During the pre-construction phase of the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge in 1848, engineers were stymied about how to get the initial cable across the gorge; ideas considered including fixing the cable to a cannonball or rocket, or towing the cable across the river with a ferryboat, then using winches to raise it to the top of the gorge.
Engineer Charles Ellet came up with the idea of organizing a kite-flying contest, offering a prize of $5 (roughly $200 today) to any boy who managed to fly a kite across the gorge and secure the kite string to a tree on the far side. 16-year-old Homan Walsh succeeded, and successively heavier lines were pulled across the gap.
Boru
Engineer Charles Ellet came up with the idea of organizing a kite-flying contest, offering a prize of $5 (roughly $200 today) to any boy who managed to fly a kite across the gorge and secure the kite string to a tree on the far side. 16-year-old Homan Walsh succeeded, and successively heavier lines were pulled across the gap.
Boru
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax
