The Cincinnati Suspension Bridge, 1866 - John A Roebling

Growing up in Loveland and Cincinnati. I spent a lot of time in my randparents' various boats on the Ohio River. I always, loved this bridge and the fine delicate wires that held it together. It made all the other bridges just look clunky. I included four links to excellant articles and picture galleries. If you love this bridge, you will find them fascinating.

Cincinnati and Covington - Before the Suspension Bridge



Fig. 2.26 Birds-Eye View of Cincinnati. / in 1856. [Letter sheet].
George Magnus. Engraving. n.d. 3&9/16 x 7&4/16 in (9.05 x 18.42 cm). New York: George Mangus, 1850s
. Cincinnati Historical Society Library.
http://www.ucdp.uc.edu/artasimage/ChapterTwo.html


In the Mid - Nineteenth Century, Cincinnati was the center of commerce on the highway going west- and that highway was the Ohio River. In the 1850 census, Cincinnati was the biggest city in the West, (what we now call the Midwest.) Chicago was only a third of the size of Cincinnati, St. Louis about two-thirds. There were docks and businesses on the Kentucky side of the river too, in Covington and Newport. By mid-century, the ferry services were reaching the limit of their ability to move people and freight across the river. It was time to consider a bridge, but it could not be allowed to interfere with  the barge and riverboat traffic on the Ohio River. River traffic was still the central point of commerce to the city and the nation.

In February 1846, the Covington and Cincinnati Bridge Company was formed. It took seven years for them to get past all the obstacles for building the bridge. The obstacles included complaining about the fear of obstacles being in navigation channels, financial difficulties and just general fear of change. The contract was awarded to John A Roebling. Finally in September 1856, the digging began on the Covington side of the river. Construction was interrupted by more financial difficulties and by the death of the company president, then the Civil War. In 1864 work resumed in earnest.

Roebling imported one million pounds of wire from Manchester, England for the main cables. Even with his own Wire Works in Saxony, he considered the English wire to be far superior.

People must have been fascinated as they watched the wires being taken back and forth across the river and the other wires hung and attached to the piers and deck.

In December 1866, pedestrians were allowed to walk across the bridge and thousands did in the first two days. In January 1867, the Suspension bridge was open to all traffic. Pedestrians, those on horseback and those with buggies or wagons were all charged their toll and gladly payed it. It remained a private bridge owned by the Covington-Cincinnati Bridge Company until the Commonwealth of Kentucky bought it in 1953.

In 1983, It was renamed the John A Roebling Bridge in honor of its designer and builder. It is still in daily use after being refurbished and painted in 2006-2008.


Completed bridge - 1866
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=275471



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Roebling_Suspension_Bridge

For more on the history of the bridge and anything else involving transportation in the Cincinnati Area, see http://www.cincinnati-transit.net/suspension.html  (Absolutely amazing site!!)