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Brunel Chepstow Bridge
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "one of the greatest figures of the Industrial Revolution, hochanged the face of the English landscape with his groundbreaking designs and ingenious constructions." Brunel built dockyards, the Great Western Railway (GWR), a series of steamships including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship, and numerous important bridges and tunnels. His designs revolutionised public transport and modern engineering. Though Brunel's projects were not always successful, they often contained innovative solutions to long-standing engineering problems. During his career, Brunel achieved many engineering firsts, including assisting in the building of the first tunnel under a navigable river (the River Thames) and the development of the , the first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isambard Kingdom Brunel Standing Before The Launching Chains Of The Great Eastern
''Isambard Kingdom Brunel Standing Before the Launching Chains of the Great Eastern'' is a photograph taken by Robert Howlett in November 1857. It shows Brunel, the British engineer, during the troubled first attempt to launch the SS ''Great Eastern'', by far the largest ship constructed to that date. Brunel stands before a drum of chain used during the launching of the vessel; he carries his customary cigar case and his boots and trousers are muddy. Brunel is smoking a cigar and his waistcoat is askew. His pose has been described as casual and self-assured. The image has become iconic of the industrial era and the 19th century and has been included in many published collections of photographs. It was widely reproduced at the time of the ship's eventual launch in January 1858 and again after Brunel's death in 1859. Background Isambard Kingdom Brunel was a British engineer who constructed a number of innovative civil and railway engineering projects and, in 1845, the S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clifton Suspension Bridge
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 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, the bridge towers are not identical in design, the Clifton tower having side cut-outs, the Leigh tower more pointed arches atop a red sandstone-clad abutment. Ro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Portsea Island
Portsea Island is a flat and low-lying natural island in area, just off the southern coast of Hampshire in England. Portsea Island contains the majority of the city of Portsmouth. Portsea Island has the third-largest population of all the islands in the British Isles after the mainlands of Great Britain and Ireland; it also has the highest population density of any British Isle, and Portsmouth has the highest population density of any city in the UK outside of London. To the east of Portsea Island lies Hayling Island, separated by Langstone Harbour. To the west is the peninsular mainland town of Gosport, separated by Portsmouth Harbour. To the south, it faces into the Spithead area of the wider Solent. A narrow tidal channel along the northern edge of Portsea Island, known as Portsbridge Creek, separates Portsea Island from the mainland. Three roads connect Portsea Island to the mainland road network; the M275 motorway, the A3 London Road (split on two separate br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
100 Greatest Britons
''100 Greatest Britons'' is a television series that was broadcast by the BBC in 2002. It was based on a television poll conducted to determine who the British people at that time considered the greatest Britons in history. The series included individual programmes featuring the top ten, with viewers having further opportunity to vote after each programme. It concluded with a debate and final determination of the ranking of the top ten. Although many living people were included among the top 100, all of the top ten were deceased. Poll The poll resulted in nominees including Guy Fawkes, who was executed because of his role in the plot to blow up the Parliament of England; Oliver Cromwell, who created a republican British state (the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland); Richard III, suspected of murdering his nephews; James Connolly, an Irish nationalist and socialist who was executed by the Crown due to his part in the 1916 Easter Rising; Thomas Paine, who wrote agai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Standard Gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the most widely used track gauge around the world, with approximately 55% of the lines in the world using it. All high-speed rail lines use standard gauge except those in Russia, Finland, and Uzbekistan. The distance between the inside edges of the rails is defined to be 1435 mm except in the United States and on some heritage British lines, where it is defined in U.S. customary/Imperial units as exactly "four feet eight and one half inches" which is equivalent to 1435.1mm. History As railways developed and expanded, one of the key issues was the track gauge (the distance, or width, between the inner sides of the rails) to be used. Different railways used different gauges, and where rails of different gauge m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] |
