Clifton Suspension Bridge

Bristol, England
The River Avon rises in the Cotswolds and falls about 500 feet 150 meters in its 75-mile 120-kilometer course to the Severn Estuary at Avonmouth. Near Bristol it passes through a channel that was cut in the nineteenth century to give access to oceangoing vessels, and then through the steep Clifton Gorge, where it is daringly crossed by the Clifton Suspension Bridge, 245 feet 75 meters above the water. The iron structure, with a main span of 702 feet 214 meters, challenged conventional wisdom and pushed the new material and contemporary technology beyond the theoretical limits. Bristols port of Avonmouth was a well-established center for coastwise and international shipping. As the nineteenth century saw accelerating growth in trade and economic prosperity, Bristols wealthier citizens wished to secure a market share for their city, and the renown that went with it, in the face of intense competition from such rivals as Liverpool. Perhaps they envied the prestigious bridge at Conwy, Wales, and the Menai Suspension Bridge, both designed by the Scots engineer Thomas Telford. Funds were in hand to start the project: the Bristol wine merchant William Vick, who died in 1754, had bequeathed