tance of 135 feet from high water under the center of the bridge. The bridge has a width of 85 feet, and carries two roadways, two railways and a footway. It was opened in 1883 and cost over $15,000,000. The traffic has increased so that two additional bridges have been built, one to Brooklyn costing $26,000,000 and one to Blackwell's Island costing $17,900,000. It was also proposed to bridge the Hudson River from New York to the New Jersey shore, but the plan has been abandoned, and a tunnel under the Hudson and extending under the East River has been built by the Pennsylvania Railroad.
Bridge, Cantilever. The first modern cantilever bridge was built in 1882 across Niagara, although its principle had been approached in one or two earlier bridges. The advantage of the cantilever bridge is partly in its erection and partly in its long spans. It is the only bridge that can compete with the suspension for long spans. The principle of the cantilever can be understood from the drawing. A and B are two towers, C and D is a truss anchored at C, resting on tower A and projecting over the river. EBF is a similar truss on opposite side. DE is a simple truss supported at D and E, so as to transmit only vertical loads. A load on D tends to lift C, but does not effect EBF. A load on DE is divided between C and D and EBF.
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| CANTILEVER BRIDGE |
The Forth Bridge in Scotland, one of the most notable bridges in the world, is a cantilever bridge. It has a total length of 8,295 feet, and has two main spans each 1,710 feet long. The largest cantilever structure in the world is the bridge over East River, at New York, known as Blackwell's Island Bridge, built at a cost of nearly $25,000,000. It is double decked, 8,449 feet in length. The length of the main span is 1,182 feet between the towers. On the lower deck, projecting beyond the trusses, is a roadway wide enough for four three-horse teams to pass abreast. On each side of and apart from this roadway are two trolley tracks. In the middle of the upper deck, between the trusses, there are two elevated railroad tracks and two promenades, each eleven feet wide.
Bridge of Sighs, The, leads from the palace of the Doge of Venice to the prisons, whence comes its name. The bridge dates as far back as the close of the sixteenth century. Byron refers to it in Childe Harold. The bridge is covered above and at the sides, is handsomely built, and divided into two passages for going and returning. The name has been transferred to a bridge in New York City which connects the Tombs jail with the court of justice.
Bridge′port, a railroad and steamboat center and a manufacturing city of Connecticut, lies on Long Island Sound, about fifty-seven miles northeast of New York. It is a fine looking city, has many pleasant environs, and a magnificent esplanade looking out over the sound. It is noted for its manufactures of sewing machines and firearms, automobiles, type-writers, graphophones, silverware and corsets, and it has the largest cartridge factory in the world. Population, 102,054.
Bridges, Robert, M. A. of Oxford, made poet Laureate of England on the death of Austin (q. v.), was born in 1844 on the Isle of Thanet, off the coast of England. He studied medicine and practiced with distinction until 1882 when he retired and devoted himself to literature, in which he had already won distinction. His works include various plays and poems. Among the plays are Nero, Ulysses, and The Christian Captives. His shorter poems include The Growth of Love, Prometheus, the Fire Giver, and Eros and Psyche. In the opinion of a distinguished English critic (Arthur Symons), Mr. Bridges “stands alone in our time as a writer of purely lyric poetry.”
Bridge′ton, N. J., a port of entry, and capital of Cumberland County, New Jersey, on the Cohansey Creek, thirty-eight miles south of Philadelphia. A railway connects it with Vineland, eleven miles northeast, and also with towns on the Delaware River and Bay. It is well equipped with schools, among the higher institutions being Ivy Hall Seminary, South Jersey Institute, West Jersey Academy, Seven Gables Seminary and a high school in connection with a good public school system. It has a number of woolen and rolling mills, nail works, glass and carriage factories, is also engaged in fruit and vegetable canning, and manufactures gas-pipe, oilcloth, etc. Population, 14,209.
Bridg′man, Laura, a blind mute, was born at Hanover, N. H., Dec. 21, 1829. A bright child, at two fever destroyed sight, hearing and smell, and injured the sense of taste. She learned, however, to make her way about, and even to sew and knit a little. At eight, she went to the Perkins Institute for the Blind, at Boston, where Dr. Howe tried to give her signs by which she could interchange thoughts with others. Then she learned to read raised letters. A set of metal types and a board in which they could be fitted, so as to be read by the fingers, was the next step. In three months she wrote the names of common objects and she learned to know people almost instantly by the touch alone. Later she studied geography, history and algebra, learned to play the piano, to sew and do many other things. Once she asked her teacher: “Man has made houses and vessels, but who made the land and the sea?”
