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IronBridge;
3D Satellite)
My wife an I did a three-week vacation in England in the 1970s. She was willing to go visit stuff such as canals, textile mills and this Iron Bridge because there were so many cute towns and churches to see along the way.
I took slides on that trip. I need to investigate a slide scanning service.
Lee Bradshaw
posted four photos with the comment: "The Iron bridge, near Telford, Shropshire UK, the world's first metal bridge, constructed in 1781, from cast iron smelted in Abraham Derby's blast furnaces just down the road at Coalbrookdale. Originally built like a wooden structure (nuts,bolts and welding not invented) using mortice and dovetail joints. Now reinforced with fish plates and bracing.
All parts were cast individually, with some "identical" parts being as much as 3 inches different lol."
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The world's first iron bridge was erected over the River Severn here in Shropshire in 1779. This pioneering structure marked a turning point in English design and engineering; after it was built, cast iron came to be widely used in the construction of bridges, aqueducts and buildings. The Iron Bridge's story began in the early 18th century, in the nearby village of Coalbrookdale. Abraham Darby pioneered the smelting of iron using coke, a process that was a catalyst for the Industrial Revolution. It was Abraham Darby III who cast the ironwork for the bridge that still stands today, using the same techniques developed by his grandfather. The bridge was so successful that it gave its name to the spectacular wooded valley which surrounds it, now recognised as the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site. In 2017-18 English Heritage undertook a £3.6m conservation project on the Iron Bridge, to help safeguard the future of its historic ironwork. [english-heritage-home]
Pioneering the use of coke was important because the iron industry had removed most of the trees in England to make charcoal.
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historic-uk
"This unique industrial and natural environment was formed during the Ice Age when the original flow of the river was diverted and formed the now famous gorge and as it did so, it exposed vital ingredients of layers of limestone, coal, ironstone and clay. The river itself provided water, waterpower and a convenient means of transport....It was in November 1777 that Abraham Darby III began erecting the 378 tons of cast iron to build the bridge which spans the 30 m/100 ft of the Shropshire gorge. The bridge itself was completed in 1779 with the fitting of the balustrade and the road surface along with the obligatory toll house. The first tolls were taken on New Year’s Day 1781. By this time the beautiful Severn Gorge had been transformed with the hive of industry, iron foundries, kilns and fires making the area a buzzing, smoke-filled port which was dark and dusky, even on a clear day."
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ironbridge-story
"The expansion of the local iron trade began in 1755 with the construction of a blast furnace at Horsehay by Darby’s son, the second Abraham. The Darbys and other ironmasters fostered a remarkable series of innovations in the use of iron. From the 1720s iron cylinders were supplied for steam engines. In 1729 iron wheels for railway wagons were cast at Coalbrookdale. Iron rails were made in 1767. In 1787 John Wilkinson launched on the Severn an iron barge, the first of many local associations with iron ships." |
It was being restored in 2018. The color was changed from blue to its original red-brown color. I wonder why they chose "rust" as the new color.
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