The  Iron Bridge

The world’s first cast iron bridge was built over the River Severn at Coalbrookdale in 1779.

From Wiki:

In the early eighteenth century, the only way to cross the Severn Gorge was by ferry. However, the industries that were growing in the area of Coalbrookdale and Broseley needed a more reliable crossing.

In 1773, Thomas Farnolls Pritchard[1] wrote to a local ironmaster, John Wilkinson of Broseley, to suggest building a bridge out of cast iron. By 1775, Pritchard had finalised the plans, but he died in December 1777, only a month after work had begun.[2]

Abraham Darby III, who was the grandson of the first foundry owner and an ironmaster working at Coalbrookdale in the gorge, was commissioned to cast and build the bridge. The iron for the new bridge was cast at his foundry.

The worlds first cast iron bridge was built over the river Severn at Coalbrookdale in 1779.

14 Comments CherryPie on Apr 30th 2012

14 Responses to “Architecture 100 :: 18 – The Iron Bridge”

  1. It is truly a marvel of the industrial age

  2. They sure don’t build them to last like that any more!

  3. Frida says:

    What a marvelous construction.

  4. I would like to see this bridge this coming Bank Holiday. ;)
    Have you planned your holiday yet?

    • CherryPie says:

      It seems the Ironbridge area is the place to be this coming bank holiday. You will have to look at the comments on previous post ‘thought for the week’ to see what I mean ;-)

  5. james higham says:

    Adore it – that sort of marvel.

  6. sally says:

    what a grand looking bridge :-)

  7. Steve Hayes says:

    Thanks for that — I always confuse it with one designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.