stone work was commenced. For the westernmost pier in the main channel, which is in the deepest water, no excavation was made, but the piles were cut off to a level about a foot above the bed of the river, and the masonry sunk upon them by means of a timber caisson. For each pier in the basin the piles were cut off six (6) feet below low water, a strong platform moored over them, on which the masonry was commenced, and lowered upon the piles by means of For the piers on the flats, east of the main channel, the site of each was excavated to a depth of about three (3) feet below low water, the piles driven as for others, and cut off about one foot below low water. The excavation was then filled around and over the heads of the piles with concrete, about up to low water line, and upon this the masonry was commenced.

screws.

The masonry of the piers and abutments is composed of the best quality of limestone of a bluish grey color, from quarries at Amsterdam and Tribes Hill, on the line of the N. Y. Central Railroad, and from Kingston, in Ulster county, and is laid in courses varying in thickness from twelve to thirty inches.

The beds and joints are cut, and the arrises of each stone chipped to a line, but the faces are left rough and undressed, forming what is technically called "rock-faced work."

The stones in each course are clamped together with strong iron clamps, and each course is secured to the one next above and below by iron dowells. The shape of the ends of the piers in plan is that of a gothic pointed arch, being formed by two circular arcs of sixty (60) degrees each. The up-stream edge or nose of each main channel pier is sloped back at an angle of about thirty (30) degrees from the perpendicular, the better to enable them to resist, break up or turn aside masses of ice or other floating bodies. The pivot pier has guards, constructed of stone in the same manner as itself, placed up and down stream at the proper distances to receive the ends of the draw when swung open, and connected with the pivot pier by timber crib work filled with loose stone.

The sides of all the piers and abutments, except the pivot pier and its guards, which are vertical, have a batter of half an inch to a foot, and the tops are coped with large cut flags carefully fitted and clamped together, and projecting nine inches beyond the face on all sides.

SUPERSTRUCTURE.

The superstructure is designed ultimately to be of iron, and to carry a double track, but at present consists of a single track timber bridge, all except the draw spans being on the well known Howe plan.

The trusses of the long spans (172 feet) are twenty-four (24) feet high, and those of the short spans (66 feet) nine (9) feet high. The needle beams, 7 × 14 inches, rest on the lower chords, and support the running timbers, cross-ties and rails in the usual manner. The clear width between the trusses is fifteen (15) feet.

The draw, designed by Mr. J. W. ADAMS, the engineer, is on what is known among engineers as the "arch brace plan," the peculiarity of which consists in having the main supporting braces radiate from the ends of the lower chords to different points in the length of the upper chords, thereby transmitting the weight of the bridge and load directly to the abutments, instead of indirectly through a series of braces, as in most other plans. The ends of the draw when swinging are supported by eight chains composed of iron bars 5×1 inches, extending from the top of a central tower sixty (60) feet high to the ends of the lower chords of the trusses.

The turn-table of the draw consists essentially of a series of seventy (70) rollers, placed between two circular tracks, one being fastened to the masonry of the pivot pier, and the other to the under side of the bridge. The faces of the tracks which are nine (9) inches broad, are accurately planed, so as to present no obstacle to the movement of the rollers, which are turned true and smooth. The rollers are twelve (12) inches in diameter, and nine (9) inches long on the face. They are placed in the annular space between two concentric iron rings, and kept at the proper distance by radial bars,

which connect the inner ring with a collar fitted to and revolving around a central pivot pin six (6) inches in diameter.

This turn-table, which is wholly of iron, was made by the Boston Machine Company, and is a very creditable piece of work.

The draw, which weighs about 330 tons, can be opened and closed by six men in about six minutes.

GRADES.

Beginning at the west end of the west approach, the track rises at the rate of twenty (20) feet to the mile, for a distance of seven hundred fifty (750) feet to Montgomery street, where it crosses over the Albany branch of the Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad, and from thence descends at the rate of thirty (30) feet per mile to the west end of the bridge proper. Across the main channel the grade is level, but from the east side thereof it descends at the rate of thirty-five (35) feet per mile to the Hudson River Railroad.

HISTORY.

The act authorizing the construction of a bridge across the Hudson river at Albany was passed in 1856, was amended in 1857, and again amended in 1864.

The commissioners named in the act of 1856, to determine the proper location of the bridge, decided that it should be located at the foot of State street, near the old railroad ferry. Mr. GEO. E. GRAY, who was appointed chief engineer of the company, made the necessary surveys, plans, &c., and in the spring of 1857, the work was advertised and awarded, but before the contract could be executed an injunction was issued by Judge NELSON, of the Supreme Court of the United States, restraining the company from proceeding with the work until the question as to the right to bridge the river at this point should be judicially determined; and it was not until the year 1863, that the United States court having refused to make the injunction permanent, the company was enabled to resume the enterprise.

In the spring of 1863, the work was again advertised and awarded to JOHN BRIDGFORD, of Albany, but before he could

commence operations another injunction was issued, which suspended the work for another year.

In the meantime, authority having been obtained from the Legislature of the State of New York, the location of the bridge was changed to where it now stands.

In the spring of 1864, this last injunction having been dissolved, Mr. BRIDGFORD began work, and it was prosecuted by him, under the direction of Mr. GRAY, chief engineer, with such energy and success, that, by the first of January, 1865, he had nearly completed all the piers in the basin and main channel of the river, and furnished a large amount of material for the remainder of the work; but, finding that owing to the great advance in prices of labor and materials since he entered into contract to do the work, he could not proceed with it without great pecuniary loss to himself, the company generously allowed him to surrender his contract.

The company now determined to complete the work themselves, and Mr. GRAY having soon after resigned his position as chief engineer, Mr. JULIUS W. ADAMS, of Brooklyn, an engineer of high attainments and large experience, was appointed to succeed him. Mr. A. F. SMITH, Superintendent of the Hudson River Railroad was appointed general managing agent. Under the management of these gentlemen the work was pushed forward with such expedition that the bridge was formally opened for traffic on the first day of March, 1866 (though trial trains passed over it at an earlier date), having occupied two years in its construction.

An idea of the magnitude of the work may be formed from the following statement of its cost, and the materials used in its construction:

Cubic yards of loose stone,

Cubic yards of masonry,

Total cost, including real estate, right of way,

165, 000 2,500,000

430 4, 000 14, 000 13,000

&c.,

$1,150, 000 00

OFFICERS OF THE COMPANY.

DEAN RICHMOND, Buffalo,........ PRESIDENT.

SIDNEY T. FAIRCHILD, Cazenovia,. SECRETARy and Treasurer,

AUGUSTUS SCHELL,

JULIUS W. ADAMS, Bridge Engineer.

A. F. SMITH, Superintendent of Construction.
CHARLES NEWMAN, Bridge Builder,.....

NEW YORK.

HUDSON.

From the Albany Evening Journal, Feb. 23, 1866.

CROSSING THE BRIDGE.-After the meeting of the Directors of the Hudson River Bridge Company, yesterday afternoon, and shortly after three o'clock, a train consisting of four cars, drawn by the locomotive "Lyman J. Lloyd," belonging to the Central Railroad Company, started from the depot on Maiden Lane for a trip across the bridge. The Directors of the Bridge Company, several of the Directors of the Central railroad, and a number of the employees of the company, together with officers of the Hudson River, Harlem and Boston railroads, were passengers on the train. A large number of persons assembled on the pier and ice to witness the passage of the train, which was successfully accomplished. The train was drawn back by the locomotive "James H. Banker," belonging to the Hudson River Railroad Company.

Subsequently a freight train, consisting of eight cars, loaded, belonging to the "Red Line"-through cars from Chicago to New York-passed over the bridge safely.

From the Albany Argus, March 5, 1866.

RAILROAD CHANGES AT ALBANY.-The revolution in railroad travel at this point, produced by the erection of the Hudson river bridge, is a very important one. For years the crossing of the Ferry at