East view of Gray’s Ferry floating bridge, prepared by Charles Willson Peale for the spring 1789 crossing of President George Washington. COURTESY OF THE PRINTS AMD PHOTOGRAPHS DIVISION, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
The Charles River Bridge, completed in 1786, was the first permanent bridge across the Charles. COURTESY OF THE PRINTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS DIVISION, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
London’s Westminster Bridge undergoing repairs in 1749 after one of its supporting piers began to sink. CANALETTO (1697–1768), WESTMINSTER BRIDGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION, C. 1750; PEN AND INK. SUPPLIED BY ROYAL COLLECTION TRUST / COPYRIGHT © HM QUEEN ELIZABETH II 2012.
The Iron Bridge, erected near the Shropshire town of Coalbrookdale in 1779, was the world’s first full-scale iron bridge. PHOTO: MELVIN GRAY.
The ceremonial 1771 striking of the temporary supports for Jean Perronet’s new Pont de Neuilly masonry bridge before King Louis XV, his court, and hundreds of onlookers. AUTHOR’S COLLECTION.
The thermometer at the top of Arnaud-Vincent de Montpetit’s proposed 1783 iron bridge was intended to help measure the effects of changing temperature on the iron structure. COPYRIGHT © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD; 8766.ee.1 (1)PLATE DE PONT DE FER.
The Sunderland Bridge over the River Wear was Britain’s second major iron bridge when it opened in 1796. BY COURTESY OF THE TRUSTEES OF SIR JOHN SOANE’S MUSEUM. PHOTO: HUGH KELLY.
Design proposal for the Sunderland Bridge, attributed to Thomas Paine. Ink and watercolor, 1791. BY COURTESY OF THE TRUSTEES OF SIR JOHN SOANE’S MUSEUM. PHOTO: ARDON BAR-HAMA.
Unlike comparable stone bridges, the Sunderland Bridge was built without substantial interruption of river traffic. BY COURTESY OF THE TRUSTEES OF SIR JOHN SOANE’S MUSEUM. PHOTO: HUGH KELLY.
Thomas Telford and James Douglass’s proposed Thames River iron bridge, presented to the Parliamentary Select Committee for the Improvement of the Port of London in 1801. COPYRIGHT © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD; MAPS 3540 (14).
The 1802 Spanish Town iron bridge over the Rio Cobre in Jamaica remains the oldest and longest used iron bridge in the Western Hemisphere. COPYRIGHT © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD; 1486.gg.1 PLATE 2.
Timothy Palmer’s 1805 First Permanent Schuylkill River Bridge, with Owen Biddle’s covering in the foreground. COURTESY OF THE PRINTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS DIVISION, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
The Swiss brothers, Hans Ulrich and Johannes Grubenmann, completed the covered Schaffhausen bridge over the Rhine in the late 1750s. WILLIAM PARS (1742–1782), SCHAFFHAUSEN, C. 1770; GRAPHITE, INK, AND WATERCOLOR. COPYRIGHT © TATE, LONDON 2015.
The Camelback Bridge across the Susquehanna River at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, opened in 1817 and was among the country’s longest covered bridges. COURTESY PENNSYLVANIA HISTORICAL AND MUSEUM COMMISSION, PENNSYLVANIA STATE ARCHIVES; IMAGE 8500.
The Lancaster–Schuylkill Bridge, more commonly known as the “Colossus,” served travelers from 1813 until 1838, when it was destroyed by fire. EMMET COLLECTION, THE MIRIAM AND IRA D. WALLACH DIVISION OF ARTS, PRINTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS, THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY, ASTOR, LENOX, AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.
America’s first iron bridge opened in 1839 at Brownsville, Pennsylvania. COURTESY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA HISTORICAL AND MUSEUM COMMISSION, PENNSYLVANIA STATE ARCHIVES; IMAGE 5353.