Bridges?

Usually I am up at night studying our science lesson for the next day.  I didn't even make it to science tonight! I was stuck on history!!

We are in the late 1800's right now in American history and the chapter we are reading tomorrow talks about how bridges brought the world together.

Our book mentions three bridges and important things about them. They are the Eads Bridge in St. Louis and the cassion system, Roebling and the first suspension bridge connecting Canada and the United States near Niagara Falls, and Brooklyn Bridge in New York City, which was the longest suspension bridge at that time.

The cool thing is that we were at each of these places on our trip last fall, but we weren't at any of these bridges!

1. By the pictures I can find on the internet, the Eads Bridge in St. Louis is near the arch, but I can't see it in any of our pictures.

https://stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/planning/cultural-resources/city-landmarks/Eads-Bridge.cfm

http://www.asce.org/People-and-Projects/Projects/Landmarks/Eads-Bridge/
http://bridgehunter.com/mo/st-louis-city/eads/


Eads was famous for his work using diving bells.
http://www.oobject.com/9-diving-bells/diving-bell-used-by-brunel/8562/

http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/outdoor-activities/water-sports/diving-bell2.htm

Because of this invention, he invented the "caissons" and this is a concept he used to build the St. Louis Bridge.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caisson_(engineering)

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eads/sfeature/sf_pier_text.html

Some men actually died from caisson disease during the building of this bridge.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eads/peopleevents/e_caisson.html

2. The suspension bridge by Niagara Falls made by Roebling was torn down, but a new bridge was built in its place. I am pretty sure I can figure out where the Roebling bridge was by looking at Internet sites and comparing our pictures.

3. Finally, the Brooklyn Bridge. Yes, we were on our way there our first night in New York City.  We had just finished visiting Ground Zero and we had stopped at a Burger King for a bathroom break before heading to the bridge. Out of nowhere, a terrible storm blew up! Lots of wind, pouring rain, etc!! It was already 8 pm, so we decided to run for the subway and get home. We never did get over to the Brooklyn Bridge. :(  

The people who built the Brooklyn Bridge also used caissons and some also died.

http://www.racontours.com/stories/brooklyn-bridge-stories/brooklyn-bridge-construction-foundation/

Anyway, I hope my kids enjoy their lesson on bridges tomorrow because I have spent MORE than enough time learning about them!

Oh and science, that may need to wait until Monday. :)