|
Random Facts about the Niagara Suspension Bridge
THE NIAGARA SUSPENSION BRIDGE.
For seven miles below the falls, Niagara river flows through
a gorge varying in width from 200 to 400 yards. Two miles
below the falls the river is but 350 feet wide, and it is
here that the great suspension bridge, constructed in 1855
by Mr. Roebling, crosses the gorge, 245 feet above the
water. The length of the span, from tower to tower, is 821
feet, and the total length of the bridge is 2,220 feet. The
length of the span, which is capable of sustaining a strain
of 10,000 tons, is 821 feet from tower to tower, and the
total length of the bridge is 2,220 feet. It is used both
for railway and wagon traffic, the wagon-road and foot-way
being directly under the railway bed. There is another
suspension bridge across the Niagara river at a distance of
only about fifty rods from the falls, on the American side.
This is only for carriages and foot travel. It was finished
in 1869. It is 1,190 feet long from cliff to cliff, 1,268
feet from tower to tower, and 190 feet above the river,
which at this point is a little over 900 feet in width.
|
