Notes:

• 2007, March: Closed after a hanger snapped in high winds. Repaired and reopened August, 2007.
• 2020, October: Closed for major renovation and conservation project.
• 2023, April: The bridge is reopened.
• Eclipsed by new longest suspension bridge 1826 Menai Strait - Menai Bridge and Bangor vicinity, Wales, United Kingdom.

External Links:

• Conservation - Union Chain Bridge - unionchainbridge.org. Site devoted to the 2020-2023 renovation project. This page lists the highlights of the project.
• Structurae - Structure ID 20000162

Notes:

• Destroyed 1838 when one abutment collapsed.
• At former location of 1807 Wills Creek - Cumberland, Maryland, USA.

Notes:

• SBR: Chain pier extending into 700 feet into the Forth, with three main spans each of 209 feet. Wrecked by storm, 1898.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20008327

Notes:

• Test structure, but recognized as first wire bridge in France.
• See 1865 Moulin - Vernosc-lès-Annonay, Ardèche, France.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20002008

Notes:

• Sometimes cited as completed in 1823.

Notes:

• Réunion was known as "Isle of Bourbon" at this time.
• Built as part of same project as 1823 (suspension bridge) - Réunion, France.

Notes:

• Réunion was known as "Isle of Bourbon" at this time.
• MOS: "These bridges were designed by Mr. Brunel, and executed in England, near Sheffield, where they were put together in January, 1823, before being sent out to the Isle de Bourbon."
• Built as part of same project as 1823 (suspension bridge) - Réunion, France.

Notes:

• SBR: Severely damaged 1833, 1836. Destroyed by storm 1896.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20008326

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20000895

Notes:

• GHD describes the interesting hybrid chain and cable suspension system of this bridge. GHD also notes the commonly available lithograph image of the Delessert bridge is factually inaccurate showing a cable system similar to the 1823 Saint Antoine bridge, not resembing the actual cable system of the Delessert bridge.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20000894

Notes:

• GHD: Built as an experimental bridge in preparation for the Tain-Tournon Bridge. Collapsed 1844.
• Sometimes "Galore".
• See 1825 Tain-Tournon - Tournon-sur-Rhône, Ardèche and Tain, Drôme, France.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20006498

Notes:

• Often claimed to be the oldest surviving suspension bridge in continental Europe.
• 1909: Wooden towers are damaged by flood and eventually replaced with steel towers.
• 1930: Bridge deck is stiffened and several intermediate piers are added to support the bridge.
• 2010: Bridge is reconstructed retaining some original components and eliminating the need for the intermediate piers. The bridge is again functioning as a suspension bridge.

External Links:

• Chain Bridge (Nuremberg) - Wikipedia
• Structurae - Structure ID 20000255

Notes:

• Finley patent bridge.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20008066

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20005713

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20005715

Notes:

• Remains of this very early suspension bridge are supposedly kept on the grounds of Chateau Strážnice

External Links:

• About a suspended roof built in 1826 - Pavel Ferjencik (1975)
• Kettenbrücke | Ponton's Brücken

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20020524

Notes:

• May have been completed earlier, in 1824.
• 1835: Damaged during First Carlist War. Later rebuilt.
• c. 1870: Bridge collapses due to fire damage.

External Links:

• Puente colgante de Burceña

Notes:

• The earliest of several chain suspension bridges built in Vienna in the 1820s and 1830s.

External Links:

• Rotundenbrücke – Wien Geschichte Wiki
• Rotundenbrücke – Wikipedia
• Sophienbrücke Vídeň

Notes:

• Often credited as being the first large wire suspension bridge in France (and elsewhere). Rebuilt 1847 as a footbridge. Removed 1965.
• Near 1849 Marc Seguin - Tournon-sur-Rhône, Ardèche and Tain-L'Hermitage, Drôme, France.
• Near 1958 Gustave Toursier - Tournon-sur-Rhône, Ardèche and Tain-L'Hermitage, Drôme, France.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20000156

Notes:

• Cable ends"swallowed" by four cast-iron decorative griffins.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20005727

Notes:

• Famously collapsed under weight of marching troops April 12, 1831. Was rebuilt and strengthened and eventually replaced in 1914.

Notes:

• 1904: Major reinforcement and strengthening project.
• 2008, February: Major refurbishment project completed.
• Next to 1904 (footbridge) - Conwy, Wales, United Kingdom.

Annotated Citations:

• "Conway Suspension Bridge." The Engineer, 20 May 1904.
  

  Details regarding the 1904 reinforcement project: "...It was therefore decided to renew all the suspension rods, and pins, and to fix steel cables above the suspension links, to supplement them so that the maximum stress in the links due to any possible travelling load should not exceed 5 tons per square inch. It was also decided to build a stiffening girder coupled to the suspension rod on each side of the bridge, and at the same time to widen the bridge by building a footway 6ft. wide outside the suspenders on the north side of the bridge."

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20000447

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20005717

Notes:

• Steel cables added, 1992.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20010131

Notes:

• Failed when almost complete in 1826. MOS: "On the 6th of September, a water-pipe, which was laid in the ground on the side of the Champs Elysées, and came near the abutments on that side of the river, burst, and, softening the ground about the abutment, it gave way under the strain produced by the weight of the bridge."
• Replaced by 1829 Invalides (l'Allee-d'Antin) - Paris, France.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20000226

Notes:

• Cable ends "swallowed" by four cast-iron decorative lions at each end.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20005716

Notes:

• 1839 (or 1840): Restored. Deck strengthened.
• 1893: Original wood deck replaced with a steel deck.
• 1938-1940: Original wrought-iron chains replaced with steel eyebars, deck strengthened.
• 1999: Deck resurfaced and other improvements to strengthen bridge.
• 2020: Major maintenance project planned to start January, 2021.
• 2022, October: Closed due to serious structural concerns. Expected to reopen January 2023 with a weight restriction.
• Became longest suspension bridge by eclipsing 1820 Union - Horncliffe, Berwick-upon-Tweed vicinity, England and Fishwick, Scotland, United Kingdom.
• Eclipsed by new longest suspension bridge 1834 Zaehringen (Grand Pont Suspendu) - Fribourg, Switzerland.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20000091

Notes:

• IBB: Replaced in 1866. Multiple figures exist for main span length: 36.4, 36.7, and 40 meters.

Notes:

• SBR: Replaced, 1903.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20076932

Notes:

• Likely replaced 1926. SBR: Replaced "1926 or 1927". Design by Brown.

Notes:

• Multi-span structure distinct from Templeman's 1810 Chain Bridge. Sometimes misidentified as an 1827 replacement to the 1810 Templeman Chain Bridge because of the significant damage to the Templeman bridge in 1827.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20008067

Notes:

• Destroyed August 30, 1944. Rebuilt 1946.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20008624

Notes:

• Replaced by 1887 Hammersmith - London, England, United Kingdom.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20008011

Notes:

• Originally built with iron chains. Later replaced with iron wire.
• Near 1831 Masaryk (Masarik, Mazarik, de la Gare) - Lyon vicinity, Métropole de Lyon, France.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20008335

Notes:

• The country of this bridge's location has changed several times. It is currently located in Poland where the river is known as "Mala Panew". AAJ records this bridge as serving the "Malapana mill" across the "Malapane River". "Malapane" is the German name for the Mała Panew river.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20071825

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20000214

Notes:

• Destroyed 1870. Rebuilt 1873.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20017738

Notes:

• Replaced by 1859 Doux - St Jean de Muzols and Tournon-sur-Rhône, Ardèche, France.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20017173

External Links:

• Karlskettensteg – Wien Geschichte Wiki
• Structurae - Structure ID 20019496

Notes:

• Replaced by 1933 Sablons - Sablons, Isère and Serrières, Ardèche, France.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20001506

Notes:

• Strong resemblance to what Ted Ruddock has referred to as "blacksmith suspension bridges" of the early 19th century.

Notes:

• Provided access to the lighthouse at South Stack. Iron chain suspension system replaced in 1964, surviving until until 1983, but unclear if it was still functioning as a suspension bridge. Towers are now used as abutments for a pedestrian truss bridge.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20012176

Notes:

• 1887: Flooring failed.
• 1944: Bombed by Allied Forces, August 6.

External Links:

• Musée de la résistance en ligne
• Structurae - Structure ID 20012664

Notes:

• 1906: Replaced by a non-suspension bridge still referred to as "Chainbridge".

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20016373

Notes:

• Replaced 1826 Invalides - Paris, France.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20000897

Notes:

• 1830: Said to have collapsed under weight of cattle in 1830. At some point it was rebuilt as a non-suspension bridge with the original suspension bridge towers intact. The current (in the 2020s and for many years before) main span is steel plate girder.

Notes:

• SBR: March 19, 1830, with a "crowd of people, estimated at 700, ... watching a boat race," a chain broke "plunging most of the people into the river." Repaired.
• 1838: Wrecked by storm. Repaired.

Notes:

• Damaged by flood, 1840. Rebuilt. Bombed, 1944. Repaired, 1945. Location now occupied by a cable-stayed footbridge, completed 1986.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20017171

Notes:

• Replaced by 1897 Port-Sainte-Foy - Port-Sainte-Foy-et-Ponchapt, Dordogne and Sainte-Foy-la-Grande, Gironde, France.

External Links:

• Le pont suspendu - Le pays foyen

Notes:

• Replaced by 1858 Thoirette - Thoirette, Jura and Ain, France.

External Links:

• Art-et-Histoire - Premier pont suspendu de Thoirette - 1830

Notes:

• Damaged by flood in 1840. Rebuilt.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20005249

Notes:

• IBB: One of earliest known wire suspension bridges in Belgium. Bridge was in existence in 1830, presumably built in mid-to-late 1820s.