competitive men with no time for games. All they wanted, in the spring of 1963, was to get the catwalks strung
up between the towers and the anchorages, and then to get the spinning wheels rolling back and forth across the bridge as
quickly and as often as possible. The number of trips that the wheels would make between the anchorages during the daily work-shift
of each gang would be recorded in Hard Nose Murphy's office— and it would be a matter of pride for each gang to try to set
a daily mark that other gangs could not equal.
Before the spinning could begin, however, the men would have to build a platform on which to stand. This platform would be
the two catwalks, each made of wire mesh, each twenty feet wide, each resembling a long thin road of spider web or a mile-long
hammock. The catwalks would each be held up by twelve horizontal pieces of wire rope, each rope a little more than two inches
thick, each more than a mile long. The difficult trick, of course, would be in getting the first of these ropes over the towers
of the bridge—a feat that on smaller bridges was accomplished by shooting the rope across with a bow and arrow or, in the
case of Charles Ellet's pedestrian bridge, by paying a boy five dollars to fly a rope across Niagara on the end of a kite.
But with the Verrazano, the first rope would be dragged across the water by barge, then, as the Coast Guard temporarily stopped
all ship movements, the two ends of the rope would be hoisted out of the water by the derricks on top of the two towers, more
than four thousand feet apart. The other ropes would be hoisted up the same way. Then all would be fastened between the towers,
and from the towers back to the anchorages on the extremities of the bridge, following the same "sag" lines that the cables
would later follow. When this was done, the catwalk sections would be hauled up. Each catwalk section, as it was lifted, would
be folded up like an accordion, but once it had arrived high up on the tower, the bridgemen standing on platforms clamped
to the sides of the tower would hook the catwalk sections onto the horizontal ropes, and then shove or kick the catwalk sections
forward down the sloping ropes. The catwalks would glide on under the impetus of their own weight and unfurl—as a rolled-up
rug might unfurl if pushed down the steep aisle of a movie theatre.
Once all the catwalk sections glided, bumper to bumper, in place, they would be linked end to end, and would be further stiffened
by crossbeams. A handrail wire "banister" would also be strung across the catwalks, as would several wooden cross planks to
give the men better footing in places where the catwalk was quite steep.
After the two catwalks were in place, another set of wires would be strung above each catwalk, about fifteen feet above, and
these upper wires would be the "traveling ropes" that would pull the wheels back and forth, powered by diesel engines mounted
atop the anchorages.
Four spinning wheels, each forty-eight inches in diameter and weighing a few hundred pounds apiece, would run simultaneously
along the bridge—two wheels atop each of the two catwalks. Each wheel, being double-grooved, would carry two wires at once,
and each wheel would take perhaps twelve minutes to cross the entire bridge, averaging eight miles per hour, although it could
be speeded up to thirteen miles an hour downhill. As the wheels passed overhead, the men would grab the wires and clamp them
down into the specified hooks and pulleys along the catwalk; when a wheel arrived at the anchorage, the men there would remove
the wire, hook it in place, reload the wheel and send it back as quickly as possible in the opposite direction.
After the wheel had carried 428 wires across the bridge, the wires would be bound in a strand, and when the wheel had carried
across 26,018 wires—or sixty-one strands—they would be squeezed together by hydraulic jacks into a
up between the towers and the anchorages, and then to get the spinning wheels rolling back and forth across the bridge as
quickly and as often as possible. The number of trips that the wheels would make between the anchorages during the daily work-shift
of each gang would be recorded in Hard Nose Murphy's office— and it would be a matter of pride for each gang to try to set
a daily mark that other gangs could not equal.
Before the spinning could begin, however, the men would have to build a platform on which to stand. This platform would be
the two catwalks, each made of wire mesh, each twenty feet wide, each resembling a long thin road of spider web or a mile-long
hammock. The catwalks would each be held up by twelve horizontal pieces of wire rope, each rope a little more than two inches
thick, each more than a mile long. The difficult trick, of course, would be in getting the first of these ropes over the towers
of the bridge—a feat that on smaller bridges was accomplished by shooting the rope across with a bow and arrow or, in the
case of Charles Ellet's pedestrian bridge, by paying a boy five dollars to fly a rope across Niagara on the end of a kite.
But with the Verrazano, the first rope would be dragged across the water by barge, then, as the Coast Guard temporarily stopped
all ship movements, the two ends of the rope would be hoisted out of the water by the derricks on top of the two towers, more
than four thousand feet apart. The other ropes would be hoisted up the same way. Then all would be fastened between the towers,
and from the towers back to the anchorages on the extremities of the bridge, following the same "sag" lines that the cables
would later follow. When this was done, the catwalk sections would be hauled up. Each catwalk section, as it was lifted, would
be folded up like an accordion, but once it had arrived high up on the tower, the bridgemen standing on platforms clamped
to the sides of the tower would hook the catwalk sections onto the horizontal ropes, and then shove or kick the catwalk sections
forward down the sloping ropes. The catwalks would glide on under the impetus of their own weight and unfurl—as a rolled-up
rug might unfurl if pushed down the steep aisle of a movie theatre.
Once all the catwalk sections glided, bumper to bumper, in place, they would be linked end to end, and would be further stiffened
by crossbeams. A handrail wire "banister" would also be strung across the catwalks, as would several wooden cross planks to
give the men better footing in places where the catwalk was quite steep.
After the two catwalks were in place, another set of wires would be strung above each catwalk, about fifteen feet above, and
these upper wires would be the "traveling ropes" that would pull the wheels back and forth, powered by diesel engines mounted
atop the anchorages.
Four spinning wheels, each forty-eight inches in diameter and weighing a few hundred pounds apiece, would run simultaneously
along the bridge—two wheels atop each of the two catwalks. Each wheel, being double-grooved, would carry two wires at once,
and each wheel would take perhaps twelve minutes to cross the entire bridge, averaging eight miles per hour, although it could
be speeded up to thirteen miles an hour downhill. As the wheels passed overhead, the men would grab the wires and clamp them
down into the specified hooks and pulleys along the catwalk; when a wheel arrived at the anchorage, the men there would remove
the wire, hook it in place, reload the wheel and send it back as quickly as possible in the opposite direction.
After the wheel had carried 428 wires across the bridge, the wires would be bound in a strand, and when the wheel had carried
across 26,018 wires—or sixty-one strands—they would be squeezed together by hydraulic jacks into a
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