Introduces ten famous American bridges: the Verrazano Narrows, San Francisco-Oakland Bay, Frankford Avenue, Royal Gorge, Golden Gate, Evergreen Point, Chesapeake Bay, Mackinac, Coos Bay, and Brooklyn Bridge.

Photographs of ninety-five of the most impressive bridges in the United States are presented chronologically, from pre-Civil War spans to today's suspension bridges

Bridges and dams are key symbols of civic development, says Jackson and for this reason these two seemingly diverse types of structures have been combined in this book. The descriptions of many of the sites listed here go beyond simple data related to their dates and dimensions. The bridges and dams have been placed in historical contexts that illuminate their technological origins, the nature of their operation or their role in the local region's socioeconomic development. These analyses are designed to demonstrate the significance of these structres in America's history. ISBN 0-89133-129-8 (pbk.): $16.95 (For use only in the library).

Facts and statistics about America's most notable bridges, cities, construction wonders, curiosities, mountains, national monuments, national parks, natural wonders, rivers, and skyscrapers.

As many as 15,000 covered bridges were built in North America over the past 200 years. Fewer than 1,000 remain. In America's Covered Bridges, authors Terry E. Miller and Ronald G. Knapp tell the fascinating story of these bridges, how they were built, the technological breakthroughs required to construct them and above all the dedication and skill of their builders. Each wooden bridge, whether still standing or long gone, has a story to tell about the nature of America at the time--not only about its transportational needs, but the availability of materials and the technological prowess of the people who built it. Illustrated with some 550 historical and contemporary photos, paintings, and technical drawings of nearly 400 different covered bridges, America's Covered Bridges offers five readable chapters on the history, design and fate of America's covered bridges, plus related bridges in Canada. Most of the contemporary photography is by master photographer A. Chester Ong of Hong Kong. 55 photo essays on the most iconic bridges including: Cornish-Windsor Bridge between Vermont and New Hampshire Porter-Parsonsfield Bridge, Maine East Paden and West Paden (Twin Bridges), Pennsylvania Philippi Bridge, West Virginia Hortons Mill Bridge, Alabama Medora Bridge, Indiana Rock Mill Bridge, Ohio Knight's Ferry Bridge, California Perrault Bridge, Quebec, Canada Hartland Bridge, New Brunswick, Canada Over time, wooden bridges eventually gave way to ones made of iron, steel and concrete. An American icon, many covered bridges became obsolete and were replaced—others simply decayed and collapsed. Many more were swept away by natural disasters and fires. America's Covered Bridges is absolutely packed with fascinating stories and information passionately told by two leading experts on this subject. The book will be of tremendous interest to anyone interested in American history, carpentry and technological change.

Among the featured bridges are two of the longest covered bridges left in the United States, the Medora and Williams bridges; Kentucky's Bennett Mill Bridge, the only surviving Wheeler truss bridge; and the Stark Bridge in New Hampshire, which provides one of the most picturesque scenes in America.

A passionate chronicle of the Golden Gate Bridge's construction by a National Humanities Medal-winning historian reveals influences from culture and nature that shaped its development while offering insight into its role as a national symbol of American engineering and innovation.

They hover over rivers and lakes and valleys and railroad tracks and even parts of oceans. They can be beautiful and they can be ugly. But most of all, they need to be safe. They are the bridges of the United States. And more than 50,000 of them are in poor condition. Read all about American bridges in need of repair in this book. Learn about the ones that have collapsed and the ones that remain open despite remaining in bad shape. The interesting stories here gives readers a tour of bridges both famous and obscure around the United States.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Oregon's legendary bridge engineer Conde B. McCullough designed a first-rate collection of aesthetic bridges on the Oregon Coast Highway to enhance an already dramatic and beautiful landscape. The six largest of these, at Gold Beach, Newport, Waldport, Florence, Reedsport, and Coos Bay, eliminated the last ferries on the Oregon Coast Highway between the Columbia River and California. McCullough planned to build one bridge each year after completion of the Rogue River Bridge at Gold Beach in 1932, but the tightening grip of the Depression threatened his plans. In 1933, McCullough and his staff worked day and night to finish plans for the remaining five bridges, and in early 1934, the Public Works Administration funded simultaneous construction of them. The combined projects provided approximately 630 jobs, but at least six workers perished during construction. After the bridges were complete, Oregon coast tourism increased by a dramatic 72 percent in the first year.