Description

Document "Permis de Passage sur les ponts suspendus de Fribourg" 1879 (21.5 x 9 cm). Rare passage permit granted by the "Ponts et Chaussées du" in 1879 to Mr. Jos Meyer, contractor, authorizing him to pass over the suspension bridges of Fribourg with a load of 10 pieces of wood 15m long. At the time, the city's 2 main suspension bridges were : The "Grand Pont" (now the Zaehringen Bridge) which, when built in 1834, was the longest suspension bridge in the world (273m) and one of the first to use steel cables instead of chains, and the 151m Gottéron Bridge, built a few years later by the same architect. Crossing these structures with heavy loads of timber was particularly tricky, and required special authorizations. Despite these precautions, tragic accidents could not always be avoided. Inv: 5998D251N222