Cast iron's little helper
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Cast iron's little helper by John Haynes as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Cast iron's little helper
Image: © John Haynes Taken: 30 Dec 2007
This magnificent cast iron bridge was built in an age of horse carts and traps and stood no chance when it came to carrying modern loads. The present concrete carriageway is carried on rolled steel joists which are cushioned onto the stone abutments with the original cast iron just there to look good. The picture shows the cast iron works with the modern rolled steel joists (painted a darker grey) inside. I'm sure that Telford and all the later county Surveyors, Thomas Penson among them would have used rolled steel if it were available, but in the 19th century cast iron was king. Those surveyors would have neverdreamed of the 15 tonne farm cart or the 38 tonne lorry for that matter.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
52.574768
Longitude
-3.186199