Daily News from New York, New York • 793

9 Sunday October S9Z By CHARLES EATON 4 i i it kJ i s. ning a massive upgrading of the structures, tracks and signals from 121st St, Jamaica, to Essex St, Manhattan. Bus service between the new Archer Ave. line and the line will be upgraded, and passengers will be encouraged to use trains into Manhattan, rather than the and lines. It is hoped the move will ease some of the pressure on the already overburdened Queens Blvd.

line. Important links Michael Ascher, the TA's vice president and chief engineer, said the Williamsburg Bridge trains are important links between Manhattan, eastern Brooklyn and Queens and will become even more important in the future. "Right now it doesn't look like we will be without use of the bridge for any length of time," said Ascher. "But we do have plans in case the unforeseen occurs. One possibility involves transferring passengers to the Canarsie line and bringing them into Manhattan through 14th St" Ascher, who is serving on the panel that will help decide the fate of the bridge, stresses that closing the bridge is a "worst case" scenario and would only come about if the bridge is found to be deteriorating more quickly than is now suspected.

The track-rebuilding program will involve the entire line and is expected to get under way by mid-1989 or early 1990. Daily News Staff Writer City Transportation Commissioner Ross Sandler said the Williamsburg Bridge will be the most extensively examined bridge in history by the time the findings of an expert advisory panel are in. Created last May, the panel was a compromise between the state and the Federal Highway Administration. Federal officials believe the deteriorating bridge should be replaced rather than rebuilt State officials wanted a study to seek the best way to resolve the problems affecting the span. Sandler said the panel is not leaning toward either replacement or rebuilding, but hopes to arrive at the solution that will most benefit the people of New York, after exhaustive study.

"By the time the panel has arrived at its recommendations, we will know so much about this bridge that I am certain the FHA will lend a strong ear to our advice," said Sandler. TA moving ahead Despite the questionable fate of the Williamsburg Bridge, the Transit Authority is moving ahead with plans to modernize the two subway lines that use it and to make them more accessible to Queens riders. TA officials remain optimistic about the future of the bridge and the and BMT subway lines. They are plan 5 Ji Bull 'i Si it Jk I DEPARTMENT of Transportation's Sam Schwartz inspects cabte anchorage on Williamsburg Bodge. In 1964, a mixture of fish oil and mineral spirits was poured into the cables.

None of the attempts at a quick fix were successful. In 1985, the conclusion was drawn that there was no practical way of extending the life of the giant cables. Piles of concrete The outlook had been more optimistic in the late winter of 1981, when the city decided to spend $16 million on repairs to the bridge. When engineers and workers dug into the problem, they discovered that deterioration was far worse than originally suspected. It was so bad, in fact, that there is still the possibility that the bridge may be razed and replaced by a new span.

Damage to the bridge is visible everywhere. On a small, narrow ledge beneath the bridge's main roadway, piles of concrete sit amid all types of debris. "This concrete was part of the roadway," said Schwartz as he examined a piece, roughly a square foot in size. "The vibration and deterioration of the roadway has just shaken it apart You would never find this situation on a toll facility," he added. The stone supports on the Brooklyn side of the bridge are also showing their age and the stress that has been placed upon them.

A vertical crack almost an inch wide and running 12 feet up the stone roadway support was caused because the parts of the bridge that were supposed to "give" no longer move. The stress had to go somewhere. "We call these earthquake cracks, said Schwartz. "They occur when the stresses are not taken up in the areas that were designed to accept them." eight-car BMT train rolls through the giant chamber and produces an elongated blip on the computer's readout graph that marks the passing train's effect on the bridge. The device measures the tension in much the same way the tightening of a guitar string changes the pitch.

Daily inspections Consultant Vincent Delessandro explained that the bridge's cables have a natural tension reading that is disrupted by the passing of roadway and rail traffic. The readouts also inform of additional breaks. The Williamsburg Bridge is the most heavily monitored bridge ever. There are daily visual inspections of each main cable, a strain-measuring device that determines any changes in tension or length of cables, laser measurements of several key targets on the bridge and devices that measure elongation of suspender cables. Cable corrosion is not a new phenomenon.

A routine inspection in 1910 revealed that the cables had already been ravaged by corrosion, and some broken cables were discovered. Two years later, rust developed in the cable at center span. By 1934, water was discovered running out of the cable strands inside the anchorages. Severe rust resulted at that time, and a subsequent report listed 320 broken or severely corroded cable strands in the Brooklyn anchorage. The deteriorated wires were replaced by splicing new, galvanized strands.

Efforts to arrest the corrosion problems were basic rather than highly technical. Between 1944 and 1946, 600 gallons of raw linseed oil were poured into the cables from the tops of the towers. 31 102 Nov. 10: fire destroys 500 wires in two southernmost cables. 1903 Bridge is opened to traffic on Dec 19.

First and only suspension bridge to be built with ungatvanized wire cables. 1910 inspection revealed cables had corroson damage and some broken wires. 1812 Rust developed in cable at center of span. Wire samples taken, results unknown. If Fijrxte provkied rerrwwngoutste Cable was coated with oil and re-wrapped with galvanized wire.

1934 Water discovered running out of cable strands in arKawrages. Severe rusting resulted. Reports Usted 320 broken or severely corroded wtres the Brooklyn ancnorags. 1934-15 Deteriorated wires replaced by splicing new galvanized wire. 19444 600 gaflons of raw Unseed oil poured into trie cables to stem corrosion.

1943-64 Fsh-oH and mineral-spirits mixture poured irito cables to arrest ost 1970-90 In-depth inspection of main cable by consultant firm. 19SS Final deterrninetion: There is no pracbcalwayofextereJingtnelrfectrcaWes..