Notes:

• Collapsed 1855, rebuilt, destroyed 1862 (possibly 1863). Was at site of present-day Woodland Street Bridge.
• Replaced by 1866 (suspension bridge) - Nashville and Edgefield, Tennessee, USA.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20007340

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20072795

External Links:

• Art-et-Histoire - Pont de Brivezac - 1850

External Links:

• Kettenbrücke (Aarau) - Wikipedia. Notes bridge was opened for traffic December 28, 1850 and officially inaugurated January 6, 1851.
• Structurae - Structure ID 20043577

Notes:

• Later at same location Auriac (Chambon) - Saint-Merd-de-Lapleau, Auriac vicinity, Corrèze, France.

External Links:

• Art-et-Histoire - Pont du Chambon de Laygue entre Auriac et St-Merd-de-Lapleau - 1850

Notes:

• Destroyed, 1871, to slow the advancing Prussian army.

External Links:

• Pont du Greffier - Wikipedia

Notes:

• 1875: Wrecked by flood
• Replaced by 1876 Lamagistère - Lamagistère, Tarn-et-Garonne, France.

External Links:

• Art-et-Histoire.com - Pont de La Magistère - 1850

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20062368

Notes:

• Destroyed by flood, 1866
• Replaced Retournac - Retournac, Haute-Loire, France.

External Links:

• Art-et-Histoire - Pont de Chadrac sur la Loire - 1851

Notes:

• BPL, AAJ say completed 1848, RDH says not used until 1851 canal season.
• Heavy damaged by fire, 1921.
• Built as part of same project as 1848 Delaware Aqueduct (Roebling Aqueduct) - Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania and Minisink Ford, New York, USA.
• Built as part of same project as 1849 Lackawaxen Aqueduct - Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania, USA.
• Built as part of same project as 1851 Neversink Aqueduct - Cuddebackville, New York, USA.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20007341

Notes:

• Wrecked by wind February 1, 1864. Stay cables beneath the bridge had been disconnected to avoid damage from rising ice. Portions of the cables and deck remained, in a derelict state, as late as 1895. Replacement was not started until the late 1890's.
• The February 3, 1864 edition of Niagara Falls Gazette describes the wind event: "Partial Destruction Of The Lewiston Suspension Bridge -- A portion of the flooring and other wood-work of the Lewiston Suspension Bridge was blown down during the gale Monday forenoon. It seems that the long guys had been cut during the late ice jam to prevent injury to the structure and thus its strength to withstand a gale was much weakened. The wind swept through the gorge on Monday with terrific force and swayed the bridge so that some of the cross timbers, near the centre were loosened from their fastenings, and fell, of course carrying the floor with them. A large portion at each end, remains without material injury. The extent of the damage -- financially -- we have not yet learned, but we judge from what we hear that it may be about $10,000. The bridge was built in 1852 and cost not far from $40,000. It will doubtless soon be repaired and in use."
• Later at same location 1899 Lewiston-Queenston - Lewiston, New York, USA and Queenston, Ontario, Canada.
• See 1849 Wheeling (Wheeling and Belmont) - Wheeling, West Virginia, USA. The 1851 Lewiston-Queenston bridge is sometimes claimed to have become the longest in the world with a main span surpassing the length of the Wheeling suspension bridge. However, Don Sayenga notes the length of the suspended span of the Lewiston-Queenston bridge was only 849 feet, not the 1,043 feet sometimes cited. Don writes: "[1,043 feet] was the distance between the towers built high up on the cliffs above the crossing - because there was no space for them below. The roadway suspended from the towers was only 849 feet span over the water from abutment to abutment." Thus, Roebling's Cincinnati bridge should be considered the first to eclipse Wheeling's record main span.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20007333

Notes:

• BPL says 1849, RDH says not used until 1851 canal season.
• Built as part of same project as 1848 Delaware Aqueduct (Roebling Aqueduct) - Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania and Minisink Ford, New York, USA.
• Built as part of same project as 1849 Lackawaxen Aqueduct - Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania, USA.
• Built as part of same project as 1851 High Falls Aqueduct - High Falls, New York, USA.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20007334

Notes:

• 1926: Part of the deck fails under a heavily loaded truck. A replacement is completed in 1931.
• Near 1831 Andrézieux - Andrézieux, Loire, France.

External Links:

• Pont Suspendu de Saint-Just-sur-Loire - Wikipedia

Notes:

• Near future location of 2016 Sérignan - Sérignan, Béziers, Hérault, France.

Notes:

• 1853 sometimes cited as the year it opened.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20026278

Notes:

• Partially dismantled, 1982. Restored as a footbridge, 1985.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20010216

External Links:

• Encyklopedie.Ostrava.cz - Zřícení řetězového mostu přes Ostravici v roce 1886. Article about the collapse of the bridge.
• HistorickaOstrava.cz - Kettenbrücke – Řetězový most (1851-1886). History and images of the bridge, including the 1886 collapse.

Notes:

• An early attempt at a railroad suspension bridge, it was significantly reconstructed (because of excessive vibrations and increasing loads) by Julius W. Adams in 1857 to have three spans of 120, 163, and 163 feet. It is unclear whether the new structure was also a suspension bridge.
• HOF describes the location as "between the foot of Broadway and the neck of land near the mouth of Benson Creek." The coordinates provided here are for the later rail crossing at that general location, likely at or very close to the site of the suspension bridge.

Notes:

• Moved to 1958 Aamodt (Åmot, Aamot) - Oslo, Norway.

External Links:

• DigitaltMuseum - Aamodt hengebru over Drammenselva i Åmot, Modum. Oppført 1851-52
• DigitaltMuseum - Ved Kongsfoss Åmot bro ble bygget i 1853
• DigitaltMuseum - Åmot bru (Aamodt bro)
• DigitaltMuseum - Åmot bru (Aamodt bro)
• Structurae - Structure ID 20072046

Notes:

• Was still part of Virginia at time of completion.
• Damaged during Civil War. An article in the August 2, 1861 issue of the New York Times mentions: "A junction of our forces having now been effected, the army at once moved on to Elk River, which debouches into the Kanawha at Charleston, where the army encamped for the night. We would have crossed the stream at once, and marched through the town the same evening, but for the fact that the rebels had partially destroyed the beautiful suspension bridge which spans Elk River at this spot, rendering it unsafe for passage. Not content with burning a portion of the flooring, they nearly severed the strands which support the structure, and aid their work, too, in the most bungling manner. A more shameless piece of vandalism I never witnessed. While the army slept, a company of sappers and miners repaired the damage, and yesterday the army, nearly five thousand strong, marched through the streets of Charleston."
• Near 1884 (suspension bridge) - Charleston, West Virginia, USA.

Notes:

• Rene Sumodobila writes: "It had a single lane in each travel way to allow passage of horse-drawn carriages and a pedestrian island in the middle. The Puente Colgante is said to be first suspension bridge in the Far East. The bridge materials were imported from England by Matia Menchacatorre y Cia, a Spanish company, in joint venture with Ayala y Cia, a local company. The contruction was supervised by M. Gabaud, a French engineer. Inaugurated in January 4, 1852, it went into service until 1940 in order to give way to the modern-day Quezon Bridge"

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20033381

Notes:

• Was still part of Virginia at time of completion.

Notes:

• Yeomet was located near the present day California Route 49 crossing of the Cosumnes River by the confluence of the North Fork and Middle Fork of the Cosumnes River. Yeomet was once known as "Forks of the Cosumnes." The location coordinates provided here are only to show the approximate location of the confluence and should not be considered the exact location of the bridge. This inventory entry represents the suspension bridge for which a photograph exists in the Lawrence & Houseworth collection titled "Suspension Bridge over the Cosumnes River, At Yeomet, El Dorado County". This image exists in several online archives.
• Barry Parr, consulting Erwin Gudde's California Gold Camps (University of California Press), writes that Gudde notes the bridge is located "at Yeomet and says it was marked on the County Map in 1866, and was owned by S.E. Huse for a decade. Of Yeomet, Gudde writes: 'Amador County. At the junction of the forks of Cosumnes River, formerly in El Dorado County'. Gudde says the camp developed in 1849 or 1850 and prospered for a number of years, but says nothing further about the bridge." Barry also notes that some sources cite Yeomet as located in Calaveras County, but this is because Amador County was created in 1854 from Calaveras County. Barry continues: "The California Division of Mines Bulletin 141, Geological Guidebook along Highway 49, mentions the Highway 49 bridge across the Cosumnes as also known as the Huse Bridge."
• The October 14, 1976 edition of The Mountain Democrat Times (Placerville, California) has an article about the Huse Bridge (from the Heritage Association of El Dorado) describing Huse's Bridge:

  "E.P. Bowman, an early motel keeper in Yeomet had a ferry across the Cosumnes and by 1852 had built a bridge there (J.M. Watrous had a ferry there also). Traffic was heavy and... [the tolls were] as much a 'gold mine' as most of the nearby river claims which ran for miles above and below the town. (Yeomet falls was below the bridge). The famous Mother Lode crossed the river in the vicinity of the town. Samuel Huse bought the bridge at Yeomet in about 1862 and owned it until his death. His widow Laura sold the wire suspension bridge and the exclusive right to collect tolls to John Ballard and W.H. Martin in 1883. William Miller purchased the property in 1887."

  It is unclear if the 1852 E.P. Bowman bridge was the same structure as the suspension bridge purchased by Huse ten years later, but it has been assumed here pending additional details.
• An obituary for in the August 28, 1949 edition of the Oakland Tribune for Lilian Williams presents a stronger tie between E.P. Bowman and S.E. Huse: "With her foster parents, the E. P. Bowmans, Mrs. Williams spent her childhood in Oakland, San Francisco and Yeomet, between Plymouth and Placerville. Bowman and her foster uncle, S.E. Huse, owned a hotel at Yeomet. They also built and operated a toll bridge there on the Cosumnes River, over which most of the heavy machinery and mining equipment was transported to the old Mother Lode mines."
• See 1852 Wilson's - Cosumne, California, USA.
• See 1863 Lamb's - Latrobe vicinity and Plymouth vicinity, California, USA.

External Links:

• The Society of California Pioneers. Lawrence and Houseworth Albums: Suspension Bridge over the Cosumnes River, At Yeomet, El Dorado County. Image of the bridge

Notes:

• Later at same location Mazères-sur-Salat - Mazères-sur-Salat, Haute-Garonne, France. Unclear if the later bridge was a direct replacement.

External Links:

• Art-et-Histoire.com - Pont suspendu de Mazeres-sur-salat - 1852

Notes:

• As of 2019, piers still present beyond the ends of its replacement bridge.

Notes:

• Dredge patent bridge.

Notes:

• Replaced by 1923 Queens Park - Chester and Handbridge, England, United Kingdom.

Notes:

• Heavily damaged by flood, 1875. A metal arch bridge, completed 1987, is at this location now.
• Replaced by 1931 Saint-Pierre - Toulouse, Haute-Garonne, France.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20016121

Notes:

• Rebuilt 1857.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20009683

Notes:

• Adjacent replacement completed in 1903. The suspension bridge was still standing at the time of the world's fair (Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Liège) held in Liège in 1905.
• IBB: Precise construction date unknown, but was in time frame 1852-1864. Other sources cite 1852.
• Coordinates refer to the current Vennes Bridge. This is the approximate location of the removed suspension bridge.

External Links:

• Le Pont Suspendu de la Boverie sur la Dérivation de la Meuse à Liège. Main page: Les ponts metalliques historiques belges.
• Pont des Vennes — Wikipédia

Notes:

• 1928: Destroyed by flood.
• Replaced by 1933 Veurey - Veurey-Voroize, Isère, France.

Notes:

• The location of this bridge was near the present day location of Cosumne in Sacramento County, just east of Sloughhouse. The location coordinates provided here are only to show the approximate location of present-day Cosumne and should not be considered the exact location of the bridge. Don Sayenga writes: "The exact location was at the intersection of [present-day] Dillard Road and State Route 16 a very short distance east of Sloughhouse, Sacramento County, California... The whole area at that time was known as Daylor's Ranch."
• Don Sayenga notes an F.W. Panhorst (of the California Highway Department) citation:

  "Alta California July 27, 1852 reprinting an article from Sacramento Union mentions a wire suspension bridge built in Sacramento County across the Cosumnes. The span is described as 150 feet with a roadway width of 12 feet. One W.D. Wilson is mentioned as owner and designer. This structure, according to our best information, was the first suspension bridge in California."

• A January 14, 1862 Sacramento Bee article notes:

  "The quartz mill and house of the brothers Wiley, just beyond Butte City, were carried away by the torrent. At Ione City, William's brick stable had fallen, and several other houses had met with a like fate. On Sutter creek, the loss and damage had been terrific - bridges and houses being carried off like chaff. Mr. Haywood, proprietor of a quartz mill on Sutter creek, had been a loser to the amount of at least $75,000. We have it from good authority that in the counties of Calaveras and Amador not a bridge is left standing. Below Ione City, it is thought that there has been loss of life."
  
  "Last Saturday night, the reports of minute guns were heard, as if signals of distress, coming from the direction of a house where lived Mr. Martin and his family. The whole of Ione Valley was many feet under water. No boats were to be had, so that assistance might be rendered those in danger and distress. In a short time a heavy crash was heard, the signals of distress ceased, and our informant tells us that when he left the general impression was that Martin and his family had lost their lives. The wire suspension bridge over the Cosumnes river had disappeared - the house known as Wilson’s Exchange has also been washed away, and Daylor’s adobe house is flat with the ground. These facts go to show that throughout the mountain districts, as well as in the valleys, the destruction of property and loss of human life exceed the worst that was anticipated, and we shall hear repetitions of such tales of distress as the avenues for communication are gradually opened to us."

  which seems to imply a relationship between the Ione Valley, the Cosumnes River, and the bridge at Wilson's Exchange, but this may have just been coincidental that both "Ione Valley" and Wilson's Exchange were mentioned in the same paragraph; they are nearby. Present-day Ione is in Amador County a few miles east of Sacramento County. The Cosumnes River forms the northern border of Amador County several miles to the north of present-day Ione. Barry Parr notes that the Cosumnes River does not flow through the "Ione Valley," but Barry writes: "Recalling Daylor’s name in Historic Spots of California: 'Daylor established himself as a trader and hotel-keeper on the Cosumnes River about a mile east of Slough House. This place, which was at first known as Daylor’s Ranch, later became the Cosumnes post office.' (p. 290) The site of Cosumnes post office is about five miles downstream from Bridge House, and both are on the Sacramento-Ione Road.
• See 1852 Huse - Yeomet, California, USA.
• See 1863 Lamb's - Latrobe vicinity and Plymouth vicinity, California, USA.

External Links:

• Oliver Plummer. Transcription by Debbie Walke Gramlick of passage from An Illustrated History of Sacramento County, California. (by Hon. Win. J. Davis, Lewis Publishing Company, 1890, Pages 435-436) which sheds more light on W.D. Wilson.

  "Mr. Wilson and part of the company concluded to seek the land of gold, while others kept to the original design of going to Oregon. On his arrival Mr. Wilson mined for a short time on Mormon Island and then moved to Hangtown, now Placerville, where in the winter of 1848-49 he built the first house erected in that place. The family then comprised six children; five more were born in California; nine grew to maturity and seven are living in 1889. In the spring of 1850 he moved down on the Cosumnes and purchased 6,000 acres of the Hartnell Grant, and built a tavern, long known as Wilson’s Exchange, across the river from what is now the Cosumnes post office. He was postmaster from the establishment of that office until 1868. He was by trade a millwright and built the first suspension bridge on the Cosumnes."

Notes:

• SME20030311: Intended only for foot traffic, destroyed by ice jam February 1883.

Notes:

• Connects to 1853 Chain (Tsepnyye, Цепные) - Ostrov, Pskov Oblast, Russia.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20048552

Notes:

• Connects to 1853 Chain (Tsepnyye, Цепные) - Ostrov, Pskov Oblast, Russia.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20048552

Notes:

• Destroyed by flood 1913.
• Replaced by 1914 Dresden - Dresden, Ohio, USA.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20000947

Notes:

• 1854: A brief article in March 22, 1854 Louisville Daily Courier states the bridge was destroyed ("rendering the whole structure useless… it cannot even be repaired") in the early 1854 flood that destroyed other Licking River bridges. However, other sources indicate the Falmouth bridge survived the flood. Unclear if it was completely destroyed and rebuilt or just damaged and repaired.
• Coordinates provided here indicate the likely location of the bridge over the main branch of the Licking River.

External Links:

• New Licking Bridge Stands On The Foundation of Its Predecessors - Rootsweb.com. Several anecdotes and snippets of history about the bridge. Indicates the bridge survived the January 1854 Licking River flood and survived until 1868.

Notes:

• According to ONC: Designed by John W. Murphy (who designed several suspension bridges in the 1850s and 1860s in New York and Pennsylvania). Fort Hunter Suspension Bridge Company incorporated in 1852, but cables were not installed until 1853.
• 1935: Bridge is dismantled (ONC).

Notes:

• Relocated to a nearby park (Whin Park) where it carries a miniature railway, 1988. The coordinates listed here are for that later (miniature railway park) location.
• Companion to 1853 Island Bank Road - Inverness, Scotland, United Kingdom.
• See 1988 (footbridge) - Inverness, Scotland, United Kingdom.
• See 1988 (footbridge) - Inverness, Scotland, United Kingdom.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20015977

Notes:

• Companion to 1853 General's Well - Inverness, Scotland, United Kingdom.
• See 1988 (footbridge) - Inverness, Scotland, United Kingdom.
• See 1988 (footbridge) - Inverness, Scotland, United Kingdom.

Notes:

• Similar to 1856 Strong - Strong, Maine, USA.

Notes:

• Different accounts describe this as a chain and wire suspension bridge. Collapsed November, 1853 under weight of oxen team. Rebuilt, but destroyed by flood, 1862. Replaced by a multi-span covered bridge.
• Name "O'Byrne's" appears to have originated with a "Patrick O. Byrne" who operated a ferry at this location prior to construction of the suspension bridge. After time, it became known as O'Byrne's Ferry.

External Links:

• Art-et-Histoire - Deuxième pont suspendu de Parcey - 1853

Notes:

• GHD describes how Dufour designed the bridge but was replaced (for political reasons) by a novice engineer, Mr. Hug who produced his own design. The bridge collapsed under test loading.

Notes:

• This was a somewhat temporary suspension bridge built on the piers of the ancient Ponte Rotto (Broken Bridge). It appears to have had a braced chain suspension cable design.

Notes:

• Multispan 19th-century suspension bridge distinct from the two 1965 cable-stayed and catenary suspension bridges connecting Varades and Saint-Florent-le-Vieil.
• Connects to 1853 Varades - Varades, Loire-Atlantique and Saint-Florent-le-Vieil, Maine-et-Loire, France.
• Later at same location 1954 Varades - Varades, Loire-Atlantique and Saint-Florent-le-Vieil, Maine-et-Loire, France.

Notes:

• Destroyed 1944, rebuilt same year. Reconstructed 1999.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20000616

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20062440

Notes:

• Replaced 1837 San Ferdinando - Florence, Italy.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20005655

Notes:

• Connects to 1853 Saint-Florent-le-Vieil - Saint-Florent-le-Vieil, Maine-et-Loire and Varades, Loire-Atlantique, France.
• Later at same location 1954 Varades - Varades, Loire-Atlantique and Saint-Florent-le-Vieil, Maine-et-Loire, France.

Notes:

• Replaced by 1951 Brion - Roissard and Lavars, Isère, France.

External Links:

• Art-et-Histoire - Pont de Brion (suspendu) - Commune de Lavars - 1854

Notes:

• Based on Dredge's patent.

Notes:

• BPL: Collapsed under weight of cattle 1853. BOB: Indicates year of completion and collapse as 1854. EOV: Appears more authoritative on the matter, "Although the bridge was not quite finished, Tarvin and the mayor of Covington rode the first vehicle across it on December 28, 1853. Less than two weeks later... the bridge collapsed."
• The January 18, 1854 edition of The New York Times has a small article with a January 16, 1854 byline reporting the collapse of the bridge: "The... bridge... gave way this evening, while two men and eighteen cattle were crossing it... The keys which held the wire cable to the anchors gave way."
• Replaced by 1854 Licking River II - Covington and Newport, Kentucky, USA.

Notes:

• Replaced 1854 Licking River I - Covington and Newport, Kentucky, USA which collapsed in January of 1854.

Notes:

• Was still part of Virginia at time of completion.

Notes:

• Restored and re-opened, late 1990's.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20004764

Notes:

• Also sometimes attributed to Neil "Robinson" and completed 1853. May have originally been a narrow vehicular bridge.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20021611

Notes:

• Originally constructed as a typical eyebar suspension bridge. Reconstructed in 1879 to support a three-span lenticular rail bridge on top of the suspension bridge towers, creating an upper deck for rail traffic. The original deck was suspended from the lower chord of the lenticular trusses.
• See Tamaris-les-Forges - Alès vicinity, Gard, France. Another interesting hybrid rail and suspension bridge.

External Links:

• DigitaltMuseum - Bru over Glomma ved Sarpsfossen
• DigitaltMuseum - Bru over Glomma ved Sarpsfossen, sett fra kjørebanen ved østre hovedpillar
• DigitaltMuseum - Damplokomotiv, trolig type 9a, med godstog på Sarpsfossen bru
• DigitaltMuseum - Sarpsfossen og Sarpsbrua
• DigitaltMuseum - Sarpsfossen og Sarpsbrua, bygd i 1854
• DigitaltMuseum - Tegning til Sarpsbrua i Sarpsborg
• Wikipedia - Sarp Bridge
• Wikiwand - Sarp Bridge

Notes:

• Later at same location 1955 Bessières - Bessières, Haute-Garonne, France.

External Links:

• Art-et-Histoire.com - Pont de Bessières - 1855

Notes:

• Later at same location Coudes - Coudes, Montpeyroux vicinity and Parent, Puy-de-Dôme, France.

Notes:

• Replaced 1835 Ferro (Iron) - Pomarance vicinity, Italy.

External Links:

• IL PONTE DI FERRO - I Risoluti - La Storia Continua. Detailed history of the first suspension bridge and its 1855 reconstruction.

External Links:

• Kaiserin-Elisabeth-Brücke (Tetschen) – Wikipedia

Notes:

• Replaced by 1877 Minneapolis - Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
• Later at same location 1990 Hennepin Avenue (Father Louis Hennepin) - Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20052001

Notes:

• 1930, March: Destroyed by flood.
• Replaced by 1935 Mirepoix-sur-Tarn - Mirepoix-sur-Tarn, Haute-Garonne, France.

External Links:

• Pont de Mirepoix sur le Tarn - 1855 - Art-et-Histoire
• Pont de Mirepoix-sur-Tarn - Wikipedia

Notes:

• Near 1881 Greig Street (Wobbly) - Inverness, Scotland, United Kingdom. In some photos, the two bridges are visible within a few hundred yards of each other.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20015973

Notes:

• Cables renovated, 1877. Wooden stiffening trusses replaced, 1880. Towers replaced, c. 1886. Bridge replaced with steel arch, 1897.
• AAJ notes the roadway deck opened in 1854, but the railway deck did not open until 1855.
• Replaced 1848 Niagara Suspension - Niagara Falls, New York, USA and Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20000047

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20008485

Notes:

• BDR: Built 1856, severely damaged 1859, rebuilt, collapsed Jan. 1st 1865, rebuilt 1866. Dale writes: "A respected historian, John Willard Johnston, who knew Chauncey Thomas personally and visited the area during his ownership of the toll bridge, insisted that Thomas, as the builder, was grossly incompetent."
• Originally constructed with one main span, the center pier was added during the 1866 reconstruction.
• Don Sayenga's research leads him to conclude the bridge was completed in the fall of 1855. He notes an article from the Pike County Democrat (June 21, 1872) stating the bridge was completed in 1855. The article also notes the 1859 collapse occurred on July 2, 1859. Don's interest in this bridge is piqued by the connection to John Roebling, "...this bridge seems to be the only John Roebling bridge that failed in service..." Roebling prepared plans, for the original bridge, for Chauncy Thomas (who, by Dale's account was inexperienced).

Notes:

• Destroyed by flood, 1862. Cables supposedly reused for the Rattlesnake Bar bridge.
• See 1862 Rattlesnake Bar - Folsom vicinity, California, USA.

Notes:

• Dismantled before completion of Oroville Dam and replaced by the 1965 high-level Bidwell Bar suspension bridge. The 1856 structure was later reassembled about 1.5 miles south of the new Bidwell Bar bridge. Coordinates provided here are for the current location of the bridge at Kelly Ridge.
• Replaced by 1965 Bidwell Bar - Oroville, California, USA.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20024776

External Links:

• Art-et-Histoire - Pont de Boutiron près de Vichy
• Wikipedia - Pont Boutiron

Notes:

• From May 2, 1857 edition of Scientific American: "Fall of a Suspension Bridge. The iron suspension bridge which spans the Genesee River at Rochester, fell on the 21st ult. from the weight of snow on it. The bridge was only finished last summer, and cost over $28,000. It was constructed between iron towers standing on the banks. They were built of cast iron cylinders, bolted together, and standing on high banks, 235 feet above the water. The road-way was 200 feet above the water, and proceeded in almost a straight line from the top of the high bank on one side, to the other. The cables were 780 feet long, and the entire length of the bridge was over 700 feet. It was calculated to sustain a weight of 2.000 tuns. It spanned the Genesee river below the Falls. The metal, it is stated, appears to be defective. The load that was on it when it fell did not amount to 100 tuns."

External Links:

• Art-et-Histoire - Pont de Briord - 1856

Notes:

• EOV cites a source claiming the bridge was begun in 1853, but not completed until 1858. AAJ says completed in 1848. Other sources claim it was completed in 1852 and 1856.
• Was still part of Virginia at time of completion.

Notes:

• Replaced 1842 Les Mées - Les Mées, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20012659

Notes:

• AAJ assumes completion in 1856 based on an 18-month contract let in August 1854. Appears to have been a quite dramatic bridge, with very large castellated towers, on an alignment adjacent to the current twin-arch bridge.

Notes:

• Similar to 1853 Mill Pond - Kingfield, Maine, USA.

Notes:

• Towers and cables were still standing in the 1940s. The location, including the entire former settlement of Lancha Plana, was inundated by the creation of the Camanche Reservoir in 1963. Unclear if remnants are still present (as is the case for some other inundated 19th-century California suspension bridges).

External Links:

• Altenbergsteg - Wikipedia
• Structurae - Structure ID 20033261

Notes:

• Replaced in 1890's (ONC).

Notes:

• Often mistakenly called a "chain" bridge, this is a "change" bridge.

External Links:

• Aldrich Change Bridge. Dale Oswald explains (in the context of the Aldrich Change Bridge, a non-suspension bridge in Palmyra, New York): "A change bridge is one with low railings and an underpass that allowed draft teams to move from one side of the canal to the other without unhitching, cloverleaf-style."

Notes:

• Replaced by 1943 Izeron - Izeron and Saint-Sauveur, Isère, France.

External Links:

• Art-et-Histoire.com - Pont suspendu d'Izeron sur l'Isère - 1857. Art-et-Histoire also mentions a possible earlier suspension bridge that opened in 1849 and collapsed soon after due to a landslide.

Notes:

• Replaced 1833 Longues - Longues, Vic-le-Comte and Les Martres-de-Veyre, Puy-de-Dôme, France.
• Replaced by Longues - Longues, Vic-le-Comte and Les Martres-de-Veyre, Puy-de-Dôme, France.

Notes:

• Reviews of this bridge were not favorable. Jakkula (AAJ) sites several contemporary sources (1857) objecting to the bridge obstructing the view of the scenery. One citation is summarized: "Regards the bridge as a hideous structure".

External Links:

• Suspension iron footbridge over the lake, St James's Park, London | RIBA pix

Notes:

• Later at same location Saint-Lattier (Eymeux) - Saint-Lattier, Isère and Eymeux, Drôme, France. Unclear if the newer bridge was a direct replacement for the older bridge.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20062439

Notes:

• Damaged by troops, 1870. Repaired.
• Replaced by 1935 Chaumont-sur-Loire - Chaumont-sur-Loire and Onzain, Loir-et-Cher, France.

External Links:

• Les PONTS de CHAUMONT sur LOIRE de 1858 à 1940 - Le blog de chaumont aufildutemps

Notes:

• Replaced by 1937 Chelsea - London, England, United Kingdom.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20002316

Notes:

• Replaced by 1861 Portsmouth - Portsmouth, Ohio, USA.

Notes:

• One end of this bridge appears to have led directly into a building aptly named Hôtel Du Pont with the roadway possibly passing through the building. Remnants of the bridge are still present (as of 2022) on both sides of the river.
• Replaced 1829 Thoirette - Thoirette, Jura and Ain, France.

External Links:

• Art-et-Histoire - Deuxième pont suspendu de Thoirette - 1858

Notes:

• Coordinates are for the current Ave River crossing at Trofa. The Ponte Pênsil da Trofa may have been located here or slightly west of here.

External Links:

• MONUMENTOS DESAPARECIDOS: A Ponte Pênsil da Trofa.
• Ponte Pênsil da Trofa (extinta) - Historias de Bolso

Notes:

• Replaced 1828 Doux - St Jean de Muzols and Tournon-sur-Rhône, Ardèche, France.

External Links:

• Deuxième pont du Doux - St Jean de Muzols - 1859

Notes:

• Rebuilt 1920s, 1970s. Restored, 1950's, for use as a footbridge.
• Bypassed, 1924.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20001383

Notes:

• 1859: The former three-span Sully-sur-Loire suspension bridge, heavily damaged by flood in 1856, is replaced with a suspension bridge having at least five suspended spans.
• 1933: Refurbished.
• 1940, June 18: Destroyed to slow advancing German troops.
• 1943: Repaired.
• 1944: Bombed by allied forces.
• 1947: Rebuilt.
• 1985, January 16: Collapsed.
• Replaced 1836 Sully-sur-Loire - Sully-sur-Loire and Saint-Père-sur-Loire, Loiret, France.

External Links:

• Art-et-Histoire - Pont de Sully-sur-Loire - 1859
• Structurae - Structure ID 20022089

External Links:

• Art-et-Histoire.com - Pont suspendu de Gréoux-les-bains - 1859
• Structurae - Structure ID 20000774

Notes:

• BPL cites this bridge as the first suspension bridge with metal towers. However, at least two earlier suspension bridges (1857 Watertown, New York and 1856 Bidwell Bar, California) are known to have metal towers and even Roebling's 1846 Smithfield Street Bridge in Pittsburgh had cast iron towers.
• Next to 1884 North Side (Seventh Street) - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20007343

Notes:

• 1865 and 1866 are sometimes cited as the year of completion for this bridge.
• Replaced by 1929 Auburn-Coloma - Auburn and Coloma, California, USA.

Notes:

• Out of use, 1912.

Notes:

• Deck wrecked circa 1939. Bridge appears to have been replaced soon after.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20008736

Notes:

• Damaged during WWII, rebuilt 1953.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20019748

Notes:

• Partially burned by retreating Confederate troops May 2nd, 1863 during the Vicksburg Campaign of the Civil War. Union troops extinquished the fire and quickly repaired the bridge.
• Demolished, circa 1920's. Descriptions for the Vicksburg Campaign imply there may have been another suspension bridge in the Port Gibson area.

Notes:

• Don Sayenga writes:

  "It was built in great haste out of military necessity utilizing abutments and piers of an earlier wooden bridge that had been burnt by a unit of the Confederate Army commanded by Gen. John B. Floyd. This occurred just after the fight known as the Battle of Carnifex Ferry on September 10, 1861. Later the Confederate Army recaptured the bridge location and burnt the new one also. The designer/builder was John W. Murphy (1828-1874) who was working as an engineer in Alabama when the war began in 1861. He held a Civil Engineer degree from Rensselaer. Murphy's concept involved multiple factory-made wire ropes as main cables combined with wooden bracing. The exact location of the bridge seems to have been called the New River Cliffs but I haven't found this on a map. Photos of the bridge came into the possession of Prof. George Plympton, an associate of Murphy's in the latter part of his career. Plympton presented a paper about bridges in 1894 reported by The Railroad Gazette August 24. The photos were given to the Gazette - one of their artists converted the photos to pen-and-ink drawings for publication in the issue of November 9, 1894, p. 773."

  Don transcribed the following:
  
  The Railroad Gazette, August 24, 1894, Page 579.

  "Prof. Plympton then related two reminiscences of bridge building between 1852 and 1861...The other instance was the building of a military suspension bridge over the Gauley River in 1861. The government called for a bridge of sufficient strength to permit the passage of General Rosecrans corps, allowing twenty-four days' time. The abutments and piers of the former bridge remained in good condition. Murphy submitted an original plan, which was accepted. The plans were drawn up by Mr. Murphy on the cars, while he was traveling to Washington to submit his ideas to the United States army en gineers. The plans were accepted and Murphy at once went to work. Four one-inch wire ropes, laid side by side, formed his cables. A pyramidal tower was constructed of heavy timbers, and in place of suspending rods a loosely-formed truss was hung upon the cable without fastening. This truss, connected with the floor of the bridge, was finished on the 22nd day after receiving the order to build."

  Proceedings of the Franklin Institute, October 21, 1874, Page 306.

  "It was a suspension bridge 520 feet in length, 10 feet roadway, consisting of three spans, supported by eight cables. There was some doubt in the mind of the commanding officer that it would answer the purpose...To test it ...he asked that a battalion be ordered to make a charge over it, which was done, to the satisfaction of the General in command...it afterwards passed and repassed the whole command as long as they occupied that portion of the country. A change of base put it into the possession of the Confederates who burnt it down."

• An article in the July 15, 1951 edition of The Charleston Daily Mail describes the bridge and its demise:

  "After the Confederate forces had retreated and burned the old covered bridge, the Federal engineers constructed a make-shift bridge across the Gauley. There are pictures in existence showing this light, cable bridge erected on the old piers of the original bridge. This structure was cut down Sept. 11, 1862, when the Federals retreated from an attack by Confederate Gen. W. W. Loring, who routed the Unionists from the valley for a brief time."

• Jakkula has an 1862 entry for "Gauley River Bridge" with little information, citing the American Railroad Journal, Vol. 37, No. 1472, July 2, 1864, p.651: "A suspension bridge built over the Gauley River, Virginia, by the Government in 1862." It is unclear if this reference is for the same bridge.

Notes:

• Reconstruction of the 1858 Portsmouth bridge. A completion year of 1861 is assumed given information provided in EOV. Failed 1884.
• Replaced 1858 Portsmouth - Portsmouth, Ohio, USA.

Notes:

• See Weitchpec - Weitchpec, California, USA.

Notes:

• Footbridge with large stone towers. Near Tarset Burn.
• Several sources suggest this bridge was completed in 1862.
• Similar to 1878 Sedgwick (Low Park Woods, New Sedgwick) - Sedgwick and Sizergh, England, United Kingdom.

External Links:

• Bridges on the Tyne. "Built to connect with Thorneyburn station on the Border Counties Railway."

External Links:

• Art-et-Histoire - Pont de Bessan

Notes:

• After several attempts by the Union Army to restore Rappahannock River bridges near Fredericksburg with pontoon bridges during the Civil War, Washington Roebling built a temporary wire suspension bridge on the piers of the former Chatham Bridge. The suspension bridge may have had twelve or more suspended spans (the former Chatham Bridge supposedly had 13 piers). Started July 1 and completed July 18, it survived less than two months, destroyed on September 1, 1862 by an evacuating Union Army.

External Links:

• Spanning Chatham Bridge's History - VisitFred

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20003156

Notes:

• The location of Rattlesnake Bar is closer to present-day Auburn than Folsom, near the location of Goose Flat marked on modern topographical maps of the region. The area was inundated during the creation of Folsom Lake, but the piers and abutments of the Rattlesnake Bar bridge are visible when the water level is low.
• Rodi Lee writes: "[The bridge] collapsed in 1954 when an overweight truck filled with manure crossed it. The driver was unhurt. There are newspaper articles about the incident (Auburn Journal, Auburn). There are some photos in the article as well. The bridge abutments show when the the lake water is low. The bridge was upstream of Wild Goose Flats."
• See 1855 Whiskey Bar (Pioneer, Whisky) - El Dorado County, California, USA. The cables of the Rattlesnake Bar bridge were reportedly reused from the damaged Whiskey Bar bridge.

External Links:

• 1057. The Suspension Bridge over the American River at Rattlesnake Bar, Placer County - Calisphere.org
• Rattlesnake Bridge - Christine's Blog. Several images of the remnants of the bridge.

Notes:

• Fell into disuse, 1884. Damaged by flood 1904. Dismantled 1912. Some sources indicate the flood damage occurred in 1894.
• Replaced by 1926 Second Alexandra - Spuzzum, British Columbia, Canada.

Notes:

• Cables damaged 1913, 1921. Refurbished 1922.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20003007

Notes:

• The location coordinates provided here are the approximate location of this bridge, crossing the Cosumnes between present day El Dorado and Amador counties at Michigan Bar (as named on USGS topographical maps) on current Latrobe Road where Clark Creek meets the Cosumnes River. Note that USGS topographical maps show another, more prominently marked, "Michigan Bar" a few miles west in Sacramento County.
• A California Highways and Public Works article (unsure of exact citation but it may be the article on the history of California bridges that appeared in the 1941 June issue and was reprinted in the 1950 September/October issue) says "there were four [suspension bridges] on the Cosumnes River, one of which (Lamb's Bridge on the Latrobe-Plymouth Road) killed one man and seven horses when it fell in 1869."
• The October 14, 1976 edition of The Mountain Democrat Times (Placerville, California) has an article about the nearby Huse Bridge (from the Heritage Association of El Dorado) which mentions Lamb's Bridge: "...Lamb's Bridge, several miles downriver, was reconstructed in 1872 and was also a wire bridge of the same type [as Huse's]."
• The Statutes of California passed at the Fourteenth Session of the Legislature, 1863 records: "Chapter XLI. An Act to grant to Larkin Lamb and his Associates the right to construct and maintain a Toll Bridge across the Cosumnes River, in the Counties of Amador and El Dorado. Approved March 6, 1863. The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. Larkin Lamb, and those he may associate with him, their heirs and assigns, shall have full power to build, erect, construct, and maintain a public toll bridge across the Cosumnes River, at a point about eighty (80) rods below Dutch Hill;..."
• A November 12, 2017 article in Ledger Dispatch (of Amador and Calaveras counties) titled "Vestiges of Amador-Communities Along the Cosumnes, Part VI: The Lower Reaches - Michigan Bar to Wisconsin Bar" by Deborah Coleen Cook gives a more complete history of Lamb's bridge citing the enactment (February 9, 1863) of the bill to permit construction, construction completing six months later, failure of one of the cables in 1869 under the weight of a large freight wagon, and another cable/anchorage failure in 1872 while the bridge was undergoing major repairs.
• See 1852 Huse - Yeomet, California, USA.
• See 1852 Wilson's - Cosumne, California, USA.

Notes:

• Replaced by a 1941 arch bridge that is popular with bungee jumpers.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20008728

External Links:

• Art-et-Histoire - Pont de Rousset - 1863

Notes:

• At the time of completion, the bridge connected the villages of Barkhausen and Hausberge, later merged into Porta Westfalica.

External Links:

• Structurae - Structure ID 20032535