand as a mon
ument to man's fajth In the nickel,
Over 30 years ago Prank W. Woolworth
conceived the Idea of the five and ten
elsewhere until today a chain of 300 es
tabiishments are conducted as a devel
opment of this American merchant's
scheme.
Mr. Woolworth's rise from a lid on a
New Turk farm to his present position
arrangeu urn w,u wwininu vB- Mnt .tore He tr)?(J u out; th. mlt,al
nicie ana .ww uar Btore succeeding, he established stores
'UGBlTltlllB.
Two sidewalks, each six feet wide,
will accommodate those who prefer
"hiking." A double line of street car
tracks will take care of that character
of traffic, and a wide thoroughfare
down the center of the bridge Is ample of mercnant prlnce ls a spien11d cx-
to allow the passage of two lines of ftm ,e A on. wfco lng hIs Jalth to an
vehicles. The lower deck ls given over , , per8i8tent and reaps a fortune.
nt1alv t n a Hf ni K Una rf rnllimv ..... I .. . .
lower deck swings upward while the ;1 ,Z .7 , . ".ir JMr. wooiwortn. wnose master mma con-
eight concrete counter weights, weighing 1f":v modsrn nrecautiJn to Dr((VMlt eived the world's greatest office bulld-
424 tons, drop downward a correspond- ."L m "? hve bn lnK' wa8 b"rn on a farm ln New York
lne distance He crooks hla-flnger ac,cl(JenU. on. ttle, brwge have Deen R m 1852 H1(( ambtlon 8 b f
irf undTnother lever andthe lv tL2?J mZr- merchant In h.a early
Joins the lower one ln the upward Jour- rw .' , .i twenties w ooiworth was employed as a
(icy, wane iwu ouo, wji uuu ui eve tuuu
the lift spans ln position, when . rlr , ,ho Q. , Zmllh
ter balances, attached to it bv 64 bla '1 . ,." Watertown. . Y. A .New "iork drum-
" iir i n a n ni'irii-ii avKirm uinnen hi. 1111
1, Inch steel cables slid rlverward. ;: hi. for th brtitt enrlneer to start nappening in tne Btore one day,
And the wonderful part of it ls that K hn bm2Son untlt the brffi relRtrd hw he ot a ob lot of
.the span, which, with the lifting ma- Tr and V Z ece.d the stoat 'chn,"f J lU!Pn
..hinerv tins the scales at 4.156.000 ,1 -u i .u. mw t 'n lur" uisposeu oi mem at a nasn
- ' ' iu iu u cau.
pounds 1. so neatly balanced by the coo;ed electrlo H,hv, tn the operating cn Wea auired o the
concrete weights that it costs something room BnaKi the engineer to know tho , " lac all,earea the
under 5 cent.for the power used to tloo? xtf& at night and tlr:nW" ,-U
York that he might look around and
pick up goods from the notion counters
that could be sold for a nickel and no
more.
Moore & Smith, astute merchants and
raise and lower the huge mass. To do tell him whether any cars are approach
the same worn Dy man power, wouta lng the bridge.
require the best effortaof 32 men, work- Following the completion of the sub-
lng steadily for two hours. structure last year, the first bit of steel
This herculean task is performed by ereotlon took place April 25. 1911. Since
the electric motors ln a few seconds, ik.. h. nir.inr irwai firm has "" " c'"""'
7tn in tha ODeratlna house there are four i.m . nr m.n'Mn.i.nti. .t Irnrk cautious, failed to see the wisdom of
or tnem, eacn or i'uu norsepower. une
Is used to hoist the lower deck, a second
to raise the upper deck, and the remain
ing two are held In reserve In cases of
emergency. The motors are connected
with a series of giant cog wheels, which,
through the medium of two 108 foot,
eight Inch shafts, turn the big drums,
around which the great pulling cables
revolve. The machinery and motors
' . thA nlnn. but vntiiul1, ir.. ,n
a wonderful " ' ,V ,7Z f. "-
monument td mans Ingenuity, stands .... u'1 ,"rc",,:
complete and perfect In every detail. V VB0 " ..' . .
tiiupos or tnem on nls own account. Ac-
rnrdlntrl v nn mnrn I n a I n PaKena
Couldnt Help Herself. 1879. the housewives of utica. x. t.,
-"I hate to have a photograph wer, informed by a large sign on a
. small store ln their city that a five
- wen. you ooni nave io, no cont bargain counter was open
them. The Idea' appealed to th
until today the bridge,
She
taken.
He-
youT1
, . u ,mRCtlln,'r,L Z?? m0t0' "How can I help myself T I left It ,hey cleaned out- the Initial T stock
t l,A.w.,,? alm0Bt ""O-000 Pn. here on the table and now It Is 3or.e.' MtM "t0Ck-
,Oft-4- iMf-nnr. The- meehtnery-
was designed by Leon Clark, one' of the
. young engineers, employed by the Kan
fas City bridge building firm of Wad-
; fell & Harrington, which designed the
jntlre structure.
Near the tops c-f thetwa tall towers,
"OTirahT
Awful.
It doesn't help us any,
As we sit to hae him jerk;
To think the careful dentist
Spareth na psjns in his work.
An Obstacle Encouitered.
And here the young proprietor found
an obstacle. The variety of five cent
articles at that time was not great and
every person In UUca seemed to have
laid in a supply from tha first stock.
. . ... ' i - r .rttjetfrr,
(t:-:ii!.J:iS:..;..i:: iV.;.-.-;y:. VV : .-:-.v:...;..x J ' 1 - li B 4 ( i 'v II I ti i if I' i JIV i Sfe .- V I
fesi-TJi e 1 If 11 5 f . -
r .;. Jts?.vJS-: v I 1 p'U v.- ,4- Bk " ,
;? " uf 1 1 a. , ,
for i vn i vr - CL VvjA w. i r, -x, l- r r - .
, v i ; . ! '. -Photographs by International Servl. a
Left The Woolworth building In New York, 750 feet high, the world's tallest business, structure. Right City Hall Park, Njw Ycr from tv
, top of the Woolworth building. ' ; - ;
v v-