Book excerpt: The bridges of Central Park are whimsically elegant and practical in their efficiency. Straddling great rock formations, roads, bridle trails, footpaths, and waterways, more than 50 ornate bridges and arches enable over 60 miles of pathways to fit neatly within a 1.3-square-mile recreational space on Manhattan Island. Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux's competition-winning Greensward Plan of 1857 enabled Central Park to become the first landscaped public urban park in America. Architects Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould designed the bridges, including some of America's oldest cast-iron spans. These graceful structures provide breathtaking vistas and unique venues for visitors and artisans alike. Standing inconspicuously in most cases and with bold pronouncement in others, they are thoughtfully placed to assure a timeless beauty and ongoing utility. Built at great expense and well integrated with the surrounding natural and engineered terrain, park bridges continue to circulate horseback riders, pedestrians, and horse-drawn carriages effortlessly through the man-made haven. The Bridges of Central Park celebrates the beauty and dimension of these structures, which provide relief for crowded paths and are frequently subjects of the photographer's eye.