ARCH BRIDGE
pier trussed arch arch upper chord portal frame
BEAM BRIDGE
overpass continuous beam parapet
deck underpass pier
anchorage
side span
SUSPENSION BRIDGE
suspension suspender
approach
ramp
deck centre span
tower abutment
Three common types of bridge design.
© MERRIAM-WEBSTER INC.
bridge Card game similar to whist. Bridge is any one of several games, including games such as auction bridge and contract bridge, which retain the essential features of whist: Four players participate, two against two in partnership. They play with a 52-card pack, all cards of which are dealt face downward one at a time, clockwise. When play begins, the object is to win tricks, consisting of one card from each player in rotation. The players must, if able, contribute a card of the suit led, and the trick is won by the highest card. All tricks taken in excess of the first six tricks are known as odd tricks. Before play begins, a suit may be designated the trump suit, in which case any card in it beats any card of the other suits. In all types of bridge a certain number points are needed to win a game, and two games won by the same team allows them to win the rubber.
Bridgeport City (pop., 2000: 139,529), southwestern Connecticut, U.S. Located on Long Island Sound at the mouth of the Pequonnock River, it was settled in 1639. Its earlier names included Newfield and Stratfield; Bridgeport was chosen in 1800. P.T. Barnum was once its mayor, and his star attraction “Tom Thumb” was bom there. The city evolved into an industrial centre following the arrival of the railroad in 1840. In the late 20th century, its industrial base eroded, causing financial problems for the city.
Bridger, Jim orig. James Bridger (b. March 17, 1804, Richmond, Va., U.S.—d. July 17, 1881, near Kansas City, Mo.) U.S. frontiersman. From 1822 he led fur-trapping expeditions to Utah and Idaho. He was apparently the first white man to visit the Great Salt Lake (1824) and among the first to explore Wyoming’s Yellowstone River region. In 1843 he established Fort Bridger, Wyo., as a fur-trading post on the Oregon Trail. After the 1850s he worked as a government scout. He became leg¬ endary for his knowledge of the territory and its Indian inhabitants.
Bridges, Calvin Blackman (b. Jan. 11, 1889, Schuyler Falls, N.Y., U.S.—d. Dec. 27, 1938, Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. geneticist. He entered Columbia University in 1909 and assisted Thomas Hunt Morgan in design¬ ing experiments using Drosophila that showed that variations in the insect could be traced to observable changes in its genes. These experiments led to the construction of gene maps and proved the chromosome theory of heredity. In 1928 Bridges and Morgan moved to California Institute of Technology, where Bridges continued gene mapping and later discovered an important class of drosophila mutants caused by gene duplications.
Bridges, Harry orig. Alfred Bryant Renton (b. July 28, 1901, Kensington, near Melbourne, Vic., Austl.—d. March 30, 1990, San Fran¬ cisco, Calif., U.S.) Australian-born U.S. labour leader. He arrived in the U.S. as a seaman in 1920, and he soon settled in San Francisco and became active in the local branch of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA). In 1937 he led the Pacific Coast division out of the ILA and reconstituted it as the International Longshoremen’s and Ware¬ housemen’s Union (ILWU), affiliated with the CIO (see AFL-CIO). His aggressive labour tactics and Communist Party connections led the CIO to expel the ILWU in 1950 during a purge of allegedly communist- dominated unions, and opponents tried unsuccessfully to have Bridges deported. He retired as president of the ILWU in 1977.
Bridges, Robert (Seymour)
(b. Oct. 23, 1844, Walmer, Kent, Eng.—d. April 21, 1930, Boar’s Hill, Oxford) English poet. He published several long poems and poetic dra¬ mas, but his reputation rests on the lyrics collected in Shorter Poems (1890, 1894), which reveal his mas¬ tery of prosody. His 1916 edition of the poetry of his friend Gerard Man- ley Hopkins rescued it from obscurity. He was poet laureate of England from 1913 until his death.
Bridget, Saint (b. c. 1303, Swed.—d. July 23, 1373, Rome; canonized Oct. 8, 1391; feast day July 23) Mystic and patron saint of Sweden. She had religious visions from an early age but married and had eight children, including St. Catherine of Sweden. On the death of her husband (1344), she retired to
Robert Bridges, gold-point drawing by W. Strang; in the National Portrait Gallery, London
COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, LONDON
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Bridgetown ► Brissot I 275
a life of prayer. She lived in Rome after 1350, striving to bring the pope back from Avignon. In response to a revelation, she founded a new reli¬ gious order in 1370, the Brigittines. In 1372, inspired by another vision, she journeyed to the Holy Land and died soon after her return to Rome.
Bridgetown Capital (pop., 1990: 6,070) of Barbados, West Indies. Located on Carlisle Bay at the southwestern end of Barbados, it is the island’s only port of entry. Founded in 1628, it was originally called Indian Bridge. The name St. Michael’s Town came into favor c. 1660 and remained in use into the 19th century. The town was ravaged repeatedly by fires, and in 1854 a cholera epidemic killed some 20,000 people. Landmarks include St. Michael’s Anglican Cathedral, built of coral rock. Economic mainstays include sugar refining, rum distilling, and tourism.
brier also spelled briar term generally applied to any plant with a woody and thorny or prickly stem, such as those of the genera Rosa, Rubus, Smilax, and Erica. White, or tree, heath {E. arborea) is found in southern France and the Mediterranean region. Its roots and knotted stems are used for making briarwood tobacco pipes. Its leaves are needlelike and its flowers almost white.
brig Two-masted sailing ship with square rigging on both masts. Brigs were both naval and mercantile vessels. As merchantmen, they often fol¬ lowed coastal trading routes, but ocean voyages were not uncommon, and some were even used for whaling and sealing. Naval brigs carried 10-20 guns on a single deck. In the 18th—19th century, they served as couriers for battle fleets and as training vessels for cadets. Brigs of the early U.S. Navy won distinction on the Great Lakes in the War of 1812. Because square rigging required a large crew, merchant brigs became uneconomi¬ cal, and in the 19th century they began to give way to vessels such as the schooner and the bark.
brigade \bri-'gad\ Military unit commanded by a brigadier general or a colonel and composed of two or more subordinate units, such as regiments or battalions. Two or more brigades make up a division.
Brigham \,brig-9m\ Young University Private university in Provo, Utah, U.S. Founded in 1875 by the Mormon church president Brigham Young, it continues to be supported by the Mormon church. It comprises nine colleges as well as schools of management and law. Important research facilities include laboratories for nuclear, plasma, and solid-state physics, aquatic ecology, and veterinary pathology and institutes for the study of food and agriculture and of computer-aided manufacturing.
Bright, John (b. Nov. 16, 1811, Rochdale, Lancashire, Eng.—d. March 27, 1889, Rochdale) British reform politician and orator. He entered Par¬ liament in 1843 and served three times as a member of William E. Glad¬ stone’s cabinet. He was active in campaigns for free trade, lower grain prices, and parliamentary reform. His Quaker beliefs shaped his politics, which consisted mainly of demands for an end to inequalities between individuals and between peoples. He denounced the Crimean War, sup¬ ported the Reform Bill of 1867, and was a cofounder (with Richard Cob- den) of the Anti-Corn Law League.
Bright disease Type of nephritis without pus formation or edema. It may or may not recur. The acute stage involves severe inflammation and back pain, deficient kidney function, swelling, and hypertension. In the subacute stage the kidney enlarges, blood does not reach its surface and red blood cells are damaged (leading to anemia), and its tissue breaks down, releas¬ ing excess blood protein into urine. In the chronic stage a small, shriv¬ eled, scarred kidney cannot filter nitrogen compounds from the blood, causing uremia. Treatment focuses on symptom relief.