Best of British: A Tale of Two Bridges

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

A Tale of Two Bridges

The Clifton Suspension Bridge..

Completed in 1864. It isn’t the largest span ever at only 702 feet, but the bridge is not about breaking records. It is about getting from one side of the river to the other without getting one’s feet wet, and it does that in true style. As you can see from the first photo, locations for the towers were less than convenient. This tower is called the Clifton tower and as you can see, it is built atop a solid precipice. The Leigh tower on the other side is very different and here is a link to a website which shows how it was done.

http://www.interactory.com/web/hidbrid/content/dev5

OK. Now for a scene to kill for. If you know of a suspension bridge and surroundings that looks as good as this one, please leave a comment and I will check it out..

The Forth Railway bridge..

The suspension bridge on the left is called the Forth Road Bridge and was completed in 1964. at which point the one on the right became known as the Forth Railway Bridge. From its completion date in 1890, it was called the Forth Bridge, and the ‘Railway’ part was added just in case there was any confusion over which was which after 1964. It is made from riveted steel tubes, big steel tubes, it carries a double track, and I understand that no other bridge was ever made exactly like it because it was so expensive to create. However, other bridges borrowed some of the design features.

It looks small from this angle, but when you stand on the jetty just to the left of the brick towers, you get a much better idea of just how big this bridge actually is.

It is a very strong bridge too. The engineers and designers were acutely aware of what happened to the original Tay bridge, and there was no way that this bridge was going to collapse.

The death toll of workers was quite high, ninety eight killed and thousands of non-fatal injuries sustained, but you have to remember that this is the Firth of Forth. Weather in Scotland is not as kindly as it is in the South West of England.

For more info:

The Clifton Bridge.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifton_Suspension_Bridge

The Forth Railway Bridge.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forth_Railway_Bridge

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Why so many manufactured goods?

Great Britain, the UK, whatever you want to call us is a small island surrounded by even smaller islands. Until the ice receded all of those eons ago, there was no island. The ice cleared late and, when it finally did, left little time for the development of flora and fauna. What wasn't there couldn't get there. Size also determined the amount of collectible raw materials available.

We don't have copious amounts of anything which we can sell in its raw state, but we can buy in raw materials and then make something really useful out of them. This enables us to trade with the rest of the world.

So now you know why this blog features so many manufactured items.

You may well make fun of us, but before you do, consider this.

Our small island, bordered by some of the roughest seas and oceans in the world, commanded an Empire larger and longer lived than any other nation on earth. The Industrial Revolution started in Britain and much of our technology and wares have found their way to many countries across the world. While much junk has been produced by us, there are some outstanding examples of Britishness that command respect from people across seas and oceans, classics of a time gone by.

If we feel the need, we can produce fine products which are head and shoulders above anything else. I will endeavour to show you what we have done and can do