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Designed in 1859 and completed in 1862, 87-foot long Bow Bridge in Manhattan's Central Park is a cast iron bridge designed by Calvert Vaux (1824 - 1895) and Jacob Wrey Mould (1825-1886).  Its name derives from its resemblance to an archer's bow.  Vaux was assistant to Central Park's designer, the landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead (1822 - 1903)(and later went into partnership with him.)  There were originally seven cast iron bridges in Central Park.  It reaches a height of nine feet, seven inches and is fifteen feet, eight inches wide.  Note the Renaissance Gothic cinquefoils and foliate design.  The walkway is made of ipe, a wood from South America.  The cast iron railing is 142 feet.  The first cast iron bridge was built between 1777 and 1779 in Coalbrookdale, England.  The development of cheaper wrought iron led to a decline in the number of cast iron bridges.  Bow Bridge remains one of the most beautiful of its kind.