American engineers regard the Suspension Bridge as a major achievement of efficiency. In a fledgling country where resources—material and financial—were limited, they had to make do with whatever was available. This goal was espoused by the American Society of Civil Engineers, which opined, "That is the best engineering, not which makes the most splendid, or even the most perfect work, but that which makes a work that answers the purpose well, at the least cost." Roebling had built a bridge that rivaled grander bridges of leading European nations at a much lower cost. His Suspension Bridge used only one-sixth the material of Stephenson's Brittania Bridge, but was twice as long and had a capacity that exceeded the tubular bridge. Moreover, the expenditure on Roebling's Suspension Bridge was $400,000, whereas a tubular bridge of equivalent length and load-bearing capability would have cost $4 million. Roebling's success established him as the master of suspension bridges. The inclined guy-wires that stretched from the top of towers to the roadway of the Suspension Bridge became the signature of his future works.