SEVEN NOTABLE BRIDGES.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 292, 8 December 1900, Page 2 (Supplement)

SEVEN NOTABLE BRIDGES.

London Bridge is constructed of granite, and is considered among the finest specimens of bridge architecture. The present structure was commenced in 1824, and completed in several years, at a cost of over half a million pounds. The bridge of Sighs, at Venice, over which condemned prisoners were transported from the Judgment Hall to the place of their execution, was built in the Armada year. 1588. The bridge of the Holy Trinity, at Florence, consists of three beautiful elliptical arches of white marble, and stands unrivalled as a work of art. It is 322 feet long, and was completed in 1569. The Niagara suspension bridge was built in 1852-1855 at a cost of £80,000. It is 245 feet above high water, 82!) feet long, and the strength is estimated at 1200 tons. The Rialto, at Venice, is said to have been built from the designs of Michael' Angelo. It consists of a single marble arch 98 feet long, and was completed about, 1592. Brooklyn bridge was commenced, under the direction of Mr. Roebling, the designer of the Niagara suspension bridge, in 1870, and completed in 13 years. It is 5959 feet long, and 135 feet high. The cost of building was little less than £3,000,000. The Lagong bridge, built over an arm of the China Sea, is five miles long, with 300 arches of stone, 70 feet high, and 70 feet broad, each pillar supporting a marble lion 21 feet in length. The cost of the bridge is unknown.