. Harper's New York and Erie rail-road guide book : containing a description of the scenery, rivers, towns, villages, and most important works on the road ; with one hundred and thirty-six engravings by Lossing and Barritt, from original sketches made expressly for this work by William Macleod . f the of resting uponfrail piers erected by thehand of man, each leg ofthe arch is supported onand in deep shelves hewninto the solid rock, that ris-es wall-like on both sidesof the chasm ; and whilethese eternal foundations stand, so will the bridge. Itsarch is made of eight ribs of white
. Harper's New York and Erie rail-road guide book : containing a description of the scenery, rivers, towns, villages, and most important works on the road ; with one hundred and thirty-six engravings by Lossing and Barritt, from original sketches made expressly for this work by William Macleod . f the of resting uponfrail piers erected by thehand of man, each leg ofthe arch is supported onand in deep shelves hewninto the solid rock, that ris-es wall-like on both sidesof the chasm ; and whilethese eternal foundations stand, so will the bridge. Itsarch is made of eight ribs of white oak, two feet squarein the center, paid two feet by four at the are interlaced with wood and iron braces in a wayto show how well strength is combined with lightness inits airy structure. The width of the bridge is 24 feet,with a light railing ; its surface is protected by a gravelcement. Such is the Cascade Bridge, whose simple sym-metrical form would perhaps conceal the effect of its vast-ness, were it not set in such a stupendous chasm. Of thischasm we must say a word, for the preparation of thegulf for the erection of the bridge appears nearly as won-derful as the structure itself. We have said that the wallsof the ravine are of solid rock. The west side rises almost. VMK!3 NEW YORK AND ERIE RAIL-ROAD. 109 a sheer precipice, while the east, immediately under the bridge, is more sloping. Both sides were originally covered with a dense grove of hemlock, such as you see just above the bridge. To remove this was a Herculean task, as was also the excavation of the rock for the support of the arch. Here, then, we see the bare, steep rock of the west side completely shorn of vegetation, with nothing but tree-stumps, standing out like bosses from its breast-plate of stone. On the west side a vast pile of broken rock slopes down to the stream, choked up with stony rubbish, and huge trees hurled there from the heights above. Some old tressels still protrude from this
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Keywords: ., bookauthormacleodw, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, bookyear1851
