General Information
| Other name(s): | Stockton and Darlington Railway Suspension Bridge |
|---|---|
| Beginning of works: | 1829 |
| Completion: | 27 December 1830 |
| Status: | demolished (1844) |
Project Type
| Function / usage: |
Railroad (railway) bridge |
|---|---|
| Structure: |
Chain suspension bridge |
| Material: |
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Location
| Location: |
Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, North East England, England, United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Crossed: |
|
| Replaced by: |
Stockton Railway Bridge (1844)
|
| Coordinates: | 54° 33' 16.79" N 1° 18' 38.81" W |
Technical Information
Dimensions
| main span | 66 m | |
| total length | 125.6 m | |
| deck width | 1.8 m | |
| weight | 113 t | |
| vertical navigation clearance | 6.1 m |
Cost
| cost of construction | Pound sterling 2 300 |
Materials
| chains |
iron
|
|---|---|
| pylons |
masonry
|
Chronology
| 27 December 1830 | At its opening, the unstiffened bridge deck flexes so much upon passage of the locomotives that during one of the test loadings the pylon on the Yorkshire side starts showing cracks. The bridge is then propped up with a wooden trestle at mid-span and traffic is restricted to four wagons at a time, spaced 27 feet (8 meters) apart by chains so as to spread out the live load over a longer distance. The main result from this trial was that suspension bridges were deemed unsuitable for carrying railway traffic and to this day no other suspension bridge exists in the UK on the railway network. Roebling's 1855 Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge proved that with enough stiffening it was feasible to build railway suspension bridges, however, to this day they remain rare. |
|---|
Participants
- Sir Samuel Brown (designer)
Relevant Web Sites
- About this
data sheet - Structure-ID
20079195 - Published on:
09/03/2020 - Last updated on:
27/05/2021
