Engineering

This an historic occasion. Today we are gathered here to dedicate a famous pioneer structure -- the oldest cable suspension highway bridge in the world -- as a national monument. Because this span has played a dramatic and significant role in the development of bridge engineering, and because its outstanding record of more than a century of distinguished service is interwoven with the unfolding panorama of American history, it is altogether fitting and proper that the shrine to thrill and inspire future generations.

When this great structure -- the first bridge over the Ohio River -- was completed in 1849, it was truly notable achievement. Its span of 1,010 feet was by far the longest in the world, the first time human courage and resourcefulness had achieved a span exceeding one-thousand feet.

I'm looking at two photographs, both taken in late August, 1907. In one, a great cantilever structure extends almost 900 feet from its pier -- half a huge bridge over the St. Lawrence River -- 40 million pounds of structural steel reaching toward Quebec. The second photograph is not so pretty. It shows 40 million pounds of what looks like wet spaghetti, splashed across the ground, leading away from the pier and off into the water.

For eight years the Quebec bridge project had been under the direction of an American engineer. He was Theodore Cooper, the biggest name in bridge building. Cooper had never produced a true superlative, and his first move was to extend the span from 1600 to 1800 feet. That got the piers out of the water and on to dry land. But it also made this the largest cantilever span ever attempted.

There are three basic types of movable bridges; the bascule, the vertical lift and the swing bridge. Multnomah County operates four movable bridges; one vertical lift and three bascule. The purpose of the following pages is to provide information on how Multnomah County operates these bridges and the distinguishing features of each type.

...Bascule bridges have sections that rotate upward and away from the centerline of the river, providing clear passage for river traffic. Side-by-side on the Willamette River in downtown Portland, the Morrison (left) and Burnside (right) bridges are two examples of bascule bridges. These two bascule type bridges have a very clean, uncluttered look to them because the counterweights and operating machinery are located out of sight in the piers supporting the bridge. The Morrison Bridge is a Chicago-type bascule bridge and the Burnside Bridge is a Strauss-type bascule bridge. Please refer to our pages titled Operation of a Chicago type Bascule Bridge and Operation of a Strauss type Bascule Bridge for a discussion on the workings of these types of bridges.

A self-made man and one of America’s greatest engineers, James Buchanan Eads led a life inextricably intertwined with the nation’s most important waterway, the Mississippi River. He explored the river bottom in a diving bell of his own design; made a fortune salvaging wrecks; in the 1870s built the world's first steel bridge over the Mississippi at St. Louis; then deepened the river at its mouth, turning New Orleans into the second largest port in the nation. By the time of his death in 1887, Eads was widely acknowledged to be one of the most influential men of his day.

Paul Philippe Cret, architect, was born in Lyons, France, on October 23, 1876, the son of Paul Adolphe and Anna Caroline (Durand) Cret. He attended a Lycee in Bourg and studied architecture at the L'Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Lyons and the L'Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris, where he graduated in 1903. At the Paris school he was awarded the Rougevin Prize and the Grand Medal of Emulation, both in recognition of his remarkable skill as a draftsman. In 1903 he was invited to teach architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, where he remained until his retirement in 1937.

In 1867 a convention for the improvements of the Mississippi and its tributaries met in St. Louis. Even at this early date the people were beginning to see vaguely that the Mississippi Valley was destined to be the ruling section of the country. Eads in his address to the convention showed that he foresaw it plainly. It was at this time he made clear his remarkable plans for the bridge. A little later in the same year the long-talked-of bridge at St. Louis was at last begun. The population of St. Louis at this time was about 100,000 inhabitants. The estimated cost of the bridge, $736,000, caused consternation among the city officials and there was some delay in the plans.

Drury Blakeley Alexander (1924-), architectural educator, served as professor at the University of Texas School of Architecture and continues to serve the city through the Historic Landmarks Commission and the University as a champion of the preservation of the University's historic buildings, resident historian, and special friend to the Architecture and Planning Library. Creative works, correspondence, memoirs, printed material, minutes, maps, images, photographs, student work, slides, and artifacts, (1887-1995) created or collected by Drury Blakely Alexander, evidence his career in education and interests in architectural history and preservation.

A newspaper, the Lansing Republican, dated February 5, 1884, reprinted a story from the Grand Traverse Herald pointing out that the experiment to provide all-year service across the Straits by boat had failed, and that if a great east-west route were ever to be established through Michigan a bridge or tunnel would be required. The editor considered both as practicable; the only question in his mind was that of cost.

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.

Welcome to the online edition of Bridging the Bay: Bridging the Campus.

...At a time when the Bay Area’s bridges are being analyzed and new structures are being planned, it is important to recognize the diversity and depth of the research collections that exist on the Berkeley campus. The exhibit includes books, documents, architectural drawings and renderings, blueprints, artifacts, maps, and photographs. The bridges documented include the Golden Gate Bridge, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, the Carquinez Bridge, the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, the Antioch Bridge, and the Dumbarton Bridge. The exhibit also contains documents detailing Bay Area bridge projects that were seriously considered, but were never built.