The Clifton Suspension Bridge; Old World in Bristol, England + Construction Photographs [1836-1864]

Howdy ya’ll. Today we will look at one of the first Suspension Bridges in the world, The Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, England. This immense structure has remained largely the same throughout the last century and a half, and furthermore, the details regarding its construction, which completed in 1864, are only amplified by the handful of construction photographs I was able to locate. Today we will browse through these photographs in great detail. The Clifton Suspension Bridge was first proposed, conceptually, in the 18th century, with the first blueprints being drawn up nearly a century later by Brunel. The structure, which crosses the Avon Gorge, utilizes some of the earliest techniques in Suspension Bridge design. In the construction photographs, which show the bridge after the foundations on each side had been built, we see an Old World style structure which is unlike any which came before it. After Brunel’s passing the structure was inherited and completed by a group of new archite