But the two bridges support the load of the roadway in very different ways. The difference lies in how the cables are connected to the towers. In suspension bridges, the cables ride freely across ...

They also tend to be the most expensive to build. True to its name, a suspension bridge suspends the roadway from huge main cables, which extend from one end of the bridge to the other.

The first iron suspension bridge was built in 1819, across the Tweed, at Berwick-on-Tweed, by Captain Sir Samuel Brown. It was supported by chain cables, six 02a a side, and its span was 449 feet.