Brunel's Bridges

Clifton Suspension Bridge leaps across the Avon Gorge as a statement of Victorian ingenuity and engineering prowess. It was Brunel's first major commission, his 'first love' as he put it, and the bridge has become the city's most famous and iconic landmark. But its construction was far from straightforward and marred by a shortage of funds it was abandoned by the time of his death. The bridge was completed by his engineering colleagues as a memorial to their friend. Brunel expert John Christopher tells the story of the Clifton Suspension Bridge, and of his other great bridges including the Hungerford Bridge in London, the wide brick-built bridges that carried the GWR over the Thames, the iron bowstring bridge at Windsor, the wooden and masonry railway bridges at Bath and Bristol and culminating with his magnificent tubular iron bridges at Chepstow and Saltash.