The Project Gutenberg EBook of Bridge Disasters in America, by George L. Vose

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Title: Bridge Disasters in America
The Cause and the Remedy

Author: George L. Vose

Release Date: October 9, 2009 [EBook #30223]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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BRIDGE DISASTERS IN AMERICA

_The Cause and the Remedy_

BY

GEORGE L. VOSE

AUTHOR OF "MANUAL FOR RAILROAD ENGINEERS AND ENGINEERING
STUDENTS," "LIFE AND WORKS OF GEORGE W. WHISTLER,
CIVIL ENGINEER," ETC.

_"ETERNAL VIGILANCE IS THE PRICE OF LIBERTY"_

BOSTON
LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS
10 MILK STREET
NEXT OLD SOUTH MEETING HOUSE
1887

NOTE.

The substance of the following pages appeared originally in "The
Railroad Gazette." It was afterwards reproduced in pamphlet form, and
has since been several times delivered as an address to various
bodies, the last occasion being before the Legislature of
Massachusetts, 1887. It is now re-published, with some new matter
added, in the hope that the public attention may be called to a
subject which has so important a bearing upon the public safety.

COPYRIGHT, 1887,
BY LEE AND SHEPARD.

_All rights reserved._

BRIDGE DISASTERS IN AMERICA.

Nearly all of the disasters which occur from the breaking down of
bridges are caused by defects which would be easily detected by an
efficient system of inspection. Not less than forty bridges fall in
the United States every year. No system of public inspection or
control at present existing has been able to detect in advance the
defects in these structures, or to prevent the disasters. After a
defective bridge falls, it is in nearly every case easy to see why it
did so. It would be just about as easy, in most cases, to tell in
advance that such a structure would fall if it ever happened to be
heavily loaded. Hundreds of bridges are to-day standing in this
country simply becau