Вако ілмек көпірі: тарих және маңызы

The Waco Suspension Bridge crosses the Brazos River in Waco, Texas. It is a single span suspension bridge, with a main span of 475 ft (145 m). Opened on November 20, 1869, it contains nearly 3 million bricks. It is located north of downtown Waco, connecting Indian Spring Park (on the southwest side of the river) with Doris D. Miller Park (on the northeast side of the river). Every year on Independence Day, the bridge serves as a place where thousands of locals gather to watch fireworks. Indian Spring Park marks the location of the origin of the town of Waco, where the Huaco Indians had settled on the bank of the river, at the location of a cold spring. Before 1869, crossing the Brazos River was a time consuming and sometimes dangerous ordeal. The only way to cross the river was by ferry, and due to the location of Waco on the growing Chisholm Trail, local businessmen knew that a bridge was needed to support commerce. For this reason, members of Waco Masonic Lodge #92 proposed the creation of such a bridge and they assigned a committee which would form the Waco Bridge Company, responsible for funding and building the project. A charter was received from the state in 1866. Col. John T. Flint, an Austin lawyer and banker, who had moved to Waco after the war and established a firm named Flint & Chamberlain, went personally to New York to handle the contract for building a bridge. In October 1868, the engineer he hired, Thomas M. Griffith, began to supervise the construction using cables from the Roebling company of Trenton, New Jersey. The logistical and engineering difficulties he encountered were abnormal because of the remote location. Due to lack of machine shops in the Waco area, getting the materials to the building site was a journey in itself. The nearest railroad was 100 mile (161 km) away, and the closest town with artisans with the skills needed was Galveston, over 212 miles (341 km) from the build site. Supplies were loaded onto a steamer in Galveston, and ferried to Bryan. From there, they were loaded onto wagons pulled by oxen. The pothole filled dirt road from Bryan to Waco was bad, even by 19th century Texas standards. The twin double towers that anchored the span were considered to be a marvel of engineering at the time, containing nearly 3 million bricks, which were produced locally. The bridge collected its first toll on January 1, 1870. Its 475 feet (145 m) span made it the first major suspension bridge in Texas. The bridge was wide enough for stagecoaches to pass each other, or for cattle to cross one side of the bridge, and humans to cross the other side. Being the only bridge to cross the Brazos at the time, and the primary river crossing for the north south travel through Texas (including cattle drives on the Chisholm Trail), the cost of building the bridge, which was estimated to be $141,000, was quickly paid back. Tolls were 5 cents per head of cattle that crossed, along with a charge for pedestrian traffic. In 1889, the bridge was sold to McLennan County for $75,000, which removed all tolls. In 1913 1914, major reconstruction occurred on the bridge, replacing the older steel with higher gauge, and trusses were added to accommodate the span to carry heavier weights. This doubled as a new pedestrian walkway. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970, and was designated as a Texas Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1971.