Instructions on Modern American Bridge Building

The manual offers practical instruction for designing and building American-style bridges, beginning with simple beam spans and progressing to truss arrangements. It analyzes the forces acting on bridge members — tension, compression, and transverse strains — and gives governing formulas, example calculations, and useful tables and plates to size timbers, bolts, and braces. Several common truss types and the role of counterbracing are explained, with guidance on estimating quantities and avoiding buckling of struts. Masonry elements and iron bridges are noted as separate topics, while the emphasis remains on applied methods for students and practicing engineers.