DAN

CRUICKSHANK’S

BRIDGES

Heroic Designs that Changed the World

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Preface

Introduction

CHAPTER ONE - EMPIRE

CHAPTER TWO - PIETY AND POLITICS

CHAPTER THREE - BRIDGES OF PARADISE

CHAPTER FOUR - INHABITED BRIDGES

CHAPTER FIVE - FORGING THE RAILWAY AGE

CHAPTER SIX - THE BIGGEST AND BOLDEST

CHAPTER SEVEN - STRUCTURAL PERFECTION

CHAPTER EIGHT - DEFINING PLACES

CHAPTER NINE - WORKS OF ART

CHAPTER TEN - MODERN MEGA-BRIDGES

Endnotes

Glossary

Select Biography

Index

Acknowledgements

Copyright

About the Publisher

PREFACE

Great cities are built on great rivers and so, sooner or later, great bridges arise – bridges that not only connect and transport but also that play key roles in creating and defining the character, nature and aspirations of the city. Bridges, among all their many attributes, are incomparable place-makers, man-made landmarks that vie with the memorable works of nature. This is most obvious in cities and towns, but is also the case in more remote places where so often it is bridges that excite, that stir the imagination, as they soar above chasms and canyon, knife across vast tracts of water – as they dare and achieve the almost unimaginable.

Humanity’s inventiveness and structural ingenuity in the creation of bridges, in the evolution of structural systems, in the utiliz ation of technology and materials, is on a par with the engineered excellence of the Gothic cathedrals of medieval Europe. Great bridges and great cathedrals both express – in the most sublime manner possible – the aspirations of their age, of the civilisation that built them. In Europe and America the genius of bridge building was – in the past – expressed most forcefully in mighty works, especially by the great railway bridges of the 19th century – utilitarian objects of supreme daring, forged of wrought-iron, steel, masonry in sweat and blood – that in the perfection of their function and their fitness for purpose achieved poetic beauty.

Now – in the early 21st century – there are few structural restraints that can stymie bridge-builders, there is little that engineers dare not aspire to, little that they cannot achieve. This has become the age of the mega-bridge where boundaries of ambition and scale are being regularly extended through ever growing technological prowess. This is impressive with unprecedented structures being realised. But often these mega-scale solutions are formulaic. Now, in many ways, the outpouring of ingenuity and creativity that distinguish the best bridges of the past is found not in huge creations but in smaller bridges where the challenge is not so much to achieve a crossing on an heroic scale but to do so in a manner that is consciously intended to delight and to give a place identity. In parallel to the rise of the mega-bridge is the evolution of the gem-like, small-scale bridge – often only a pedestrian bridge such as the Gateshead Millennium Bridge in England – that functions not just as a route but also as a work of art – as a creation that provides a promenade, that grants character, distinction and sense of place.

This book is a very personal journey into the world of bridges. I focus almost exclusively on those I’ve seen and experienced and so, naturally, the text dwells on those that exist rather than on great bridges that are no more, like Robert Stephenson’s seminal Britannia Bridge, Wales of 1846-50 that has been largely rebuilt and altered out of all recognition. This means, of course, that virtually all the works described can be seen – and enjoyed – by all who read this book and who – like me – are always thrilled and stirred by the sight of a good bridge.

Dan Cruickshank

August 2010.

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