Joseph
A. Dice, 1866-1947, was a self-taught engineer that didn't finish the 4th grade
and never used blueprints to build any of the original 31 suspension
bridges.
He
began his bridge building career as an apprentice to Dr. D. M. Eddy.
His later success led to his constructing as many as 40 swinging
bridges in central Missouri.
All of his bridges were 14 ft. wide, sufficient for traffic at the time. They were made of wood, wire, and steel. Without a blue print, he used twine to determine the distance and shape of a bridge, men in boats or horses to pull the wires across the river.
Men, mules, horses, and a stump puller were the primary tools of his trade and local lumber and creek gravel his primary supplies. It is said that Joe could tell if the bridge tension was right by the “feel” of the wire. As many as 950 strands of wire were required to carry the weight of the cables.
When the highway department required blueprints for construction, Mr. Dice retired as a bridge builder!
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