The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1917-11-29
WORLDS GREAT BRIDGES
Some Of the Famous Bridges Spanning Waters
in All Parts of the World
Selected
|CCORDING to the Railway
Age Gazette the longest
through plate girder span sup

gGAy4gy porting double track is 1881
feet long and is located at Gardner. N.
T., on the West Shore Railroad. The
New York Central and Hudson River
Railroad has bridge at Lyons, N. Y,
which is four-track structure with
three-plate girders. The middle one
supports the load on two tracks, and the
span for this arrangement is 1O7 feet s
inches. A number of longer plate Cir
der bridges designed for lighter loading
may be found on the eastern Bengal
Railway system.
The highest bridge in America is the
Pacific Railway bridge over the Rio
Grande River. twenty-six miles west of
San Jose, in Costa Rica. The base of
the rails is $40 feet above the surface of
the water, and the main span of the arch
is 448 feet 81 inches. There are six
higher bridges in the world, the highest
one being the St. Guistina viaduct,
which crosses the Noce Schlucht, in
Southern Tyrol, at the elevation of 453
feet. This is highway bridge, but the
next one in order is railway bridge
known as the Fades viaduct, which
crosses the valley of the SiOule River,
near Vaariat, France. The base of the
rails is nearly 435 feet above the bed of
the stream.
The widest bridge is in Chicago,
where thirty-four tracks of the Erie
Railroad cross Fifty-frst Street. 1t is
433 feet wide. The widest highway
bridge carries Main Street, in Lockport,
N. Y, over the Erie Canal. 1t is sup
ported by twenty-seven three hinged
arches, and is 27O feet wide. Both of
these bridges have very short spans.
The Cambridge bridge, at Boston, may
be regarded as this country representa-
tive wide bridge. 1t accommodates four
car tracks, two highways and two side
walks. Its width is 1855 feet, and the
longest span is 1881 feet.
The Tower Bridge in London, built
in 1894, has span of 226 feet inches
and is the longest trunnion lift bridge
in the world.
In Europe number of ferry or trans
portation bridges have been built in re-
cent years. The cantilever and suspen-
sion principles as we'll as the hinged
arch have been employed to support
the track in different cases. The longest
bridge of this class crosses the River
Mersey, between Widness and Runcorn,
England, with span of 1000 feet.
The fourth cantilever bridge in Scot
land, still has the greatest span Q,71O
feet) for that class, although the ill-fated
Quebec bridge was designed for span
of 1900 feet.
The longest span for stone arch is
to be found in Plauen, in Saxony. 1t
has clear span of 1858 feet.
The longest bridge, irrespective of
the length of span or class of structure,
is said to be the pile trestle bridge on the
Louisville and Nashville Railroad across
Lake Ponchartrain. near New Orleans.
1t is about twenty .one miles long. The
longest truss bridge in this country is
the Illinois Central bridge over the Ohio
River, at Cairo, ILL.,, the total length of
metal structure being l0,56O feet. The
Tay viaduct in Scotland, 10000 feet
long, is the only metal structure that
exceeds it in length, elevated railroad
structures in cities not beng considered
in this comparison.
Among the very newest big bridges
is the He'll Gate arch bridge between
Wards Island and Astoria. L. l., built
for the New York Connecting Railway
Company. It is the longest arch in the
world. The span is 1 ,O16 feet 10 inches.
It cost $25, 900, 900.
In New York are the Brooklyn, Man
haitian, Williamsburg and Greensboro
bridges connecting Manhattan with its
environs across East River. There are
two famous bridges spanning the Nj
agar River. at Niagara Falls, known to
every American tourist.