On the afternoon of 29 August 1907, just minutes before the workday ended, the largest bridge ever attempted shuddered over the St. Lawrence River. Then it fell. In under a minute, nearly 19,000 tons of steel dragged seventy-five men into the water below. Many were Mohawk ironworkers from a single community. The warning signs had been visible for weeks. So why did no one stop the work?

This is the story of a river that defied a nation's railway dreams, and of the men who tried to span it. You will meet Theodore Cooper, the eminent engineer whose name seemed to guarantee safety, and a quiet arithmetical error buried in the drawings for years. You will walk the steel with the ironworkers of Kahnawake, watch the bending begin, and stand on the shore when the bridge came down.

Vivid, character-driven and faithful to the historical record, this account shows how one catastrophe forced engineers to confront their duty to the public, and how it helped bring about licensing and written codes of ethics. It still asks a hard question: what do we owe the people who trust our work? Once you begin, you will not look away.

The Quebec Bridge Collapse

Comentarios