Table of Contents

Preliminary Table of Contents: Preface Prologue: The Great River BOOK ONE: THE FIRST BRIDGE 1. A Bridge at the Narrowing 2. A Project at Last 3. The Engineers and the Bridge Builders 4. The Great Bridge Underway 5. Countdown to Disaster 6. Aftermath BOOK TWO: THE SECOND BRIDGE 7. Starting Over 8. Under Way Again 9. Again, Disaster 10. Triumph at Last Appendix Notes Bibliography Index

Promotional Information

The seven-decades-long struggle to build a bridge at Quebec over the St. Lawrence River; completed in 1919, it still stands as the greatest of its kind.

About the Author

Civil engineer William D. Middleton had been active as a transportation historian and journalist for almost 50 years. His books include Landmarks on the Iron Road; Yet There Isn't a Train I Wouldn't Take: Railway Journeys; the second edition of South Shore: The Last Interurban; and the forthcoming second edition of When the Steam Railroads Electrified (all Indiana University Press).

Reviews

"In this handsome work, civil engineer and historian Middleton traces the history of the Québec (Quebec) Bridge across the St. Lawrence River from its early planning stages in the 1850s, through the construction phase that ended in 1917, and on to the present day. The construction project was a tremendous undertaking, involving the erection of the world's longest cantilevered span. The project was fraught with difficulties, including two of the worst construction accidents in bridge-building history involving the loss of 86 lives. A failure analysis of these collapses is clearly presented in a way that nontechnical readers can understand. The author, who has written a number of books dealing with related matters, has done a thorough job of researching the historical aspects of the Québec (Quebec) Bridge, with the history of the bridge being well illustrated by the large collection of photographs amassed by the author. The book should be of general interest, but particularly so to structural engineers seeking to learn more of the history of their profession. All levels." --Choice