Pritchard, Thomas Farnolls 2. Neither Telford nor Brunel designed the bridge. Thomas Farnolls Pritchard, a Shrewsbury architect, was in charge of the Iron Bridge's design. He received a contract to build the structure in 1825, but died before he could begin work. His partner, John Aikin, then took over the project. Aikin had been involved in the construction of several other iron bridges across Europe and America and knew how to select skilled workers and purchase quality materials. The Iron Bridge was built using Armstrong steel with an iron superstructure. It has withstood the passage of time and traffic loadings without failure for more than two centuries.
The Pritchard's Crossing Iron Bridge is one of the most famous landmarks in its region. Located in West Shropshire near the border with Herefordshire, it crosses the River Severn about half a mile east of Much Wenlock. The original Pritchard's Crossing Bridge was built in 1772 by Henry Pritchard as part of the turnpike road between Shrewsbury and London. It was replaced by his son Thomas Farnolls Pritchard in 1825. In 1937, after heavy traffic had worn away the original stone abutments, the present-day bridge was built approximately where they stood.
The bridge spans the Ironbridge Gorge with a primary span of 100 ft 6 in (30.63 m), allowing boats to pass below. ...
| The Iron Bridge | |
|---|---|
| Designer | Thomas Farnolls Pritchard |
| Constructed by | Abraham Darby III |
| Fabrication by | Abraham Darby III |
| Construction start | November 1777 |
Marriott Ogle Tarbotton designed the bridge. Andrew Handyside, a Derbyshire iron manufacturer, began construction in 1868 and finished it in 1871. The new Trent Bridge was built as part of a series of initiatives along the river's banks to increase flood defenses by building stepped stone embankments. These were intended not only to protect downstream properties but also to improve fishing opportunities by providing safe nesting sites for fish.
The original toll gates on the bridge were demolished when they were found to be inhibiting traffic flow during peak times. They had been making a profit of about £10,000 per year. Instead, an electronic ticket system was introduced in 1997 that allows traffic through the bridge free of charge during non-peak hours (from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m.) and provides a fee structure for other times. The maximum fee that can be charged is £150 ($225) for a single vehicle. A driver who fails to display a valid ticket upon request from a police officer can have their car photographed and have a penalty point added to their license.
Trent Bridge was one of four bridges across the River Tees constructed between 1867 and 1872. The others are Bishop Auckland Bridge, Hebblehead Railway Bridge, and Billingham Main Colliery Bridge. All were designed by Marriott Ogle Tarbotton and all are still in use today.
The use of steel in the bridge's construction was perhaps the most significant innovation mandated by John Roebling. Before this time, large-scale steel structures had been built using iron as the primary material, but this method was expensive and difficult to execute on a scale commensurate with the demands of a major bridge. The use of concrete as a binding agent for the steel was also an innovation proposed by John Roebling that was eventually adopted by most other bridge designers.
John Roebling's involvement with the design process resulted in several important innovations being used in the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. First, he proposed using wire rope instead of chains as the main form of suspension between the two towers. This would later be adopted by many other designers when building their own bridges. Second, he suggested that the deck of the bridge be made of precast segments bolted together in the shape of cross ties (the horizontal members of a truss) to reduce the weight of the structure and make it more flexible. This idea was also soon adopted by others. Finally, Roebling proposed that the foundation of the bridge should be built of stone instead of dirt. This requirement was probably intended to provide better drainage and avoid problems with soil instability resulting from changes in water level as the river flows through its course.
The Iron Bridge, erected in Coalbrookdale, England in 1779, was a feat of engineering since it employed cast iron for the first time. The Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century provided wrought iron truss systems (an iron alloy with a very low carbon percentage), but they lacked the tensile strength to support heavy loads. Cast iron had the necessary strength, but it cracked when stressed rapidly-for example, when a wagon crossed an iron bridge too quickly. By using both cast and wrought iron, the Coalbrookdale bridge overcame this problem.
The Iron Bridge was also an early use of railroads in its construction. Trains could be used to transport raw materials across ponds or streams, thus freeing up labor for other tasks. The bridge was made of three sections: two wrought iron girders and one cast iron arch. It spanned the River Severn about 500 feet long and 30 feet wide and was the longest railroad bridge in Britain at the time it was built.
Coalbrookdale is a town in South West Shropshire about 20 miles west of London. The river Severn forms most of the eastern boundary of the town. The name "Coalbrookdale" comes from the English word "coal," which means "fuel for cooking or heating." The area around Coalbrookdale was known for its coal mines until 1875, when the last one closed. Today the town is famous as the location of the Iron Bridge built in 1779.
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