Who makes a bridge of that size and span out of wood which will so easily burn down. They had stone and steel in the late 1800s right? Silly silly civil engineering. Had the Americans not heard of suspension bridges?
This plot hole ruined the movie for me.
darker than biscuit, lighter than oakshare
You do realize a suspension bridge of that size would have cost an outrageous amount of money at that time, correct?
And this "plot hole" ruined the movie for you? Not the fact that you watched a movie about our 16th President being a vampire hunter?
Troll on my friend.....troll on.
Outrageous amount of money? I would refer to the 700ft-span Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, UK - built in 1864 by the genius British Civil Engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel - which incidentally is still standing and in use today.
But if American engineers simply weren't capable of this sort of vision at that time, that's ok - but build using wood and you will end up having your bridges burnt down by vampires.
The 16th President being a vampire hunter was the most realistic bit of this car-crash of a film.
darker than biscuit, lighter than oakshare
There was a war on. The steel was being used to make weapons. This would include ironclads that would make every other navy in the world obsolete.
shareWith the exception of the major European navies that were all using ironclads beforehand.
Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived. -Isaac Asimov
There was a war on. The steel was being used to make weapons.
Even without the war, wooden deck trestle bridges like this were far too common during the 19th Century, even over mountain ranges like that.
http://archivesleuth.wordpress.com/2011/09/21/the-eastview-trestle/
You are kidding. They use (small) wooden trestle bridges TODAY. Cheap, readily available materials, easy to repair. Railway lines are constantly maintained anyway, so its not a stretch to keep a wooden bridge up as well.
Scroll to bottom-ish of this for some big wood bridge examples: http://www.highestbridges.com/wiki/index.php%3Ftitle%3DA_Brief_History_of_High_Railway_Bridges
Wooden trestle bridges require no special skills to build, and are of cheap materials (sourced on site often). The early US, and later on as we moved out west, had long distances so limited resources of the stone and steel type, and a lot more unskilled labor than skilled. At the least, we're often into speed, so a 2 month job putting up a big wooden bridge is better than a 2 year iron span. Later they get replaced.
https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2011/summer/usmrr.html
Among Haupt's most challenging assignments was restoring the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad mainline from Alexandria to Aquia Creek and Fredricksburg.
One of his most famous accomplishments, the one that caught Lincoln's eye, was the reconstruction of the Potomac Creek Bridge, which he repaired in nine days with (along with cornstalks and beanpoles) an inadequate supply of tools, inexperienced help, and in rainy weather. After completion, the bridge carried 10 to 20 trains a day.