This early works was originally published in 1895. PREFACE: The great majority of bridges on a line of railway are short-span plate-girder bridges. This book is intended to help those young engineers who, joining an engineers office for the first time, find themselves engaged in this class of work. All complicated calculations have been avoided and the object in view has been to help the student or pupil to design a bridge of this kind efficiently, cheaply, simply and in accordance with modern practice. The theoretical knowledge required is small, and an attempt has been made not to enlarge on this part of the subject more than absolutely necessary..... Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900's and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.