...s. He next became a builder of bridges and powermills. In 1809 he laid the keel of the first United States frigate built in the Philadelphia navy-yard; in 1812 he built a wooden bridge across the Schuylkill River at Philadelphia, which became known as the Colossus of Fairmount and which was till that time the longest bridge ever constructed, having a single arch with a span of 340 feet. About 1813, when he s...