Suspension bridge major wire-cable suspension bridge was the in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Designed by Charles Ellet, Jr. and completed in 1842, it had a span of 109 m. Ellet's Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge (1847–48) was abandoned before completion. It was used as scaffolding for John A. Roebling's double decker railroad and carriage bridge (1855). The Otto Beit Bridge (1938–39) was the first modern suspension bridge outside the United States built with parallel wire cables. The main forces in a suspension bridge of any type are tension in the cables and compression in the pillars. Since almost all the force on the pillars is
Pontoon bridge points. The "Palsey Pontoon" lasted until 1836 when it was replaced by the "Blanshard Pontoon" which comprised tin cylinders 3 feet wide and 22 feet long, placed 11 foot apart, making the pontoon very buoyant. The pontoon was tested with the Palsey Pontoon on the Medway. An alternative proposed by Charles Pasley comprised two copper canoes, each 2 foot 8 inches wide and 22 foot long and coming in two sections which were fastened side by side to make a double canoe raft. Copper was used in preference to fast-corroding tin. Lashed at 10 foot centres, these were good for