“I have no quarrel with you, good Sir Knight, but I must cross this bridge"
King Arthur, Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Primitive suspension bridges, in the form of vines and fiber ropes, have been used for many thousands of years throughout Asia, Africa, and South America, such as those by the Incas. It is thought that the iron chain first replaced these frailer materials in China inc. 100.
The walkways of early catenary bridges were directly fixed onto the chains that spanned a valley, but in fourth-century India the road deck was instead suspended from the main cables to create a horizontal pathway that was more easily negotiable than its sloping predecessors.
Basic suspension bridges were used in military campaigns in Europe, but the first permanent example in the West was a primitive catenary bridge built over England's River Tees circa 1741. The idea caught on in the United States, and in 1801 James Finley built the first modern suspended-deck suspension bridge across Jacob's Creek in Pennsylvania.
Wire cable eventually replaced chains, and the first permanent suspension bridge to use wire cable was the St. Antoine Bridge built in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1823. Steel was used in early constructions but the cost was prohibitively high until the Bessemer steel- making process was developed in 1855. John A. Roebling made great improvements in the reliability of bridges, and his Brooklyn Bridge of 1883 remains an iconic suspension bridge.
