Suspension Bridge, Fire Hydrant, Locomotive

My History teacher said that inventions are tools that increase our efficiency, letting us do more work in less time. One of these inventions is the Suspension Bridge. The Romans were the great bridge builders of the ancient world. Ancient bridges were heavy and had several limitations. James Finley was born in 1756. James Finley invented the first suspension bridge. Suspension bridges were a good invention because they do not cost a lot of money. They do not weigh a lot but they are very strong. They make work easier, so you do not have to go all the way around a lake, a river, or a valley.

Big cities needed a way to get rid of waste. They buried trees underground as pipes to carry away water. They used elm trees because they do not rot. When there was a fire, the firefighters would drill a hole in a wooden pipe to let out water to put on the fire. They used wooden fireplugs. Fredrick Graff was from Pennsylvania, and he intended the iron fireplug, also known as the fire hydrant. 

The first rails in a railroad were made of wood. By 1700, miners began using iron and metal railroads instead of wooden ones. Also in the 1700s, miners used low-pressure steam engines to pump water out of the mines. Richard Trevithick built the first locomotive used in high-pressure steam engine in 1801. He named his first locomotive the Puffing Devil. The high-pressure steam engine could pull heavy loads like coal, ore, and even people.