DarkAlman t1_je26ezt wrote
TLDR: boats
Suspension bridges at a basic level only required a rope to be pulled across a river, and that can easily be done with a boat.
Larger footings could be poured from a boat as well.
While there's a lot of prep work and drilling down on a river bed for bridges today, it more ancient times they would likely have just floated a barge to the spot and dumped large quantities of gravel and large rocks to create a solid footing
BillWoods6 t1_je295xg wrote
> Suspension bridges at a basic level only required a rope to be pulled across a river, and that can easily be done with a boat.
Or by other methods.
> Ellet's brainstorming sessions with his men raised several ideas that could enable a line to be suspended across the gorge; these included firing cannonballs with the line attached, towing it across the river with a steamer, and tying it to a rocket that would then be launched across the gorge. ... Ellet also took the opportunity to generate publicity for his project. Organizing a kite-flying contest, he offered $5[nb 6] to any boy who flew a kite across the gorge and secured the kite string to the other side.[23]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara_Falls_Suspension_Bridge#Charles_Ellet_Jr.'s_temporary_bridge
sirfuzzitoes t1_je2gq6z wrote
And that boy's kite string bridge? The Tacoma narrows bridge. They should have upgraded from kite string but at least we learned from it.
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