80-655: The Clifton Suspension Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Avon Gorge and the River Avon , linking Clifton in Bristol to Leigh Woods in North Somerset . Since opening in 1864, it has been a toll bridge , the income from which provides funds for its maintenance. The bridge is built to a design by William Henry Barlow and John Hawkshaw , based on an earlier design by Isambard Kingdom Brunel . It
160-410: A cable-stayed bridge in which the deck is in compression. Cable-stayed bridges and suspension bridges may appear to be similar, but are quite different in principle and in their construction. In suspension bridges, large main cables (normally two) hang between the towers and are anchored at each end to the ground. The main cables, which are free to move on bearings in the towers, bear the load of
240-440: A suicide bridge and is fitted with plaques that advertise the telephone number of Samaritans . Between 1974 and 1993, 127 people fell to their deaths from the bridge. In 1998 suicide barriers were installed on the bridge to prevent people jumping. In the four years after installation this reduced the suicide rate from eight deaths per year to four. Nicolette Powell , the wife of UK rhythm and blues singer Georgie Fame , formerly
320-460: A 200 feet span (also termed Beose Bridge) was constructed near Sagar, India during 1828–1830 by Duncan Presgrave, Mint and Assay Master. The Clifton Suspension Bridge (designed in 1831, completed in 1864 with a 214 m central span), is similar to the Sagar bridge. It is one of the longest of the parabolic arc chain type. The current Marlow suspension bridge was designed by William Tierney Clark and
400-492: A bridge has a tendency to collapse simply because of the gravitational forces acting on the materials of which the bridge is made. Live load refers to traffic that moves across the bridge as well as normal environmental factors such as changes in temperature, precipitation, and winds. Dynamic load refers to environmental factors that go beyond normal weather conditions, factors such as sudden gusts of wind and earthquakes. All three factors must be taken into consideration when building
480-468: A bridge. Silver Bridge (USA) was an eyebar chain highway bridge, built in 1928, that collapsed in late 1967, killing forty-six people. The bridge had a low-redundancy design that was difficult to inspect. The collapse inspired legislation to ensure that older bridges were regularly inspected and maintained. Following the collapse a bridge of similar design was immediately closed and eventually demolished. A second similarly-designed bridge had been built with
560-788: A bridge. The principles of suspension used on a large scale also appear in contexts less dramatic than road or rail bridges. Light cable suspension may prove less expensive and seem more elegant for a cycle or footbridge than strong girder supports. An example of this is the Nescio Bridge in the Netherlands, and the Roebling designed 1904 Riegelsville suspension pedestrian bridge across the Delaware River in Pennsylvania. The longest pedestrian suspension bridge, which spans
640-416: A final selection from the five remaining entries. Telford rejected all the remaining designs, arguing that 577 feet (176 m) was the maximum possible span. Telford was then asked to produce a design himself, which he did, proposing a 110-foot-wide (34 m) suspension bridge, supported on tall Gothic towers, costing £52,000. The Bridge Committee which had been set up to look at the designs sponsored
720-571: A fitting memorial, and started to raise new funds. In 1860, Brunel's Hungerford suspension bridge over the Thames in London was demolished to make way for a new railway bridge to Charing Cross railway station . Its chains were purchased for use at Clifton. A revised design was made by William Henry Barlow and Sir John Hawkshaw , with a wider, higher and sturdier deck than Brunel intended, with triple chains instead of double. It has been argued that
800-403: A higher margin of safety and remained in service until 1991. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge , (USA), 1940, was vulnerable to structural vibration in sustained and moderately strong winds due to its plate-girder deck structure. Wind caused a phenomenon called aeroelastic fluttering that led to its collapse only months after completion. The collapse was captured on film. There were no human deaths in
880-481: A pedestrian suspension bridge over the Machchhu River in the city of Morbi, Gujarat, India collapsed, leading to the deaths of at least 141 people. Leigh Woods, Bristol Leigh Woods is a village in the North Somerset district of Somerset , England. It is just outside the boundary of the city and county of Bristol . The village is located to the south of Leigh Woods National Nature Reserve . It
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#1732772058586960-647: A proposal by Robert Stevenson for a bridge over the River Almond near Edinburgh . Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct (begun 1847) consists of three sections supported by cables. The timber structure essentially hides the cables; and from a quick view, it is not immediately apparent that it is even a suspension bridge. The main suspension cables in older bridges were often made from a chain or linked bars, but modern bridge cables are made from multiple strands of wire. This not only adds strength but improves reliability (often called redundancy in engineering terms) because
1040-541: A sequence generally described as follows. Depending on length and size, construction may take anywhere between a year and a half (construction on the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge took only 19 months) up to as long as a decade (the Akashi-Kaikyō Bridge's construction began in May 1986 and was opened in May 1998 – a total of twelve years). Suspension bridges are typically ranked by the length of their main span. These are
1120-499: A temporary walkway. Poured sockets are used to make a high strength, permanent cable termination. They are created by inserting the suspender wire rope (at the bridge deck supports) into the narrow end of a conical cavity which is oriented in-line with the intended direction of strain. The individual wires are splayed out inside the cone or 'capel', and the cone is then filled with molten lead-antimony-tin (Pb80Sb15Sn5) solder. Most suspension bridges have open truss structures to support
1200-551: Is a Grade I listed building and forms part of the B3129 road. The idea of building a bridge across the Avon Gorge originated in 1753. Original plans were for a stone bridge and later iterations were for a wrought iron structure. In 1831, an attempt to build Brunel's design was halted by the Bristol riots , and the revised version of his designs was built after his death and completed in 1864. Although similar in size and design,
1280-550: Is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridges , which lack vertical suspenders, have a long history in many mountainous parts of the world. Besides the bridge type most commonly called suspension bridges, covered in this article, there are other types of suspension bridges . The type covered here has cables suspended between towers , with vertical suspender cables that transfer
1360-409: Is approximately 1,500 tons. Two men were killed during the construction of the bridge. In 1885, a 22-year-old woman named Sarah Ann Henley survived a suicide attempt off the bridge when her billowing skirts acted as a parachute and she landed in the thick mud banks of the tidal River Avon at low tide; she subsequently lived into her eighties. The Clifton Suspension Bridge is well known as
1440-645: Is considered the last remaining Inca rope bridge and is rebuilt annually. The first iron chain suspension bridge in the Western world was the Jacob's Creek Bridge (1801) in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania , designed by inventor James Finley . Finley's bridge was the first to incorporate all of the necessary components of a modern suspension bridge, including a suspended deck which hung by trusses. Finley patented his design in 1808, and published it in
1520-563: Is situated at the western end of the Clifton Suspension Bridge , which opened in 1864, making the development of Leigh Woods as an upmarket residential area practicable. Houses in varying styles were built from the mid-1860s until the First World War . Styles adopted included Italian , neo- Jacobean , Scottish baronial , Swiss chalet, Modern glass buildings, Domestic Revival and Arts and Crafts . The village
1600-836: The Mahakam River , located in Kutai Kartanegara Regency , East Kalimantan district on the Indonesia island of Borneo , was built in 1995, completed in 2001 and collapsed in 2011. Dozens of vehicles on the bridge fell into the Mahakam River . As a result of this incident, 24 people died and dozens of others were injured and were treated at the Aji Muhammad Parikesit Regional Hospital. Meanwhile, 12 people were reported missing, 31 people were seriously injured, and 8 people had minor injuries. Research findings indicate that
1680-601: The Marchioness of Londonderry , jumped to her death from the bridge on 13 August 1993. In 1957 a RAF Filton -based RAF Vampire jet from 501 Squadron piloted by Flying officer John Greenwood Crossley flew under the deck while performing a victory roll before crashing in Leigh Woods , killing the pilot. The accident caused a landslip that led to the temporary closure of the nearby Portishead Railway . A helicopter from National Police Air Service Filton flew under
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#17327720585861760-454: The Society of Merchant Venturers following Vick's bequest. The trust was authorised to manage the bridge and collect tolls by acts of Parliament in 1952, 1980 and 1986. A toll is levied on vehicles, but the £0.05 toll that the act allows for cyclists or pedestrians is not collected. Human toll collectors were replaced by automated machines in 1975. The tolls are used to pay for the upkeep of
1840-733: The Society of Merchant Venturers , the Senior Sheriff of the City and County of Bristol and Thomas Daniel . The act allowed a wrought iron suspension bridge to be built instead of stone, and tolls levied to recoup the cost. The three trustees named in the act met on 17 June 1830 and appointed further trustees, bringing the total up to 23. There were additions to this number in the weeks which followed, so by early July 1830 there were 31 in all, although not everyone had been formally sworn in by that date. Others included Thomas Durbin Brice, Master of
1920-448: The live and dead loads of the deck below, upon which traffic crosses. This arrangement allows the deck to be level or to arc upward for additional clearance. Like other suspension bridge types, this type often is constructed without the use of falsework . The suspension cables must be anchored at each end of the bridge, since any load applied to the bridge is transformed into tension in these main cables. The main cables continue beyond
2000-473: The B3129 road. The bridge is a Grade I listed building . In November 2011 it was announced that a new visitor centre, costing nearly £2 million, was to be built at the Leigh Woods end of the bridge to replace the temporary building currently being used. The new facilities were scheduled to be completed before the 150th anniversary of the opening, which was celebrated on 8 December 2014. In December 2012 it
2080-610: The Clifton Bridge Bill which became an act , the Clifton Suspension Bridge Act 1830 ( 11 Geo. 4 & 1 Will. 4 . c. lxix), when the bill received royal assent on 29 May 1830. The act appointed three trustees to carry through the purposes of the act, with powers to appoint more up to a total not exceeding thirty five or less than twenty. The three trustees named in the act were the Master of
2160-639: The Clifton tower having side cut-outs whilst the Leigh tower has more pointed arches and chamfered edges. Brunel's original plan proposed they be topped with then-fashionable sphinxes , but the ornaments were never constructed. The 85-foot-tall (26 m) Leigh Woods tower stands atop a 110-foot (34 m) red sandstone-clad abutment. In 2002 it was discovered that this was not a solid structure but contained 12 vaulted chambers up to 35 feet (11 m) high, linked by shafts and tunnels. Roller-mounted "saddles" at
2240-777: The Philadelphia journal, The Port Folio , in 1810. Early British chain bridges included the Dryburgh Abbey Bridge (1817) and 137 m Union Bridge (1820), with spans rapidly increasing to 176 m with the Menai Bridge (1826), "the first important modern suspension bridge". The first chain bridge on the German speaking territories was the Chain Bridge in Nuremberg . The Sagar Iron Suspension Bridge with
2320-552: The River Paiva, Arouca Geopark , Portugal, opened in April 2021. The 516 metres bridge hangs 175 meters above the river. Where such a bridge spans a gap between two buildings, there is no need to construct towers, as the buildings can anchor the cables. Cable suspension may also be augmented by the inherent stiffness of a structure that has much in common with a tubular bridge . Typical suspension bridges are constructed using
2400-602: The Society of Merchant Venturers, George Daubeny, John Cave, John Scandrett Harford , George Hilhouse, Henry Bush, and Richard Guppy. The first full meeting of the trustees was held on 22 June 1830 in the Merchants Hall in Bristol. Alderman Thomas Daniel was in the chair. 86 people had committed £17,350, an average of just over £200 each. These funds raised during the first few months of 1830 were not sufficient for
2480-510: The attic rooms, and that they overhung the river much as Tudor houses would overhang the street. In the 1760s a bill to replace the bridge was carried through parliament by the Bristol MP Sir Jarrit Smyth . By the early 18th century, increase in traffic and the encroachment of shops on the roadway made the bridge fatally dangerous for many pedestrians. A new bridge, designed by James Bridges and finished by Thomas Paty
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2560-432: The bridge deck. Before the deck is installed, the cables are under tension from their own weight. Along the main cables smaller cables or rods connect to the bridge deck, which is lifted in sections. As this is done, the tension in the cables increases, as it does with the live load of traffic crossing the bridge. The tension on the main cables is transferred to the ground at the anchorages and by downwards compression on
2640-486: The bridge during a search in 1997. On 12 February 2014 the bridge was closed to traffic due to wind for the first time in living memory. On 11 July 2024, there was a discovery of human remains on the Clifton Suspension Bridge . The bridge was closed to all traffic and all pedestrians during a manhunt that led to the arrest of a murder suspect. Suspension bridge A suspension bridge
2720-467: The bridge for major annual events has continued each year since then. On 26 November 2003, the last Concorde flight (Concorde 216) flew over the bridge before landing at Filton Aerodrome . In April 2006, the bridge was the centrepiece of the Brunel 200 weekend, celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. At the climax of the celebration a firework display was launched from
2800-472: The bridge towers are not identical, the Clifton tower having side cut-outs, the Leigh tower more pointed arches atop a 110-foot (34 m) red sandstone -clad abutment. Roller-mounted "saddles" at the top of each tower allow movement of the three independent wrought iron eyebar chains on each side when loads pass over the bridge. The bridge deck is suspended by 162 vertical wrought-iron rods in 81 matching pairs. The Clifton Bridge Company initially managed
2880-460: The bridge under licence from a charitable trust. The trust subsequently purchased the company shares, completing this in 1949 and took over the running of the bridge using the income from tolls to pay for maintenance. The bridge is a distinctive landmark, used as a symbol of Bristol on postcards, promotional materials, and informational web sites. It has been used as a backdrop to several films and television advertising and programmes. It has also been
2960-458: The bridge, as he did not believe a single-span bridge of such length could be constructed. His son chose to ignore his advice. A ceremony to mark the start of the construction works was held Monday 20 June 1831. Work started on blasting of St. Vincent's Rock, on the Clifton side of the gorge. Four months later work was halted by the Bristol riots , which took place after the House of Lords rejected
3040-499: The bridge, including the strengthening of the chain anchor points, which was done in 1925 and 1939, and regular painting and maintenance, which is carried out from a motorised cradle slung beneath the deck. By 2008 over 4 million vehicles crossed the bridge each year. In February 2012, the bridge trustees applied to the Department for Transport to increase the toll to £1, subsequently implemented on 24 April 2014. On 1 April 1979,
3120-515: The bridge. After the passing of the act for the Great Western Railway reestablished financial confidence, work resumed in 1836, but subsequent investment proved woefully inadequate. Despite the main contractors going bankrupt in 1837, the towers were built in unfinished stone. To enable the transfer of materials, a 1,000-foot-long (300 m) iron bar, which was 1.25 inches (32 mm) in diameter, had been drawn by capstan across
3200-492: The bridge. The celebrations also saw the activation of an LED -based lighting array to illuminate the bridge. On 4 April 2009, the bridge was shut for one night to allow a crack in one of the support hangers to be repaired. On 23 May 2012, the London 2012 Olympic Torch relay crossed over the bridge, where two of the torchbearers came together in a "kiss" to exchange the flame in the middle of Brunel's iconic landmark. The bridge carries four million vehicles per year, along part of
3280-491: The chains are not attached to abutments as is usual, but instead are attached to the main girders, which are thus in compression. Here, the chains are made from flat wrought iron plates, eight inches (203 mm) wide by an inch and a half (38 mm) thick, rivetted together. The first wire-cable suspension bridge was the Spider Bridge at Falls of Schuylkill (1816), a modest and temporary footbridge built following
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3360-443: The chains, vertical suspension rods were hung from the links in the chains and large girders hung from these. The girders on either side then support the deck, which is 3 feet (0.91 m) higher at the Clifton end than at Leigh Woods so that it gives the impression of being horizontal. The strength of the structure was tested by spreading 500 tons of stone over the bridge. This caused it to sag by 7 inches (180 mm), but within
3440-631: The collapse of James Finley's nearby Chain Bridge at Falls of Schuylkill (1808). The footbridge's span was 124 m, although its deck was only 0.45 m wide. Development of wire-cable suspension bridges dates to the temporary simple suspension bridge at Annonay built by Marc Seguin and his brothers in 1822. It spanned only 18 m. The first permanent wire cable suspension bridge was Guillaume Henri Dufour 's Saint Antoine Bridge in Geneva of 1823, with two 40 m spans. The first with cables assembled in mid-air in
3520-529: The collapse was largely caused by the construction failure of the vertical hanging clamp. It was also found that poor maintenance, fatigue in the cable hanger construction materials, material quality, and bridge loads that exceed vehicle capacity, can also have an impact on bridge collapse. In 2013 the Kutai Kartanegara Bridge rebuilt the same location and completed in 2015 with a Through arch bridge design. On 30 October 2022, Jhulto Pul ,
3600-522: The collapse; several drivers escaped their cars on foot and reached the anchorages before the span dropped. Yarmouth suspension bridge (England) was built in 1829 and collapsed in 1845, killing 79 people. Peace River Suspension Bridge (Canada), which was completed in 1943, collapsed when the north anchor's soil support for the suspension bridge failed in October 1957. The entire bridge subsequently collapsed. Kutai Kartanegara Bridge (Indonesia) over
3680-410: The construction. Despite this Brunel produced a new proposal costing £10,000 less than Telford's design and gained support for it in the local press. James Meadows Rendel, William Armstrong and William Hill also submitted new, cheaper proposals, complaining that the committee had not set a budget. In 1831 a second competition was held, with new judges including Davies Gilbert and John Seaward examining
3760-402: The ends to 3 feet (0.91 m) in the centre. Composed of numerous parallel rows of eyebars connected by bolts, the chains are anchored in tunnels in the rocks 60 feet (18 m) below ground level at the sides of the gorge. The deck was originally laid with wooden planking, later covered with asphalt, which was renewed in 2009. The weight of the bridge, including chains, rods, girders and deck
3840-563: The engineering qualities of the proposals. Thirteen designs were submitted; Telford's was the only one in which the chains achieved the weight per square inch required by the judges but it was rejected as being too expensive. The winner was declared to be a design by Smith and Hawkes of the Eagle Foundry in Birmingham. Brunel had a personal meeting with Gilbert and persuaded him to change the decision. The committee then declared Brunel
3920-513: The expected tolerances. During this time a tunnel was driven through the rocks on the Leigh Woods side beneath the bridge to carry the Bristol Port Railway to Avonmouth . The construction work was completed in 1864–111 years after a bridge at the site was first planned. On 8 December 1864, the bridge was lit by a combination of four electric arc lamps , magnesium flares and limelights for its ceremonial opening ceremony. This
4000-584: The failure of a few flawed strands in the hundreds used pose very little threat of failure, whereas a single bad link or eyebar can cause failure of an entire bridge. (The failure of a single eyebar was found to be the cause of the collapse of the Silver Bridge over the Ohio River .) Another reason is that as spans increased, engineers were unable to lift larger chains into position, whereas wire strand cables can be formulated one by one in mid-air from
4080-533: The first modern bungee jumps were made from the bridge by members of the University of Oxford Dangerous Sports Club . In 2003 and 2004, the weight of crowds travelling to and from the Ashton Court Festival and Bristol International Balloon Fiesta put such great strain on the bridge that it was decided to close the bridge to all motor traffic and pedestrians during the events. The closure of
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#17327720585864160-546: The gorge. A contract was placed with Dowlais Ironworks to supply 600 tons of bar iron, which was to be transported to the Copperhouse foundry to be forged into bar chains. By 1843 funds were exhausted and another £30,000 was needed. As the work had exceeded the time limit stated in the act, all work stopped. Brunel suggested building a deep water pier at Portbury , which would make the bridge an essential road link, but funds for this scheme were not forthcoming. In 1851,
4240-432: The highway, which may be supported by suspender cables or their own trusswork . In cases where trusswork supports the spans, there will be very little arc in the outboard main cables. The earliest suspension bridges were ropes slung across a chasm, with a deck possibly at the same level or hung below the ropes such that the rope had a catenary shape. The Tibetan siddha and bridge-builder Thangtong Gyalpo originated
4320-568: The ironwork was sold and used to build the Brunel-designed Royal Albert Bridge on the railway between Plymouth and Saltash . The towers remained and during the 1850s intrepid passengers could cross the gorge in a basket slung from the iron bar. Brunel died in 1859, without seeing the completion of the bridge. His colleagues in the Institution of Civil Engineers felt that completion of the Bridge would be
4400-534: The live loads. In an underspanned suspension bridge, also called under-deck cable-stayed bridge, the main cables hang entirely below the bridge deck, but are still anchored into the ground in a similar way to the conventional type. Very few bridges of this nature have been built, as the deck is inherently less stable than when suspended below the cables. Examples include the Pont des Bergues of 1834 designed by Guillaume Henri Dufour ; James Smith's Micklewood Bridge; and
4480-702: The modern method was Joseph Chaley 's Grand Pont Suspendu in Fribourg , in 1834. In the United States, the first major wire-cable suspension bridge was the Wire Bridge at Fairmount in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Designed by Charles Ellet Jr. and completed in 1842, it had a span of 109 m. Ellet's Niagara Falls suspension bridge (1847–48) was abandoned before completion. It was used as scaffolding for John A. Roebling 's double decker railroad and carriage bridge (1855). The Otto Beit Bridge (1938–1939)
4560-400: The operation of the bridge. They paid £50 each year to the trustees who gradually purchased the shares in the company. The revenues from tolls were minimal initially as there was not much traffic; however, this increased after 1920 with greater car ownership. In 1949 the trustees purchased all the outstanding shares and debentures. The bridge is managed by a charitable trust, originally formed by
4640-406: The pillars to deck-level supports, and further continue to connections with anchors in the ground. The roadway is supported by vertical suspender cables or rods, called hangers. In some circumstances, the towers may sit on a bluff or canyon edge where the road may proceed directly to the main span. Otherwise, the bridge will typically have two smaller spans, running between either pair of pillars and
4720-413: The railing and the walking layer of Gyalpo's bridges used wires. The stress points that carried the screed were reinforced by the iron chains. Before the use of iron chains it is thought that Gyalpo used ropes from twisted willows or yak skins. He may have also used tightly bound cloth. The Inca used rope bridges , documented as early as 1615. It is not known when they were first made. Queshuachaca
4800-612: The roadbed, particularly owing to the unfavorable effects of using plate girders, discovered from the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (1940) bridge collapse. In the 1960s, developments in bridge aerodynamics allowed the re-introduction of plate structures as shallow box girders , first seen on the Severn bridge , built 1961–1966. In the picture of the Yichang Bridge , note the very sharp entry edge and sloping undergirders in
4880-423: The second Reform Bill , which aimed to eliminate some of the rotten boroughs and give parliamentary seats to Britain's fast growing industrial towns such as Bristol. Five to six hundred young men were involved in the riots and Brunel was sworn in as a special constable . The riots severely dented commercial confidence in Bristol; subscriptions to the bridge company ceased, and along with it, further construction of
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#17327720585864960-467: The size and technology of these revisions was so great that the credit for its design should go to Barlow and Hawkshaw. The towers remained in rough stone, rather than being finished in the Egyptian style. Work on the bridge was restarted in 1862. Initially a temporary bridge was created by pulling ropes across the gorge and making a footway of wire ropes with wood planks held together with iron hoops. This
5040-401: The suspension bridge shown. This enables this type of construction to be used without the danger of vortex shedding and consequent aeroelastic effects, such as those that destroyed the original Tacoma Narrows bridge. Three kinds of forces operate on any bridge: the dead load, the live load, and the dynamic load. Dead load refers to the weight of the bridge itself. Like any other structure,
5120-514: The ten bridges with the longest spans, followed by the length of the span and the year the bridge opened for traffic: (Chronological) Broughton Suspension Bridge (England) was an iron chain bridge built in 1826. One of Europe's first suspension bridges, it collapsed in 1831 due to mechanical resonance induced by troops marching in step. As a result of the incident, the British Army issued an order that troops should "break step" when crossing
5200-418: The top of each tower allow movement of the chains when loads pass over the bridge. Though their total travel is minuscule, their ability to absorb forces created by chain deflection prevents damage to both tower and chain. The bridge has three independent wrought iron chains per side, from which the bridge deck is suspended by eighty-one matching vertical wrought-iron rods ranging from 65 feet (20 m) at
5280-489: The towers. In cable-stayed bridges, the towers are the primary load-bearing structures that transmit the bridge loads to the ground. A cantilever approach is often used to support the bridge deck near the towers, but lengths further from them are supported by cables running directly to the towers. By design, all static horizontal forces of the cable-stayed bridge are balanced so that the supporting towers do not tend to tilt or slide and so must only resist horizontal forces from
5360-451: The upkeep of the bridge. The French Revolutionary Wars broke out soon after the design was published, affecting trade and commerce, so the plans were shelved. In 1811 Sarah Guppy patented a design for a suspension bridge across the gorge but this was never realised and was not submitted to the later competition. By 1829, Vick's bequest had reached £8,000, but it was estimated that a stone bridge would cost over ten times that. A competition
5440-568: The use of iron chains in his version of simple suspension bridges . In 1433, Gyalpo built eight bridges in eastern Bhutan . The last surviving chain-linked bridge of Gyalpo's was the Thangtong Gyalpo Bridge in Duksum en route to Trashi Yangtse , which was finally washed away in 2004. Gyalpo's iron chain bridges did not include a suspended-deck bridge , which is the standard on all modern suspension bridges today. Instead, both
5520-640: The venue for significant cultural events such as the first modern bungee jump in 1979, the last Concorde flight in 2003 which flew over the bridge, and a handover of the Olympic Torch relay in 2012. It is unknown when the first bridge was constructed across the Avon in Bristol, but the first stone bridge, Bristol Bridge , was built in the 13th century. It had houses with shopfronts built on it to pay for its maintenance. A 17th-century illustration shows that these bridge houses were five storeys high, including
5600-423: The weight of the cables is small compared to the weight of the deck. One can see the shape from the constant increase of the gradient of the cable with linear (deck) distance, this increase in gradient at each connection with the deck providing a net upward support force. Combined with the relatively simple constraints placed upon the actual deck, that makes the suspension bridge much simpler to design and analyze than
5680-406: The winner and he was awarded a contract as project engineer. The winning design was for a suspension bridge with fashionably Egyptian -influenced towers. In 2010, newly discovered letters and documents revealed that, in producing his design, Brunel had not taken advice from his father, Sir Marc Isambard Brunel , who had offered to help. The elder Brunel had recommended including a central support for
5760-517: Was announced that the bridge had received £595,000 of funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to improve the visitor centre. The University of Bristol Special Collections holds substantial records related to the bridge. Letter books of the trustees of Clifton Suspension Bridge dated 1831–1862 are held at Bristol Archives (Ref. 12167/42-44) ( online catalogue ). Although similar in size the bridge towers are not identical in design,
5840-661: Was built between 1829 and 1832, replacing a wooden bridge further downstream which collapsed in 1828. It is the only suspension bridge across the non-tidal Thames. The Széchenyi Chain Bridge , (designed in 1840, opened in 1849), spanning the River Danube in Budapest, was also designed by William Clark and it is a larger-scale version of Marlow Bridge. An interesting variation is Thornewill and Warham 's Ferry Bridge in Burton-on-Trent , Staffordshire (1889), where
5920-605: Was built in 1769 and 1776. Resentment at the tolls exacted to cross the new bridge occasioned the Bristol Bridge Riot of 1793. Other crossings were considered, but were restricted by Admiralty rules that stipulated that any bridge had to be at least 100 feet (30 m) above the water to allow the passage of tall-masted warships to Bristol Harbour . To achieve this, any bridge constructed between Bristol Bridge and Avon Gorge, from Hotwells to Ashton Gate , would require massive embankments and viaducts. The alternative
6000-553: Was held to find a design for the bridge with a prize of 100 guineas . Entries were received from 22 designers, including Samuel Brown , James Meadows Rendel , William Tierney Clark and William Hazledine . Several were for stone bridges and had estimated costs of between £30,000 and £93,000. Brunel submitted four entries. The judging committee rejected 17 of the 22 plans submitted, on the grounds of appearance or cost. They then called in Scottish civil engineer Thomas Telford to make
6080-526: Was in Gloucestershire , outside the City of Bristol, until the 1830s) and Leigh Woods in Somerset. Although there was little development in the area before the late 18th century, as Bristol became more prosperous, Clifton became fashionable and more wealthy merchants moved to the area. In 1793 William Bridges published plans for a stone arch with abutments containing factories, which would pay for
6160-510: Was the earliest use of external electric lighting in Bristol. However, the lighting levels were inconsistent and the magnesium lamps were blown out by the wind. The custom of lighting the bridge has continued with more recent events, although later thousands of electric light bulbs were attached to the bridge instead of flares. In 1860 the Clifton Bridge Company was set up to oversee the final stages of completion and manage
6240-404: Was the first modern suspension bridge outside the United States built with parallel wire cables. Two towers/pillars, two suspension cables, four suspension cable anchors, multiple suspender cables, the bridge deck. The main cables of a suspension bridge will form a catenary when hanging under their own weight only. When supporting the deck, the cables will instead form a parabola , assuming
6320-410: Was to build across the narrowest point of the Avon Gorge, well above the height required for shipping. In 1753 Bristolian merchant William Vick had left a bequest in his will of £ 1,000 (equivalent to £190,000 in 2023), invested with instructions that when the interest had accumulated to £10,000 ( £1,920,000 ), it should be used for the purpose of building a stone bridge between Clifton Down (which
6400-427: Was used by the workers to move a "traveller", consisting of a light frame on wheels, to transport each link individually, which would eventually make up the chains supporting the bridge. The chains are anchored in tapering tunnels, 25 metres (82 ft) long, on both sides of the bridge and plugs of Staffordshire blue brick infilled to prevent the chains being pulled out of the narrower tunnel mouth. After completion of
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