as shown in fig. 72 with arcs of the length l1, l2, l3, &c., and with the radii r1, r2, &c. (note, for a length 12l1 at each end the radius will be infinite, and the curve must end with a straight line tangent to the last arc), then let v be the measured deflection of this curve from the straight line, and V the actual deflection of the bridge; we have V = av/b, approximately. This method distorts the curve, so that vertical ordinates of the curve are drawn to a scale b times greater than that of the horizontal ordinates. Thus if the horizontal scale be one-tenth of an inch to the foot, a = 120, and a beam 100 ft. in length would be drawn equal to 10 in.; then if the true radius at the centre were 10,000 ft., this radius, if the curve were undistorted, would be on paper 1000 in., but making b = 50 we can draw the curve with a radius of 20 in. The vertical distortion of the curve must not be so great that there is a very sensible difference between the length of the arc and its chord. This can be regulated by altering the value of b. In fig. 72 distortion is carried too far; this figure is merely used as an illustration.
Fig. 72.
38. Camber.—In order that a girder may become straight under its working load it should be constructed with a camber or upward convexity equal to the calculated deflection. Owing to the yielding of joints when a beam is first loaded a smaller modulus of elasticity should be taken than for a solid bar. For riveted girders E is about 17,500,000 ℔ per sq. in. for first loading. W. J. M. Rankine gives the approximate rule
Working deflection = δ = l 2 /10,000h,
where l is the span and h the depth of the beam, the stresses being those usual in bridgework, due to the total dead and live load. (W. C. U.)
BRIDGET, SAINT, more properly Brigid (c. 452–523), one of the patron saints of Ireland, was born at Faughart in county Louth, her father being a prince of Ulster. Refusing to marry, she chose a life of seclusion, making her cell, the first in Ireland, under a large oak tree, whence the place was called Kil-dara, “the church of the oak.” The city of Kildare is supposed to derive its name from St Brigid’s cell. The year of her death is generally placed in 523. She was buried at Kildare, but her remains were afterwards translated to Downpatrick, where they were laid beside the bodies of St Patrick and St Columba. Her feast is celebrated on the 1st of February. A large collection of miraculous stories clustered round her name, and her reputation was not confined to Ireland, for, under the name of St Bride, she became a favourite saint in England, and numerous churches were dedicated to her in Scotland.
See the five lives given in the Bollandist Acta Sanctorum, Feb. 1, i. 99, 119, 950. Cf. Whitley-Stokes, Three Middle-Irish Homilies on the Lives of Saint Patrick, Brigit and Columba (Calcutta, 1874); Colgan, Acta SS. Hiberniae; D. O’Hanlon, Lives of Irish Saints, vol. ii.; Knowles, Life of St Brigid (1907); further bibliography in Ulysse Chevalier, Répertoire des sources hist. Bio.-Bibl. (2nd ed., Paris, 1905), s.v.
BRIDGET, Brigitta, Birgitta, OF SWEDEN, SAINT (c. 1302–1373), the most celebrated saint of the northern kingdoms, was the daughter of Birger Persson, governor and lagman (provincial judge) of Uppland, and one of the richest landowners of the country. In 1316 she was married to Ulf Gudmarson, lord of Nericia, to whom she bore eight children, one of whom was afterwards honoured as St Catherine of Sweden. Bridget’s saintly and charitable life soon made her known far and wide; she gained, too, great religious influence over her husband, with whom (1341–1343) she went on pilgrimage to St James of Compostella. In 1344, shortly after their return, Ulf died in the Cistercian monastery of Alvastra in East Gothland, and Bridget now devoted herself wholly to religion. As a child she had already believed herself to have visions; these now became more frequent, and her records of these “revelations,” which were translated into Latin by Matthias, canon of Linköping, and by her confessor, Peter, prior of Alvastra, obtained a great vogue during the middle ages. It was about this time that she founded the order of St Saviour, or Bridgittines (q.v.), of which the principal house, at Vadstena, was richly endowed by King Magnus II. and his queen. About 1350 she went to Rome, partly to obtain from the pope the authorization of the new order, partly in pursuance of her self-imposed mission to elevate the moral tone of the age. It was not till 1370 that Pope Urban V. confirmed the rule of her order; but meanwhile Bridget had made herself universally beloved in Rome by her kindness and good works. Save for occasional pilgrimages, including one to Jerusalem in 1373, she remained in Rome till her death on the 23rd of July 1373. She was canonized in 1391 by Pope Boniface IX., and her feast is celebrated on the 9th of October.
Bibliography.—Cf. the Bollandist Acta Sanctorum, Oct. 8, iv. 368-560; the Vita Sanctae Brigittae, edited by C. Annerstedt in Scriptores rerum Suedicarum medii aevi, iii. 185-244 (Upsala, 1871). The best modern work on the subject is by the comtesse Catherine de Flavigny, entitled Sainte Brigitte de Suède, sa vie, ses révélations et son œuvre (Paris, 1892), which contains an exhaustive bibliography. The Revelations are contained in the critical edition of St Bridget’s works published by the Swedish Historical Society and edited by G. E. Klemming (Stockholm, 1857–1884, II vols.). For full bibliography (to 1904) see Ulysse Chevalier, Répertoire des sources hist. Bio.-Bibl., s.v. “Brigitte.”
BRIDGETON, a city, port of entry, and the county-seat of Cumberland county, New Jersey, U.S.A., in the south part of the state, on Cohansey creek, 38 m. S. of Philadelphia. Pop. (1890) 11,424; (1900) 13,913, of whom 653 were foreign-born and 701 were negroes; (1905) 13,624; (1910) 14,209. It is served by the West Jersey & Sea Shore and the Central of New Jersey railways, by electric railways connecting with adjacent towns, and by Delaware river steamboats on Cohansey creek, which is navigable to this point. It is an attractive residential city, has a park of 650 acres and a fine public library, and is the seat of West Jersey academy and of Ivy Hall, a school for girls. It is an important market town and distributing centre for a rich agricultural region; among its manufactures are glass (the product, chiefly glass bottles, being valued in 1905 at $1,252,795—42.3% of the value of all the city’s factory products—and Bridgeton ranking eighth among the cities of the United States in this industry), machinery, clothing, and canned fruits and vegetables; it also has dyeing and finishing works. Though Bridgeton is a port of entry, its foreign commerce is relatively unimportant. The first settlement in what is now Bridgeton was made toward the close of the 18th century. A pioneer iron-works was established here in 1814. The city of Bridgeton, formed by the union of the township of Bridgeton and the township of Cohansey (incorporated in 1845 and 1848 respectively), was chartered in 1864.
BRIDGETT, THOMAS EDWARD (1829 – 1899), Roman Catholic priest and historical writer, was born at Derby on the 20th of January 1829. He was brought up a Baptist, but in his sixteenth year joined the Church of England. In 1847 he entered St John’s College, Cambridge, with the intention of taking orders. Being unable to subscribe to the Thirty-Nine Articles he could not take his degree, and in 1850 became a Roman Catholic, soon afterwards joining the Congregation of the Redemptorists. He went through his novitiate at St Trond in Belgium, and after a course of five years of theological study at Wittem, in Holland, was ordained priest. He returned to England in 1856, and for over forty years led an active life as a missioner in England and Ireland, preaching in over 80 missions and 140 retreats to the
