Excerpt:
One of the most interesting papers presented to the American Society of Engineers at the Seabright Convention is that of Mr. THEODORE COOPER on "American Railway Bridges." It is interesting from the historical matter contained in it, and here first systematically gathered together, and valuable as showing the progress of a branch of engineering that has made our country famous for its works of this nature. The paper is necessarily long, so that we cannot publish it in full, even did the rules of the society permit, and we must content ourselves with the following abstract. We congratulate Mr. COOPER upon the success attending his efforts to unearth and arrange much matter relating to the early history of wooden bridge building that has usually been considered inaccessible.
Annotation:
This site features the transcribed text of papers and publications, the majority by Theodore Cooper, including " American Railway Bridges " given to the American Society of Engineers in 1889. Also among the material are Cooper's papers on "Bridge Strains for Complicated Loading," a range of lithographs and photographs of the Brooklyn Bridge, and numerous primary and secondary sources regarding the construction of the Poughkeepsie Bridge. Though several journal articles appear on the site, author Thomas Ehrenreich has in reality assembled an expanse of primary sources; anyone studying the history and architecture of these bridges would find the compendium incomparable.