engineering

Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct

Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct rather than just read about it. In short: Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct, also known as the Roebling Bridge, is the oldest existing wire suspension bridge in the United States. It runs 535 feet (163 meters) over the Delaware River, from Minisink Ford, New York, to Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania.

Key takeaways

Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct, also known as the Roebling Bridge, is the oldest existing wire suspension bridge in the United States. It runs 535 feet (163 meters) over the Delaware River, from Minisink Ford, New York, to Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania. Opened in 1849 as an aqueduct connecting two parts of the Delaware & Hudson Canal (D&H), it has since been converted to carry automotive traffic and pedestrians.

Construction The bridge begun in 1847 as one of four suspension aqueducts on the D&H Canal, a system of transportation connecting the coal fields of northeastern Pennsylvania with markets on the Hudson River. The canal opened in 1828, was enlarged after the 1840s, and closed in 1898.

Russell F. Lord and John A. Roebling designed the bridge and supervised its construction. Two important local industries with conflicting needs brought about construction of Roebling's Delaware and Lackawaxen Aqueducts: canal traffic and timber rafting. Since the mid-18th century, timber from the Delaware valley had been floated down the river to shipyards and industries in Trenton and Philadelphia. The D&H Canal's rope ferry crossing of the Delaware at Lackawaxen created a bottleneck, and there were numerous collisions with timber rafts headed downstream. In 1846, to alleviate both problems, the D&H Canal Company approved Russell F. Lord's plan to substitute two new aqueducts in place of the rope ferry. After evaluating several options, Lord recommended designs submitted by John A. Roebling, who had already built a wire suspension aqueduct at Pittsburgh in 1845. To raise the canal enough to allow the passage of ice floes and river traffic, Lord's plan called for three locks to be built on the eastern side. An immediate success, the Delaware Aqueduct — which cost $41,750 – and the Lackawaxen Aqueduct — which cost $18,650, and of which only the abutments remain – reduced canal travel time by one full day, saving thousands of dollars annually.

Post-construction history After the canal closed in 1898, the aqueduct was drained and converted into a vehicular bridge. Eventually, the canal sides and towpaths (walkways for those pulling barges) were removed. It operated as a toll bridge for wagons and, later, motor vehicles until 1979. Portions of the D&H Canal, including the Delaware Aqueduct, were designated a National Historic Landmark in 1968. The Delaware Aqueduct was also designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1972. The National Park Service bought the bridge in 1980. The agency rebuilt the bridge's superstructure from Roebling's original plans and specification in 1986, and in 1995, the wooden icebreakers, towpaths and aqueduct walls were reconstructed, restoring the bridge's original appearance as an aqueduct. The bridge is now part of the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River.

See also John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge, in Cincinnati List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in New York List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Pennsylvania List of crossings of the Delaware River National Register of Historic Places listings in Pike County, Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places listings in Sullivan County, New York

References Notes

Sources

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Park Service. Further reading

Zink, Clifford W. (2011). The Roebling Legacy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Landmark Publications. ISBN 978-0-615-42805-5.

External links

"Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct". National Park Service. Retrieved April 30, 2011. "1848 Delaware Aqueduct (Roebling Aqueduct)". Bridgemeister.com. Retrieved April 30, 2011. Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. PA-1, "Delaware & Hudson Canal, Delaware Aqueduct" HAER No. NY-205, "Delaware & Hudson Canal, Delaware Aqueduct Toll House" Delaware Aqueduct Bridge at Structurae

Illustrations

Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct: The bridge before restoration. The suspension cables are hidden in the restored aqueduct by the canal sides — The bridge before restoration. The suspension cables are hidden in the restored aqueduct by the canal sides

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct

In research: Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1847 establishments in New York (state), 1847 establishments in Pennsylvania, Aqueducts in the United States, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct in simple terms?

Why does Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct.