Personal author:
Ellet, Charles, 1810-1862.
Title:
Report on a rail-way suspension bridge across the
Connecticut, at Middletown, with a proposal for its
construction, to a committee of the citizens of
Facsimile of Ellet's report published in 1848. Also available in pdf and tiff formats.
Gustav Lindenthal had a dream. He wanted to build a bridge across the lower Hudson River, connecting Manhattan with New Jersey. I've got a far more modest dream. I want to run across the Hudson River on one of the bridges that has subsequently been built.
...Lindenthal was already a successful bridge builder when he came to New York City in 1885. He made his reputation in Pittsburgh, where he designed and supervised construction of bridges, including the Smithfield Street Bridge. Pittsburgh is a living primer of bridge construction. I don't know of a city with a denser collection of varied bridge designs. The Smithfield Street Bridge crosses the Monongahela River, connecting downtown Pittsburgh with "Sahside". This beautiful bridge is immediately recognizable with its lenticular trusses.
Essay by Steven Cangemi about Lindenthal's dream to construct a bridge across the Hudson River.
Thomas Bouch was born on 25th February 1822 in Thursby, Cumberland. He was educated at the village school, although his academic interest is said only to have been stirred by a lesson about moving water uphill. Thomas went on to spend three years as a boarder at the Academy School in Carlisle but the death of his father in 1838 led him to take up an apprenticeship with a firm of mechanical engineers based in Liverpool. Thomas quickly found the position unsuitable and returned to Thursby where he started a job as an assistant to George Larmer, a railway surveyor.
Biography from the BBC's Forensic Engineering.
Two questions emerge, now that a substantial sum of money is available and a group of Subscribers formally identified to carry the work forward. If Wilkinson, with Pritchard, conceived the revolutionary idea of an iron bridge in the first place why did he not at this stage undertake the iron work of the bridge himself? And was Abraham Darby, a comparative youngster, capable and confident enough to cast the huge spans that Pritchard’s design demanded even with all the experience of the Coalbrookdale Company behind him?
Article discusses why Wilkinson, who conceived the revolutionary idea of an iron bridge in the first place, did he not undertake the iron work of the bridge himself.
This collection consists of display material with related notes and copies of records and papers brought together by Michael Shafe, Deputy Librarian, University Library, Dundee, for an exhibition held in the library, December/January, 1979-1980, to commemorate the centenary of the Tay Bridge Disaster and mark the career of Sir Thomas Bouch, engineer of the first Tay Bridge.
Scope and content of the collection held at the University of Dundee.
Despite its pioneering technology in 1779, as the first structural use of cast iron, no eye witness accounts are known which describe the Iron Bridge being erected. However, recent discoveries, research and experiments have shed new light on the mystery of exactly how it was built, challenging the assumptions of recent decades. In 1997 a small watercolour sketch by Elias Martin came to light in Stockholm. Although there are a wealth of early views of the Bridge by numerous artists, this is the only one which actually shows it under construction.
The BBC's David de Haan discusses the many advances in investigating how England's Iron Bridge, designed by Abraham Darby, was built. To do so, he focuses on a 2001 attempt to reconstruct the bridge at half scale using period materials. The article includes a detailed account of the project, as well as photographs of the project, computerized images of the bridge's architecture, and photos of the bridge itself. De Haan also includes facts and figures about the original Iron Bridge and provides a brief list of further readings on the subject.
By 1881, he had established an engineering practice in Pittsburgh, where he built several bridges, including the Smithfield Street Bridge, a stunning example of the lenticular truss. Lindenthal also worked on a variety of railroad projects, including surveying and estimating for rail lines in Pennsylvania and the reconstruction of bridges on what is now the Erie Railroad. In 1885, officials with the Pennsylvania Railroad approached him with a project thtat, although he never got to build it, would fascinate him the rest of his life—a bridge across the Hudson River to link New York City with New Jersey.
This page is one in a series of biographies about famous civil engineers. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) follows Gustav Lindenthal's career from Austria to the United States, including each of his several bridge-building projects in and around New York City. The link to photos of the architect's work returns nothing but a blank page; however, each bridge mentioned in the body of the page's text has a link to a picture and a description of the structure. Clicking the "resources" link brings up a modicum of recommended reading to spur on any aspiring researchers.
Nearly 150 years ago, William Hamilton Merritt was the man who dreamed of building the first bridge over the Niagara River. He was the same man who had planned and built the first Welland Canal making it possible for shipping to circumvent the Falls at Niagara.
In 1846, permission was received from the Governments of Upper Canada and the State of New York for the formation of two companies with the ability to construct a bridge at or near the Falls. They were the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge Company of Canada and the International Bridge Company of New York. Both companies would build and own the bridge jointly.
In the Fall of 1847, the bridge companies commissioned Charles Ellet Jr. to construct a bridge at a site selected along the Niagara River. This site was located along the Niagara Gorge above the beginning of the Whirlpool Rapids and was the narrowest point from shoreline to shoreline. This bridge would connect the site of what would become the Village of Elgin (now Niagara Falls).
Biography and details of Ellet's design for the first suspension bridge over Niagara Falls.
The current structure is the third bridge on this site. Lewis Wernwag built the covered wooden Monongahela Bridge in 1818, the first river crossing bridge in Pittsburgh. It replaced a ferry and cost $102,000. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1845 and replaced the following year.
Drawing of 1818 bridge
John Roebling, creator of the Brooklyn Bridge, designed a wire rope suspension bridge which used the 6 piers and abutments from the earlier bridge (8 spans, 188 ft each). Roebling's first highway bridge operated as a toll bridge. Increasing live loads from added traffic resulted in excessive deflections and swaying, leading to its closure and replacement with current structure.
Historical and present day photographs, data and history.
During the course of researching the Cabell family, I became curious about a relative on my pedigree chart named Charles Ellet, Jr. But the curiosity rose to full bloom when a childhood friend, Joan Poland, from my native home of Alexandria, Virginia mailed me clues about him in a book. Joan has been a DAR member all of her adult life, and she wanted me to read about one of DAR’s organizing members, Mary Virginia Ellet Cabell.
"Turn to page 45," Joan wrote. "This lady must be related to you." The book was A Century of Service: The Story of the DAR.
Opinions and views uncovered during family research. Article by Jeannette Cabell Coley
