Bridging: Discovering the Beauty of Bridges [Hardcover]

Robert S. Cortright (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1998

A remarkable gallery of lavish photographs which elevate bridges from pieces of the roadway to pieces of art. The 283 colorful pictures cover 20 centuries and 16 countries across North America and Europe, concentrating on structures with striking aesthetic features. The succinct but somehow satisfying captions reveal that Cortright has made an extensive study of his favorite photographic subjects. This splendid book, a testament to one man’s fascination, invites the reader’s wonder at the utility and grace, strength and imagination, the art and science of bridges.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Bridge Ink; 1 edition (July 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0964196328
• ISBN-13: 978-0964196322
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,494,898 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, eye-opening and a heck of a lot of fun, October 27, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Bridging: Discovering the Beauty of Bridges (Hardcover)

Like most people, I'd never really noticed bridges before reading this book. After looking through this book at my father in-law's house, though, I can't stop noticing every one I encounter.

Bridges are little pieces of land suspended over a precipice. Engineers have spent the last 3000 years trying to solve the problems of seemingly uncrossable rivers and chasms, and Cortright's photographic selection of bridges, spanning more than two millenia and 16 countries, traces the increasingly more sophisticated ways that builders have triumphed. Interestingly, many seemingly high-tech solutions go right back to the very first arches and cantilevers. Others seem totally out of this world.

You'll learn alot about the different kinds of bridges and their basic principles, but more than that, this book is downright entertaining. Cortright appears to be one part expert photographer and one part eccentric, and his gorgeous photographs are grouped by in ways that tickle one's fancy rather than in a dry, dusty textbook manner. Categories include Stone Bridges, Wooden Bridges, Bridges of Iron and Steel, Bridges that Move, bridges that people live on, Aqueducts and much more. It even has a photo of a bridge with a giant troll living under it (I kid you not). The final chapter entitled "The Little Woman" is sure to catch you by surprise, and best sums up the quirky charm that enlivens this book.

Long on great photos with just the right amount of text to help you appreciate them, this book is great for an eight year-old or for a highway engineer.

Highly highly recommended.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review printed in November 1998 issue of "Civil Engineering", November 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Bridging: Discovering the Beauty of Bridges (Hardcover)

"CIVIL ENGINEERING" PROCEEDINGS OF THE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS LONDON, NOVEMBER 1998

Bridging - discovering the beauty of bridges

This is a little book (235 x 187 x 13mm) in metric measurement, but it is a very big book when one considers the quality of its construction and the quality of its contents. Its stitched signatures contain 283 glossy full colour bridge photographs from 16 North American and European countries. The photographs selected for publication were of bridges constructed throughout the last 20 centuries, including 20 stone structures of Roman construction. The book consists primarily of photographs, with a brief introductory text for various book divisions, and brief and generally interesting photo captions. The book appears to be a labour of love for Mr Robert S. Cortright, a retired banker, and his patient and supportive wife Kathy who initially were

`enthusiastic tourists, thrilled with all of the sights encountered in travel. Gradually [their] focus of attention and the focus of the camera began to be concentrated upon bridges. Ultimately, that concentration escalated to the level of an obsession.'

This obsession, supported and guided by a perceptive eye and an intuitive appreciation for the conceptual genius and exceptional craftsmanship displayed by early bridge builders, and by the time, patience, and persistence to locate suitable perspectives, resulted in a portfolio of over 4,000 bridge photographs from 20 countries. Of these, nearly 300, considered by Robert Cortright to be his best, now grace the pages of this fine publication.

Unfortunately, the editors, in an apparent effort to achieve page format variety, an effort that has generally succeeded, spoiled a few of the larger photographs by superimposing caption text directly on the photographs. However, this one fault diminishes the overall quality of the book only slightly.

Bridging will make a suitable companion to Fritz Leonhardt's Bridges: aesthetics and design and to the Highway Agency's The appearance of bridges. It should be in the personal library of all bridge engineers, architects and other fine bridge enthusiasts. For those interested in this book, copies should be obtained as soon as possible, since the modest cover price of $29.95 suggests that its first edition may not be available for long. M. P. Burke

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A nice scrapbook of photos, July 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Bridging: Discovering the Beauty of Bridges (Hardcover)

I bought this book sight-unseen on the basis of reviews and, honestly, was a little disappointed. This book is basically a collection of the author's own pictures he has taken in his years of travelling the world and visiting bridges. I think the personality of the book will win you over because he really does have a wonderful appreciation of bridges. But if it was cloudy the day he visited that bridge, you get a picture on a cloudy day. I also thought the printing was not great quality.