St. Louis Bridge 1868
Tom Scott realizes that the key to being successful in the railroad was to accomplish westward expansion across the Mississippi River.
He appointed Carnegie to lead the build effort which required building a bridge over a mile long. No bridge ever has been attempted that matches its scale.
Carnegie invested all he had into the bridge believing that a new material, Steel, would be able to sustain the bridge's integrity. He erected the Keystone Bridge Company to raise funding for the bridge after running out of money. Carnegie, with the help of Henry Bessemer found a new way to manufacture steel that reduced its production time from 2 weeks to 15 minutes. Carnegie saw this opportunity to capitalize on it.
The bridge was completed in 1874, but the public was weary of the bridge's strength. Carnegie devised a plan using superstition at the time that elephants wouldn't cross an unstable structure. The parade with the elephant was successful and after gaining the support of the public, Carnegie received massive amounts of orders from railroad companies wanting to replace their iron rails with Carnegie's steel.
He appointed Carnegie to lead the build effort which required building a bridge over a mile long. No bridge ever has been attempted that matches its scale.
Carnegie invested all he had into the bridge believing that a new material, Steel, would be able to sustain the bridge's integrity. He erected the Keystone Bridge Company to raise funding for the bridge after running out of money. Carnegie, with the help of Henry Bessemer found a new way to manufacture steel that reduced its production time from 2 weeks to 15 minutes. Carnegie saw this opportunity to capitalize on it.
The bridge was completed in 1874, but the public was weary of the bridge's strength. Carnegie devised a plan using superstition at the time that elephants wouldn't cross an unstable structure. The parade with the elephant was successful and after gaining the support of the public, Carnegie received massive amounts of orders from railroad companies wanting to replace their iron rails with Carnegie's steel.
1 in 4 Bridges Failed At The Time