The Real Iron Age

and Tom, George and IKs impact on it!

Key steps in Industrial Revolution (real iron age)

Pre Industrial revolution
Materials mostly stone and wood

Smelting of iron (~1760) with coke

Vastly improved production quantity Lower impurities and higher quality

Low pressure steam engines (1776) High pressure steam engines (1799) Scientific understanding of mechanics (Newton, Boyle and friends)

Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, UK
Foundries in region developed key steps and processes
Use of coal/coke Less impurities Abundant fuel and no reliance on natural growth of wood Created a revolution in smelting iron

World Heritage Site

New building materials

Availability of abundant material that was affordable, moldable and strong Freedom from dependency on wood and stone Forge methods were crude and often cast iron was hammered to shape after casting (40 lb sledge hammers) Early works with new material used known stone building technology

1795 Pont Cysyllte Aqueduct

Early innovations
Ironbridge in Telford (100ft span 1779)

Major steps and some key engineers who made them in: Railways Bridges Tunneling Shipping

Railways
Invention - Richard Trevithick in 1790
James Watt low pressure steam for pumping 1776 Grasped idea of harnessing power of high pressure steam 1799 The famous 500 guineas wager (10T over 9m) and missed opportunity

Development - George Stephenson

Blucher, Locomotion and Rocket (1812-1829) Hands on mechanic who envisaged goods and passenger traffic by rail Standard Gauge Stockton to Darlington (1825), Manchester Liverpool Railways (1830) and decline of Canals

Bridges
Arch bridges Thomas Abraham
1779 Ironbridge (100ft span)

Suspension bridges Thomas Telford

Menai (580ft span) and Conway 1826

Tubular Box Girder bridge Robert Stephenson

Britannia 1850

Menai Suspension Bridge

Opened 1826; Still standing and carries road traffic

Menai suspension bridge today

Conway Bridge with Castle in background

Britannia Bridge - 1850

UK learned bodies
Royal Society 1660
For the Improvement of Natural Knowledge,

Institution of Civil Engineers 1818

Founders more akin to mechanicals 1st President Thomas Telford President Robert Stephenson

Institution of Mechanical Engineers 1847

1st President George Stephenson Literacy and the Civils test

Location, Location!

Tunneling and Shipping

London tunnels Marc Brunel
Tunneling techniques Face protection technology

Iron Ships Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Great Western 1837 steamship Great Britain 1843 first propeller Great Eastern 1846 return trip to Auz Coincidentally also:
Clifton suspension bridge 700ft 1864 Great Western railway (Paddington and beyond) 2nd only to Churchill in 2006 as the greatest Briton!

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Innovator extraordinaire

Clifton Suspension Bridge 1864

London River Tunneling

HMS Great Britain Iron Ship

Thames Tunnel Shield

Innovation and the lessons

Leaving the caves
Innovation with associated risk in inherent in our development

Engineering and construction methods

Move towards planning and drafting of works Construction contracting models Scale of projects demanded teamwork in engineering

Learning by trial and error

Tay Bridge collapse pressure from wind Tacamo Narrows Dynamics of Eddying Ferrybridge cooling towers - Ovalling

Early Bridge Failures

Tay Bridge, Dundee, Scotland
Lateral stability of key girders Failed in a storm emanating strong winds Train lost and 75 passengers killed Inquiry recommendations
Poor workmanshiop and details Lack of true understanding of wind loading Failure to pay attention top warning signs

Tay Bridge - Scotland

Constructed 1878; Collapsed 1879;

Tacamo Narrows
Constructed and collapsed 1940

Canadian engineers ring

Quebec bridge collapse 1907, 75 fatalities Failure to recheck self weight