THE

THEORY, PRACTICE, AND ARCHITECTURE

OF

BRIDGES

OF STONE, IRON, TIMBER, AND WIRE;

ADVERTISEMENT.

THIS work, commenced in 1839, and continued at intervals which have probably exhausted the patience of many of the Subscribers, is at length completed,—the object at first contemplated having been attained by a concentration of talent on this important branch of science, and by the production, it is hoped, of a work on the ART OF BRIDGE Building which will supply the vacant space in the library of the Practical Engineer.

Since the time of Hutton, Attwood, &c., the Theory of the Arch has been deeply investigated in this and other countries; and as the principles of Coulomb and others have caused such investigations to progress extensively, the production of a work on this important subject, combining numerous Theoretical and Practical Examples down to the present period of improvement in the art of construction, necessarily required no inconsiderable portion of time, labour, and expense.

The PRACTICAL TREATISE ON BRIDGE BUILDING will, it is anticipated, together with the Specifications and the Paper on FOUNDATIONS, supply all that is desirable for the Student in the pursuit of his knowledge of the Art; while the great variety engraved specimens by which the work is illustrated, and the

of

numerous exemplifications of comparative construction, to-
gether with the lucid and practical description of them which
is appended, will prove interesting to the Engineering public,
-and thus compensate for the unavoidable delay which has

occurred.

The Analytical List of Contents will guide the reader to the

several divisions of the work; and the General Index which

I have supplied will be found useful for all the objects of

reference.