So, let's say it's the 1840s, and you're tasked with building a suspension bridge at Niagara Falls, spanning a gorge almost 800 feet across and over 200 feet deep. How do you get the *first* metal cable across?pic.twitter.com/pnMqOgfoa9
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Ellet offered a prize of $5 (about $150 in 2020 dollars). It was won by 16-year-old Homan Walsh, who, according to David McCullough, “would tell the story for the rest of his days.”
Once the first cable was across, Ellet, a consummate showman, demonstrated its safety by climbing into an iron basket suspended from the cable and pulling himself across, becoming the first man to cross the gorge. (Basket shown here on display at the Buffalo Historical Society)pic.twitter.com/MHruYSYPdJ
This story is told in David McCullough's book The Great Bridge (which is mainly about the Brooklyn Bridge; Niagara is just a bit of backstory). It's also given here, with more detail:https://blog.ferrovial.com/en/2016/02/the-story-of-the-first-bridge-over-niagara-falls-begins-with-a-kite/ …
Images in this thread are public domain and can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara_Falls_Suspension_Bridge …
PS: Ellet's bridge only lasted 5 years before crashing. This was common back then! People didn't know how to build suspension bridges, and many engineers didn't trust them. John Roebling, who designed the Brooklyn Bridge, pioneered safe, sturdy suspension bridges.
Is there some reason you can't take the initial cable by boat? You'd have to walk back up stream I guess but that's not beyond the wit of man surely?
Good question, that works in some cases. In this case, the bridge was to span a section of rapids, so the river was too violent to make this method safe.
Thanks for tweeting this! I thought it was too obscure to include in a memo I'm writing.
Tethered and weighted human chain?
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