Bridges Books

Though the book is a little thin, it seems to have the right balance of text and photos (mostly photos, but enough text to tell you most of what you want to know). The pictures are pretty and the printing is first rate. Don't expect a lot of depth but for the price this is about as good a book as you can buy.

When I friend of mine said to me, one year ago, that I should read The Books (Pieces,Leaps, Horses and Bridges) by Dixon Stalward because they were very impressive and erotic, the first thing I though and said was: 'OK, if they are good enough to stand by themselfs as literature, but not if they are only porno'. My friend knowing me as an avid and open minded reader just send me the books and said: 'read and judge'. Very few books in my long life of readings have taken my interest as Stalward's did. From the first to the last one it was a non stop reading, one book after the other, evry day a new book until I finished them all. It was like revisiting One and Thousand nights. Full of surprises, charm and lust. Every book, every story, every character in them are alife and present to its most realistic and spotaneous attributes. Deaply psychological in constructing the scenes and the people, they are at the same time all flesh, meat and desire as life itself, revealing their/our most stricking and human behaviour in their full light, which is reality. I only wish and hope that Mr. Stalward's fertility of imagination and sense of reality as well as deap sensibility and love for his characters will go on creating more of his wonderful books for our joy and entertainment.

Thanks Dixon.

Rudy M. Zelazny Buenos Aires. Argentina

We bridge difficulties. We like a bridge over troubled waters. We needed a bridge into the new millennium. Bridges have a hold on us in a way that other examples of civil engineering do not. And we often don't notice them as we use them. Although I had traveled on the Natchez Trace Parkway many times, upheld by a bridge in Franklin, Tennessee, I had never looked down and appreciated the span until alerted to it a couple of years ago. It is a beautiful, big, parabolic concrete arch which I now get off and admire fairly often. According to _Bridges: The Spans of North America_ (Norton) by David Plowden, I am not alone. This bridge "is unlike any heretofore built in America and has been the recipient of innumerable awards." Calling attention to the bridges we take for granted, and telling a history of American bridge building, Plowden's book is fittingly big, and displays his beautiful black and white pictures in large format, splendidly reproduced. It is properly sized for the coffee table, but the text is appropriately comprehensive, and as worth reading as the pictures are worth admiring.

_Bridges_ is divided into chronological sections based on the materials used: stone and brick; wood; iron; steel (divided into three time periods, since there are so many steel bridges); and concrete. Erecting a stone bridge was expensive and time consuming, especially compared to using wood. There are more miles of wooden bridges than any other type in America, although Plowden has little good to say about the "cult of the covered bridge" which has obscured the trusswork he thinks is the important part of these wooden bridges. Iron was used for bridges for only a short time, and iron bridges are the rarest of bridge artifacts. Concrete bridges are the way to go for the main bridge-building impetus in America, the highway system. Reinforced concrete does extremely well for piers to hold bridges up, as well as for the flats that carry traffic. Plowden spends many pages on the most famous type of bridge, the steel spans, and his pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge present them in new ways, and he hurtles through the engrossing stories of their construction because they are relatively familiar. The stories of lesser known bridges, such as the wonderful Eads bridge in St. Louis (built by Captain James Eads, of few engineering credentials and no bridge experience) bring to light many surprising difficulties and solutions the bridge builders came up with.

Plowden's history serves as a demonstration of engineering problem-solving. Each bridge is unique in purpose, location, and difficulties of completion. This is true even in replacement bridges. Many of these beautiful photographs show bridges that are no longer existent. There have been bridge failures, of course, but usually bridges built in the nineteenth century show signs of distress, and are called out of commission. Sometimes railroads simply no longer need a particular link. There are, however, new vistas for bridge building, especially in the straits and bays that have needed bridges and now have proposals for bridges meeting new engineering and economic abilities previously unavailable. Plowden is confident that utility will continue to be combined with beauty, and his handsome book supports such confidence.

This book is a "pontist's" dream. Published in Britain in a huge landscape format of four A4 size paper sheets. (US equivalent, 8 1/2 by 11).
After a quick over on bridge construction, the book is full of double spreads of bridges both ancient and modern, covering primitive forms such as liana vine supported suspension bridges, clapper bridges, and fallen log bridges, through exquisite bridges of Persia and East Asia, to the latest suspension spans of Denmark, Portugal, and Japan, spanning the wide shipping channels.
But no tummy book, this, you must spread it out on a desk or table. It's big enough and heavy enough to be the coffee table. :)
All in all a must for the "pontist".
Not stocked by US Amazon, try their other sites.

My son loves this book! It is packed with a lot of information on bridges and has nicely drawn pictures on every page. There are easy projects to do, one of which my son used for his science project at school.

I highly recommend this book for the child - and their parents -who want to learn more about bridges!

Beautiful songs with very meaningful content which can be enjoyed by all in the family! It deals with some very important values in life and gives the listener much food for thought. It is a delight to all who hear it.

If you know a bridge player or are a bridge player you will find this one of your favorite gifts. Bridge addicts everywhere will love the mental exercises that will become their daily work out. As a gift, it will be a reminder of the giver every day.

The author has the talent to converse to the young reader and hold them captive in her exploration of bridges. She uses simple language so as not to overpower the pictures themselves. Adults will enjoy this as a read aloud book to share as it invites a relook at bridges we 'thought we had looked at' in our passings. I'm sure this will book will create future Architects, Engineers and Builders. Enjoy it and I look forward to many more in her series.

This book is a great resource for teaching children about the physical forces associated with buildings (even though this book describes bridge forces, particularly). Forrest Wilson has a witty way of making complex concepts intuitive and relatable, and his illustrative drawings have a signature style that is engaging and accessible. I have used this book to teach fifth graders fundamental architectural concepts with great success. A REALLY STRONG BOOK!

This program is rich and rigorous. Students will learn math and find joy in doing so. Highly recommend this. Our school's scores have risen dramatically.