Lanterna Rally

Author: Charles Hamilton Hoyt

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2017-10-28

Total Pages: 44

ISBN-13: 9780265849057

Excerpt from Highway Bridges and Culverts Bridge building in the United States is of comparatively recent accomplishment. The early settlers were compelled to ford the streams or cross them on rafts or in dugouts. When Washington crossed the Delaware with his army, there were no bridges over that river, and history records many instances of streams being forded with untold hardship and the consequent disasters and delays. Such incidents become serious matters when, for example, physicians are unable to reach the sick or injured because Of impassable fords or are compelled to expose themselves to unnecessary danger. Traffic conditions in general are demoralized by unsafe bridges or culverts. Pontoon bridges have served temporary needs in many instances, but especially in warfare. Mention is made Of their use very early in history, and one Of the most notable occasions was when the Per sian army under Xerxes crossed the Hellespont on two pontoon bridges consisting, one of 360 vessels and the other of 314. These were anchored head and stern alongside each other, with their keels in the direction of the current. The Romans had wickerwork vessels covered with hides destined to support the timber platforms of a bridge. These formed a part of the train Of their armies throughout the history of the Empire until 476 A. D. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.