BRIDGE

A structure erected over a river, creek, stream, ditch, ravine, or other place, to facilitate the passage thereof; in- cluding by the term both arches and abut- ments. 40 N. J. Law, 305. A building of stone or wood erected across a river, for the common ease and benefit of travelers. Jacob. Pub- Bridges are either public or private. lic bridges are such as form a part of the high- way, common, according to their character as foot, horse, or carriage bridges, to the public generally, with or without toll. 2 East, 342. A private bridge is one erected by one or more private persons for their own use and convenience.

A structure erected over a river, creek, stream, ditch, ravine, or other place to facilitate the passage thereof; in- cluding by the term both arches and abut- ments. 3 Harr. N. J. 108; 15 Vt. 438; 55 Ga. 609. A railway viaduct, designed only for the passage of engines and cars, is not a "bridge," within the statutory mean- ing of that word; 1 Wall. 116. See 7 Nev. 294; 40 Ν. J. L. 805. Bridges are either public or private. Public bridges are such as form a part of the highway, common, according to their character as foot, horse, or carriage bridges, to the public generally, with or without toll; 2 East 342; though their use may be limited to particular occasions, as to seasons of flood or frost: 2 Maule & S. 262: 4 Campb. 189. They are established either by legislative authority or by dedication. By legislative authority. By the Great Charter (9 Hen. III. c. 15), in England, no town or freeman can be compelled to make new bridges where never any were before, but by act of parliament. Under such act, they may be erected and maintained by corporations chartered for the purpose, or by counties, or in whatever other mode may be prescribed; Woolrych, Ways 196. In this country it is the practice to charter companies for the same purpose, with the right to take tolls for their reimbursement; 4 Pick. 341; or to erect bridges at the state's expense; or by general statutes to impose the duty of erection and main- tenance upon towns, counties, or districts; 2 W. & S. 495; 5 Gratt. 241; 2 Ohio 508; 23 Conn. 416; 14 B. Monr. 92; 5 Cal. 426; 1 Mass. 153; 12 N. Y. 52; 2 N. H. 513; 59 Me. 80; 85 Pa. 163; 78 id. 457; 47 N. J. Law 89. For their erection the state may take private property, upon making com- pensation, as in case of other highways; Ang. Highw. §81; the rule of damages for land so taken being not its mere value for agricultural purposes, but its value for a bridge site, minus the benefits derived to the owner from the erection: 17 Ga. 30. The right to erect a bridge upon the land of another may also be acquired by mere parol license, which, when acted upon, becomes ir- revocable; 11 Ν. Η. 102; 14 Ga. 1. But see 4 R. I. 47. The franchise of a toll bridge or ferry may be taken, like other property, for a free bridge; 6 How. 507; 23 Pick. 360; 4 Gray 474; 28 N. H. 195; and, when vested in a town or other public corpora- tion, may be so taken without compensa- tion; 10 How. 511. A new bridge may be erected, under legis- lative authority, so near an older bridge or ferry as to impair or destroy its value, without compensation, unless the older franchise be protected by the terms of its grant; 11 Pet. 420; 7 Pick. 344; 6 Paige, Ch. 554; 1 Barb. Ch. 547; 3 Sandf. Ch. 625; 8 Bush 31; 2 Dill. 332; 21 Can. S. C. R. 456; 3 Wall. 51; but, unless authorized by statute, a new bridge so erected is unlaw- ful, and may be enjoined as a nuisance; 3 Bla. Com. 218, 219; 4 Term 566; 2 Cr. M. & R. 432; 6 Cal. 590; 3 Wend. 610; 8 Ala. 211; 11 Pet. 261, Story, J.; and if the older franchise, vested in an individual or private corporation, be protected, or be exclusive within given limits, by the terms of its grant, the erection of a new bridge or ferry, even under legislative authority, is unconstitutional, as an act impairing the obligations of contract; 7 N. H. 35; 17 Conn. 40; 10 Ala. N. S. 37. See 21 Can. S. C. R. 456. The entire expense of a bridge erected within a particular town or district may be assessed upon the inhabit- ants of such town or district; 10 Ill. 405; 23 Conn. 416. The absolute control of navigable streams in the United States is vested in congress; Miller, Const. U. S. 457; but in the absence of legislation by congress a state has the right to erect a bridge over a navigable river within its own limits; 3 Wall. 718; 4 Pick. 460; 1 Ν. H. 467; 5 McL. 425; 35 Me. 325; 22 Conn. 198; 27 Pa. 303; 15 Wend. 113; and so may a county; 12 Pa. Co. Ct. R. 669; al- though in exercising this right, care must be taken to interrupt navigation as little as possible; 43 Me. 198; 3 Hill 621; 23 Eng. L. & Eq. 240; 4 Harr. Del. 544; 4 Ind. 36; 2 Gray 339; 6 McL. 70, 209. The erection of a bridge entirely within a state across a navigable river running partly within and partly without the state is not a matter so directly connected with interstate commerce as to be under the exclusive control of congress, and in the absence of congressional action the state has authority to regulate the same; 53 Fed. Rep. 16. A state has no power to fix tolls on a bridge connecting it with another state, thereby regulating charges on interstate commerce without the consent of con- gress or the concurrence of such other state. The chief justice and three as- sociate justices concurred on the ground that concurrent acts of the state incor- porating the bridge company and authoriz- ing it to fix tolls constituted a contract between the corporation and both states which could not be altered by one state without the consent of the other; 154 U. S. 204, 2

obstruct the free navigation; 76 N. Y. 475. So railroads, having become the principal instruments of commerce, were as much under the control of congress as navigable streams, and a railroad bridge might be authorized by congress; 1 Woolw. 150; which has power directly or through a corporation created for the purpose to con- struct bridges over navigable waters be- tween states, for the purpose of interstate commerce by land; 153 U. S. 525; the bridge across East River between New York and Brooklyn is authorized by acts of New York and of congress and cannot be declared to be a public nuisance, even though it may injuriously affect the business of a ware- houseman on the banks of the river above the bridge; 109 U. S. 385. See also on the subject at large Miller, Const. U. S. Lect. ix. For any unnecessary interruption the proprietors of the bridge will be liable in damages to the persons specially injured thereby, or to have the bridge abated as a nuisance, by injunction, though not by indictment; such bridge, although au- thorized by state laws, being in contraven- tion of rights secured by acts of congress regulating commerce; 18 How. 518; 1 W. & M. 401; 5 McL. 425; 6 id. 70, 237. Dedication. The dedication of bridges depends upon the same principles as the dedication of highways, except that their acceptance will not be presumed from mere use, until they are proved to be of public utility; Ang. Highw. 3d ed. § 164; Thomp. Highw. 55; 5 Burr. 2594; 2 W. Bla. 685; 2 Ν. Η. 518; 18 Pick. 312; 23 Wend. 466; 3 M. & S. 526. See 84 Ill. 279; 22 Kan. 438;

A structure, usually of wood, stone, brick, or iron, erected over a river or other water course, or over a chasm, railroad, etc., to make a passageway from one bank to the other. Anything supported at the ends, which serves to keep some other thing from resting upon the object spanned, as in engraving, watchmaking, etc., or which forms a platform or staging over which something passes or is conveyed. The small arch or bar at right angles to the strings of a violin, guitar, etc., serving of raise them and transmit their vibrations to the body of the instrument. A device to measure the resistance of a wire or other conductor forming part of an electric circuit. A low wall or vertical partition in the fire chamber of a furnace, for deflecting flame, etc.; -- usually called a bridge wall. Aqueduct bridge. See Aqueduct. -- Asses' bridge, Bascule bridge, Bateau bridge. See under Ass, Bascule, Bateau. -- Bridge of a steamer (Naut.), a narrow platform across the deck, above the rail, for the convenience of the officer in charge of the ship; in paddlewheel vessels it connects the paddle boxes. -- Bridge of the nose, the upper, bony part of the nose. -- Cantalever bridge. See under Cantalever. -- Draw bridge. See Drawbridge. -- Flying bridge, a temporary bridge suspended or floating, as for the passage of armies; also, a floating structure connected by a cable with an anchor or pier up stream, and made to pass from bank to bank by the action of the current or other means. -- Girder bridge or Truss bridge, a bridge formed by girders, or by trusses resting upon abutments or piers. -- Lattice bridge, a bridge formed by lattice girders. -- Pontoon bridge, Ponton bridge. See under Pontoon. -- Skew bridge, a bridge built obliquely from bank to bank, as sometimes required in railway engineering. -- Suspension bridge. See under Suspension. -- Trestle bridge, a bridge formed of a series of short, simple girders resting on trestles. -- Tubular bridge, a bridge in the form of a hollow trunk or rectangular tube, with cellular walls made of iron plates riveted together, as the Britannia bridge over the Menai Strait, and the Victoria bridge at Montreal. -- Wheatstone's bridge (Elec.), a device for the measurement of resistances, so called because the balance between the resistances to be measured is indicated by the absence of a current in a certain wire forming a bridge or connection between two points of the apparatus; -- invented by Sir Charles Wheatstone.

To build a bridge or bridges on or over; as, to bridge a river. Their simple engineering bridged with felled trees the streams which could not be forded. Palfrey. To open or make a passage, as by a bridge. Xerxes . . . over Hellespont Bridging his way, Europe with Asia joined. Milton. To find a way of getting over, as a difficulty; -- generally with over.

A construction or natural feature that spans a divide. | A construction spanning a waterway, ravine, or valley from a height, allowing for the passage of vehicles, pedestrians, trains, etc. | A construction or natural feature that spans a divide. | The upper bony ridge of the human nose. | A construction or natural feature that spans a divide. | A prosthesis replacing one or several adjacent teeth. | A construction or natural feature that spans a divide. | The gap between the holes on a bowling ball | An arch or superstructure. | An elevated platform above the upper deck of a mechanically propelled ship from which it is navigated and from which all activities on deck can be seen and controlled by the captain, etc; smaller ships have a wheelhouse, and sailing ships were controlled from a quarterdeck. | An arch or superstructure. | The piece, on string instruments, that supports the strings from the sounding board. | An arch or superstructure. | A particular form of one hand placed on the table to support the cue when making a shot in cue sports. | An arch or superstructure. | A cue modified with a convex arch-shaped notched head attached to the narrow end, used to support a player's (shooter's) cue for extended or tedious shots. Also called a spider. | An arch or superstructure. | Anything supported at the ends and serving to keep some other thing from resting upon the object spanned, as in engraving, watchmaking, etc., or which forms a platform or staging over which something passes or is conveyed. | An arch or superstructure. | A defensive position in which the wrestler is supported by his feet and head, belly-up, in order to prevent touch-down of the shoulders and eventually to dislodge an opponent who has established a position on top. | An arch or superstructure. | A similar position in gymnastics. | A connection, real or abstract. | A connection, real or abstract. | A rudimentary procedure before definite solution | A connection, real or abstract. | A device which connects two or more computer buses, typically in a transparent manner. | A connection, real or abstract. | A software component connecting two or more separate systems. | A connection, real or abstract. | A system which connects two or more local area networks at layer 2 of OSI model. | A connection, real or abstract. | An intramolecular valence bond, atom or chain of atoms that connects two different parts of a molecule; the atoms so connected being bridgeheads. | A connection, real or abstract. | An unintended solder connection between two or more components or pins. | A connection, real or abstract. | A contrasting section within a song that prepares for the return of the original material section. | A connection, real or abstract. | An edge which, if removed, changes a connected graph to one that is not connected. | A connection, real or abstract. | A point in a line where a break in a word unit cannot occur. | A connection, real or abstract. | A statement, such as an offer, that signals a possibility of accord. | A connection, real or abstract. | A day falling between two public holidays and consequently designated as an additional holiday. | A connection, real or abstract. | In turtles, the connection between the plastron and the carapace. | A connection, real or abstract. | The part of a pair of glasses that connects the lenses. | Any of several electrical devices that measure characteristics such as impedance and inductance by balancing different parts of a circuit | A low wall or vertical partition in the fire chamber of a furnace, for deflecting flame, etc.; a bridge wall. | The situation where a lone rider or small group of riders closes the space between them and the rider or group in front. | A solid crust of undissolved salt in a water softener. | An elongated chain of teammates, connected to the pack, for improved blocking potential. | A form of cheating by which a card is cut by previously curving it by pressure of the hand.

To be or make a bridge over something. | To span as if with a bridge. | To transition from one piece or section of music to another without stopping. | To connect two or more computer buses, networks etc. with a bridge. | To go to the bridge position. | To employ the bridge tactic. (See Noun section.)

A surname. | An occupational surname for a bridgekeeper | A surname. | A habitational surname for someone living near a bridge or at a location called Bridge or Bridges | A surname. | A toponymic surname for someone from Bruges | A surname. | Alternative form of Bridgen. | A surname. | Alternative form of Bridges. | A village and civil parish in Canterbury district, Kent, England (OS grid ref TR1854). Recorded as Brige in 1086 (DB), from Old English brycg. | An unincorporated community in Coos County, Oregon, United States, named for a river bridge.