The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1886-07-03
GREAT BRIDGES.
TIE Most Celebrated Metal. Stone and
, Suspension Bridges in the World.

TIE Most Celebrated Metal. Stone and
! Suspension Bridges in the World.
/ Metal bridges are the invention Of
British artists. The first bridge of cast.
iron $ver erected is thai over the
Severn, about two miles below Cole.
.brookdale, in Shropshire. The second
cast-iron bridge was designed by
Thomas Paine, the famous political
writer, and was intended for America,
but the spectators failing in their pay.
,ments, the materials were used for the
construction of the beautiful bridge
over the river Wear, at Bishops. Wear.
mouth, in the County of Durham.
Southwark bridge is constructed OF
iron. Its length is 700 feet. and its cost
was 100000. 1t was opened in 1919.
The Blackfriars bridge is 1000 feet
long, and cost 930O.O00. Waterloo
bridge is considered the finest in the
world, Canova, the sculptor, said il
was alone worth a journey from Rome tc
London to see it. The cost was Fl, 0O0,.
900. Charing Cross is the next bridge
on the Thames. 1t is used by railway
company. Westminster bridge is 1,22e
feet long, and cost f4O0, 900. Lambeth
bridge is 740 feet, and cost f100, 900.
Vauxhall bridge is $40 feet long. The
first wire suspension bridge was erected
at Froilburg, Switzerland, and hangs
300 feet in the air over a deep chasm.
Chelsea chain suspension bridge is 92Z
feet long, As feet wide, and cost 975,-
600. Hammersmith suspension bridge
is S41 feet long, 30 feet wide, and cost
f75,00
Suspension bridges, although held by
some persons to be OF modern inven-
ton, or derived from the rope bridges
of South America and the East In dies,
were in use in Europe in the time of Sea-
mozzi, early in the seventeenth century
One of the most remarkable suspension
bridges in existence is that construct
ed by Mr.. Telford, over the Menai
strait, between the isle Of Angle
sea and Carnaroonshire, in Wales.
1t was finished in 1925. In the
United States there are a number of
these bridges; one over the Merrimac,
Mt Newburyport, measures PA feet.
That over the Brandywine, at Whining
ton, is 145 feet; that at Brownsville,
over the Monongahela, measuring 120
feet. The Wheeling suspension bridge
has span of 1,010 feet. Roebling' s
railroad bridge, at Niagara, has span
of 921 feet, with DETECTION of SO feet;
its roadway is 250 feet above the line
of the stream. The bridge at Cincin-
natl is 1920 feet long, with clear span
of 1867 feet. The Point bridge, at
Pittsburgh, is 1915 feet. The highest
bridge in existence, at the present day,
is the Garabit viaduct, on the railway
connecting Marseilles with Neussar-
CUES France), the height from the
water level being 400 feet. Its total
length is 1852 feet.
Among the most celebrated bridges
built subsequently to the fall of tAe
Roman empire are those of the MoOrs
in Spain, who initiated and rivaled the
| best construction of the Romans. The
bridge of Cordova, over the Guadal-
culver, is an eminent example of their
success. The bridge over the Rhone,
at Avignon, is one of the most ancient
| bridges of modern Europe. 1t was
London bridge was started, and
finished in 1l7S. France can boast
of many fine bridges built during the
last two centuries; but to America be-
longs the greatest triumph in the art
OF bridge building, the Brooklyn
bridge, spanning the East river from
New York to Brooklyn, being $3.50
feet long, with clear span of 1896
feet over the East river. 1t is built of
steel, at a cost of several millions of
dollars; recent descriptions of it, how
ever, render a repetition unnecessary.
Br0OElUn N001zjJ1e