In 1754,
William Vick, a wealthy Bristol wine merchant, had left £1,000 in his
will with instructions that the money should be invested until it reached
the sum of £10,000, an amount he felt would pay for the construction of a
stone bridge across the gorge. The bridge would be free to travellers and
would link the hamlet of Clifton and the private estates of Leigh Woods.
As the proposed bridge would seem to serve little economic purpose, it is
uncertain what Vick’s motive was in leaving these
instructions.
By
1829, Vick’s legacy had reached £8,000 and a committee was set up to
decide how to fulfil his dream. It was soon realised that a stone bridge
would cost in the region of £90,000. An iron suspension bridge would be
cheaper but would still require tolls to cover its cost and maintenance.
An Act of Parliament was passed allowing these changes to Vick’s bequest
and on 1 October a competition to design a bridge was announced with a
prize of 100 guineas for the winner.
Brunel entered the competition
but the result was a shambles: the judge, the distinguished engineer
Thomas Telford, dismissed all the entries and was invited to submit his
own proposal by the committee. Telford’s design, a three span bridge
supported by Gothic towers (he thought the span too great for a suspension
bridge), was derided by the public. A second competition was announced in
1830 and once again Brunel submitted four designs. One of these was
originally given second place but Brunel convinced the panel to award him
the first prize: this was formally confirmed on 16 March 1831. He wrote to
his brother-in-law:I have to say that of all the wonderful
feats I have performed since I have been in this part of the world, I
think yesterday I performed the most wonderful. I produced unanimity
amongst fifteen men who were quarrelling about the most ticklish subject –
taste.The Egyptian thing I brought down was quite extravagantly
admired by all and unanimously adopted; and I am directed to make such
drawings, lithographs, etc as I, in my supreme judgement, may deem fit;
indeed, they were not only very liberal with their money, but inclined to
save themselves much trouble by placing very complete reliance on
me.His design shows that Brunel perceived the bridge in terms
of the grand experience of crossing the gorge, of having a landmark
presence and of being a gateway to the city. Author Bryan Little has
written of the project:with his piercing, inventive brain,
[Brunel] was as much artist as engineer. His earliest Bristol activity led
to the creation of a great engineering feat which he also saw as a
conscious work of art… His essentially artistic conception led on to his
more utilitarian, and not less famous work, on the harbour, on steamships,
and on the railways.On 21 June 1831, at the ceremony to mark
the laying of the foundation stone on the Clifton side of the gorge,
Sir Abraham Elton, referring to Brunel, said:The time will
come when, as that gentleman walks along the streets or as he passes from
city to city, the cry would be raised, "There goes the man who reared that
stupendous work, the ornament of Bristol and the wonder of the
age".
late October that year, Bristol suffered considerable damage and
disruption during rioting centred upon Queen Square. Brunel, who was in
the city to supervise work on the bridge, served as a special constable
during the riot. Business confidence in the city fell and work on the
bridge was halted. It did not resume until 1836.
Brunel referred to
the Clifton Suspension Bridge as his ‘darling’ but financial difficulties
and contractual disagreements led to long delays in its construction and
the bridge was not completed until 1864, five years after his death and as
a memorial to him.
Trust)The bridge spans 214 metres between its two 26
metre high towers and stands 76 metres above the high water mark in the
gorge through which the river Avon flows. Modern computer analysis has
revealed that in his design of the crucial joints between the 4,200 links
that make up the bridge’s chain, Brunel had made an almost perfect
calculation of the minimal weight required to maintain maximum strength
(the chains were taken from his bridge at Hungerford which had been
demolished). In 2002, it was discovered that the bridge’s abutments
contain a honeycomb of chambers and tunnels, some of which are 11 metres
high. It is thought that these spectacular vaults reduced the cost of
construction without reducing strength.Although built for
pedestrian and horse drawn traffic, the bridge was so ingeniously
constructed that it is now capable of carrying around 4 million cars a
year, and has become a major route to the motorway network. It is also a
structure of great beauty and in 2006 this will be enhanced with a new
lighting scheme, to be revealed on the anniversary of Brunel’s
birth.The Clifton Suspension Bridge is one of Bristol’s cultural
icons and provides perhaps the most easily recognised visual image of the
city, being used as a logo on publicity material produced by Destination
Bristol and other local bodies. It is symbolic of the city’s history of
building bridges between different communities, places and sectors and its
chequered history epitomises the clash between innovation and conservatism
that has characterised much of Bristol’s development.In 1998, the
Clifton Suspension Bridge Trust opened a visitor centre, telling the story
of the bridge through exhibitions, photographs, art work, memorabilia,
models and interactive displays.