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  3. A Description of Westminster Bridge
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  • Publisher:
    Cambridge University Press
    Publication date:
    05 June 2015
    21 August 2014
    ISBN:
    9781107297074
    9781108071956
    DOI:
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107297074
    Dimensions:
    Weight & Pages:
    Dimensions:
    (216 x 140 mm)
    Weight & Pages:
    0.18kg, 132 Pages
    • Subjects:
    History of Science and Technology, Engineering, History, Engineering: General Interest, Civil and Geotechnical Engineering
    Series:
    Cambridge Library Collection - Technology
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    Subjects:
    History of Science and Technology, Engineering, History, Engineering: General Interest, Civil and Geotechnical Engineering
    Series:
    Cambridge Library Collection - Technology
    Information

    Book description

    The construction of the first Westminster Bridge, upon which Wordsworth composed his famous sonnet, presented many challenges in terms of the materials and methods with which a sturdy bridge could be built in tidal water and on a gravelly riverbed. A number of candidates presented their surveys to the commissioners of the bridge, but it was the Swiss-born Charles Labelye (1705–62) who was appointed to oversee construction in 1738. The bridge opened to traffic in 1750. This 1751 publication expands upon the shorter work that Labelye had prepared in 1739 to address the laying of the foundations. Significantly, he used caissons - vast wooden structures sunk into the riverbed - within which the stone piers were built. Although the promised illustrations did not appear in this work, the book provides a valuable insight into the technical problems of a major engineering project, and the solutions available at that time.

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