Cantilever bridge
Heinrich Gerber was one of the engineers to obtain a patent for a hinged girder (1866) and is recognized as the first to build one. The Hassfurt Bridge over the Main river in Germany has a central span of 124 feet (38 meters). Completed in 1867, it was the first modern cantilever bridge. Other early cantilever bridges included the High Bridge of Kentucky by C. Shaler Smith (1877), the Niagara Cantilever Bridge by Charles Conrad Schneider (1883) and the Poughkeepsie Bridge by John Francis O'Rourke and Pomeroy P. Dickinson (1889). The Kentucky River Bridge spanned a gorge that was 275 feet (84 meters) deep. It was built with a cantilever which meant that it did not need to be supported during the building. The most famous early cantilever bridge is the Forth Rail Bridge. This bridge held the record for longest span in the world for 17 years.