The Queen has ceremonially opened many bridges. In 1981 she opened the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge which carries the metro between Newcastle and Gateshead. Then the cable staged bridge in 1991, also called the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge; this one crosses the River Thames at Dartford and transport 130000 vehicles a day. Even bridges that […]
Bath is famed for many architectural delights, the Royal Crescent, the Abbey, Roman Baths and many Regency style building. Perhaps less known, yet equally important, is the Pulteney Bridge. Built in 1769 by Robert Adams, it is lined on both sides by shops, and one of only a few bridges in the world to have […]
The trouble with defining old things is finding out how old they actually are, which given the lack of reliable historical primary sources means a lot of guesswork. Take the Old Dee Bridge, the oldest surviving crossing in the walled city of Chester. The stone bridge is probably the one ordered by the Black Prince […]
John Nash was a architect and during the Georgian and Regency periods he designed many buildings in London. He also had spell living in Carmarthen, Wales. At that time, Newport, a city in South Wales on the River Usk, wanted to replace its timber bridge with a stone one. Nash submitted plans in 1791, which […]
Bridges have a crucial role to play in conflict. They are important for supply networks and the movement of armies. But what about their defensive role? Many a bridge has been deliberately destroyed to prevent an enemy crossing a strategic river. Yet many bridges have survived wars, and some had fortifications incorporated into their structures. […]
London Bridge is falling down Falling down, falling down London Bridge is falling down My fair lady This was the nursery rhyme I sang as a child, often sung in a round, and the words at the time meant little to me. While researching the history of London Bridge and find myself wondering how relevant […]
A bridge is supposed to overcome an obstacle, but sometimes a bridge itself can become an obstacle. There are many ways to overcome this problem: swing, pivot, drawbridges, tilting, and lifting. These are all forms of movable bridges. While drawbridges or bascule bridges have been in use since Ancient times, vertical lift bridges are a […]
How do you cross 2 railway lines, 3 canals and 2 rivers? Obviously not with one bridge. But this was the dilemma facing road builders in the 1950s and 1960s, especially the construction of new motorways in highly urbanised areas of major cities. There is estimated to be about 9000 bridges on the network of […]
The primary purpose of a bridge is transportation and it remains so even if what is being transported is varied and the obstacle to span is either natural or man made. At beginning of the industrial revolution, moving raw materials and completed goods was challenging, especially if the centres of industry were in remote locations […]
On November 16th 1771, across the north east of England it rained. It didn’t stop, and to make matters worse, the deluge coincided with snow melting on the Pennines. The region’s rivers were inundated, the river banks failed. The Great Flood of 1771 swept away houses, mills and every stone bridge on the Rivers Tyne, […]
The Quiet Writer 