Who designed the first steel bridge?
The first major structure built entirely of steel was the cantilevered Forth Bridge in Scotland, completed in 1890. Its two record-setting spans of 521 m (1,710 ft) were the longest in existence until 1917. The arched Eads Bridge over the Mississippi River at St. Louis, Missouri, designed by James Eads and completed in 1874, was the first steel bridge in the United States. The Eads Bridge has three main spans. The center span is 160 m (520 ft) long, and the spans on either side are each 153 m (502 ft) in length. At the time the Eads Bridge was built, it was the longest structure in the United States. By 1890 the strength and lightness of steel had made it the material of choice for bridge building.
