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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