Cool shadow!
Picture
The Royal Albert Bridge (sometimes called the Brunel Bridge or Saltash Bridge) spans the River Tamar in the U.K. between Plymouth, on the Devon bank and Saltash on the Cornish bank carrying the Great Western Main Line in and out of Cornwall.
The bridge was designed in 1855 by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Cornwall Railway Company after Parliament rejected his original plan for a train ferry across the Hamoaze. The bridge consists of two main spans of 455 feet (139 m), 100 feet (30 m) above mean high spring tide, plus seventeen much shorter approach spans. Opened by Prince Albert on May 2, 1859, it was completed the year of the great engineer's death.
The structure was the third in a series of three notable wrought iron bridges built in the period, and was influenced by the preceding two, both by Robert Stephenson. The two central sections of the bridge are novel adaptations of the design employed for the High Level Bridge across the River Tyne in Newcastle Upon Tyne, being spans composed of a tubular arch in compression; a suspension chain in tension and acting to hold in the bridge abutments. Between these two chords are supporting cross bracing members and suspension members which trail beneath the suspension chain to carry the railway deck. The method of construction was similar to the Britannia Bridge across the Menai Strait in north Wales, in that the spans were constructed on land, then floated into position and raised. Unlike the Britannia, however, the central piers were built up in height three feet (1 m) at a time, and the spans raised that distance, until the design height was achieved. (For the Britannia, the piers were built to full height, and then the span hoisted to design height.) The difficulty of its construction rates it as one of Brunel's great railway achievements.
A short distance to the north of Brunel's bridge, the Tamar is crossed by the Tamar Bridge carrying the A38, one of the three trunk roads connecting Cornwall to Devon.
The Tamar Bridge is a major road bridge in southwest England carrying traffic between Devon and Cornwall. When it opened in 1961 it was the longest suspension bridge in the United Kingdom. In 2001 it became the world's first suspension bridge to be widened (from three to five lanes) using cantilevers, and the world's first bridge to undergo strengthening and widening work while remaining open to traffic. The five lanes are divided as follows: three lanes carry the A38 trunk road, the fourth is reserved for eastbound local traffic and the fifth for pedestrians and cyclists. Previously all traffic merged and shared the three lanes.
Picture
The Royal Albert Bridge (sometimes called the Brunel Bridge or Saltash Bridge) spans the River Tamar in the U.K. between Plymouth, on the Devon bank and Saltash on the Cornish bank carrying the Great Western Main Line in and out of Cornwall.
The bridge was designed in 1855 by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Cornwall Railway Company after Parliament rejected his original plan for a train ferry across the Hamoaze. The bridge consists of two main spans of 455 feet (139 m), 100 feet (30 m) above mean high spring tide, plus seventeen much shorter approach spans. Opened by Prince Albert on May 2, 1859, it was completed the year of the great engineer's death.
The structure was the third in a series of three notable wrought iron bridges built in the period, and was influenced by the preceding two, both by Robert Stephenson. The two central sections of the bridge are novel adaptations of the design employed for the High Level Bridge across the River Tyne in Newcastle Upon Tyne, being spans composed of a tubular arch in compression; a suspension chain in tension and acting to hold in the bridge abutments. Between these two chords are supporting cross bracing members and suspension members which trail beneath the suspension chain to carry the railway deck. The method of construction was similar to the Britannia Bridge across the Menai Strait in north Wales, in that the spans were constructed on land, then floated into position and raised. Unlike the Britannia, however, the central piers were built up in height three feet (1 m) at a time, and the spans raised that distance, until the design height was achieved. (For the Britannia, the piers were built to full height, and then the span hoisted to design height.) The difficulty of its construction rates it as one of Brunel's great railway achievements.
A short distance to the north of Brunel's bridge, the Tamar is crossed by the Tamar Bridge carrying the A38, one of the three trunk roads connecting Cornwall to Devon.
The Tamar Bridge is a major road bridge in southwest England carrying traffic between Devon and Cornwall. When it opened in 1961 it was the longest suspension bridge in the United Kingdom. In 2001 it became the world's first suspension bridge to be widened (from three to five lanes) using cantilevers, and the world's first bridge to undergo strengthening and widening work while remaining open to traffic. The five lanes are divided as follows: three lanes carry the A38 trunk road, the fourth is reserved for eastbound local traffic and the fifth for pedestrians and cyclists. Previously all traffic merged and shared the three lanes.
Bridges - Automobile Links: en.wikipedia.org
By: kjfitz
