T0 describe German bridge construction before British engineers, in whose country it was that the art of bridging first reached high development, is no light undertaking. It was in England that the first iron bridge in the world was built; the famous cast-iron structure over the Severn which was erected in 1776- 1779 and established its gifted designer, Darby, as founder and first teacher of bridge engineering in steel. It was in Great Britain again, that the magnificent great Britannia Bridge was thrown across the Menai Straits in 1846-1850 and has now served its purpose for close on a hundred years without ever being excelled in the severe beauty of its lines, standing as a classic monument to the skill, in design and construction, of British engineers. This country saw also, in 1882-1890, the building of the mighty bridge across the Firth of Forth which still staggers engineers throughout the world by the boldness of its conception and the mass of its structure. Dr. Ing. G. Schaper
THE design of any structure which is required to resist pressure or other forces due to wind falls naturally into four stages:- (a) Estimating the speed of the wind and the forces exerted thereby on the structure. (b) Calculating the moments, shears and thrusts induced in the members of the structure. (c) Selecting suitable members to resist those forces. (d) Designing connections between the members and such details as bases and, sometimes, foundations. R. Gray