Bridge
Town of Highland, Sullivan County, New York
Marker Inscription
BRIDGE BUILT BY JOHN A. ROEBLING, BUILDER OF BROOKLYN BRIDGE, TO SUPPORT D. & H. CANAL AQUADUCT BY WHICH BOATS CROSSED DELAWARE, 1848-98
The Story
This marker stands beside one of engineering's quiet landmarks: the aqueduct John A. Roebling threw across the Delaware in 1848 to carry the Delaware & Hudson Canal's boats over the river. Roebling suspended the canal's water-filled trough from wire cables of his own design, a technique he would later scale up into the Brooklyn Bridge. For half a century, mule-drawn boats laden with Pennsylvania anthracite floated high above the river current on their way to market. When the canal era ended in 1898, the span was repurposed to carry road traffic, which it still does.
Why it matters
It is the oldest surviving wire-cable suspension bridge in the United States and a working prototype for the Brooklyn Bridge, marking the moment American engineering learned to span great distances with steel wire.
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Related people
- · John A. Roebling
Related events
- · Delaware & Hudson Canal
- · Construction of the Delaware Aqueduct (1848)
Themes & tags
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