Industrial history of the United States, from the earliest settlements to the present time- being a complete survey of American industries, embracing agriculture and horticulture; including the (14756969244)

Identifier: industrialhistor00boll (find matches)

Title: Industrial history of the United States, from the earliest settlements to the present time: being a complete survey of American industries, embracing agriculture and horticulture; including the cultivation of cotton, tobacco, wheat; the raising of horses, neat-cattle, etc.; all the important manufactures, shipping and fisheries, railroads, mines and mining, and oil; also a history of the coal-miners and the Molly Maguires; banks, insurance, and commerce; trade-unions, strikes, and eight-hour movement; together with a description of Canadian industries

Year: 1878 (1870s)

Authors: Bolles, Albert Sidney, 1846-1939

Subjects: Industries Industries

Publisher: Norwich, Conn. : The Henry Bill pub. Company

Contributing Library: Harold B. Lee Library

Digitizing Sponsor: Brigham Young University

Text Appearing Before Image:

were being largely used OF THE UNITED STATES. 287 in the construction ofhouses and stores. Ironrods were being freelyintroduced into woodentrusses and into roofs.The additional lightnessand strength of structuregained by the use ofiron caused engineers tostudy the capacities ofthis metal as the solematerial for trusses and framework. Early exper- Experiments iments-in Europe to determinethe tensile strength ofmaterials gave an im-petus to the growingtendency. The conse-quence was, that a num-ber of iron-makers indifferent parts of thecountry made a fewshort iron-truss bridgesof angle and plate ironand stout bars, and putthem up for railroadcompanies over shortspans as experiments.There was considerablepopular doubt as to thebehavior of iron frame-work in the cold ofwinter and extreme heatof summer ; and confi-dence, always a plant ofslow growth, was notconceded to the newstructures until afteryears of trial. Aboutthe time of the war theybegan to come into gen-eral use on railroads and

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canals. 288 INDUSTRIAL HISTORY A new era of suspension-bridges began about the same time as interestawoke in iron-truss bridges. The needs of the railway system of the EasternSuspension- States required the crossing of the chasm of the Niagara River atbridges. some point near the Falls. J©hn A. Roebling, an American engi-neer, proposed a suspension-bridge of wire below the Falls. So much abilitywas manifested in his plans, that he obtained the contract to build the bridgeagainst the competition of all the noted builders of England, Roebling. including Sir James Fairbarn. The structure was erected aboutthe year 1846 with 821 feet span, the material being supplied by the Phcenix-ville Bridge Works of Pennsylvania. Roebling afterward put up the Cincinnatiand Covington Bridge, with 1,057 feet span. It was completed in 1867.Niagara River was afterwards spanned by another suspension-bridge, called the Clifton, 1,268 feet long from tower to tower. It was a less important struc-ture than the

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