Editing Clifton Suspension Bridge (section)

===Construction===
[[File:St Vincents Rocks Clifton 1840.jpg|thumb|Partially completed bridge, c.1840]]
A ceremony to mark the start of the construction works was held Monday 20 June 1831.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stone |first=George Frederick |url=https://archive.org/details/stone-bristol-as-it-was/page/2/mode/2up |title=Bristol: as it was and as it is. A record of fifty years' progress |date=1909 |publisher=Walter Reid |location=Bristol |pages=3-6 |chapter=Clifton Suspension Bridge: incidents in its construction and history}}</ref> Work started on blasting of St. Vincent's Rock, on the Clifton side of the gorge. Four months later work was halted by the [[Bristol riots]], which took place after the [[House of Lords]] rejected the second [[Reform Act 1832|Reform Bill]], which aimed to eliminate some of the [[Rotten and pocket boroughs|rotten boroughs]] and give parliamentary seats to Britain's fast growing industrial towns such as Bristol.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bristol riots |work=Spartacus Education |url=http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRbristol.htm |access-date=7 March 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070205002217/http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRbristol.htm |archive-date= 5 February 2007 }}</ref> Five to six hundred young men were involved in the riots and Brunel was sworn in as a [[special constable]]. The riots severely dented commercial confidence in Bristol; subscriptions to the bridge company ceased, and along with it, further construction of the bridge.<ref>{{cite web|title=Revolting riots in Queen Square |work=BBC Bristol |publisher=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/madeinbristol/2004/04/riot/riot.shtml |access-date=3 July 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629082150/http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/madeinbristol/2004/04/riot/riot.shtml |archive-date=29 June 2011 }}</ref>

[[File:Suspension Bridge 1842.jpg|thumb|left|An artist's impression of what the Suspension Bridge would look like on completion, published in an 1842 guidebook.]]
After the passing of the act for the [[Great Western Railway]] reestablished financial confidence, work resumed in 1836, but subsequent investment proved woefully inadequate.{{sfn|Andrews|Pascoe|2008|p=32}} Despite the main contractors going bankrupt in 1837, the towers were built in unfinished stone.{{sfn|Andrews|Pascoe|2008|p=30}} To enable the transfer of materials, a {{convert|1000|ft|m|adj=mid|-long}} iron bar, which was {{convert|1.25|in}} in diameter, had been drawn by [[Capstan (nautical)|capstan]] across the gorge. A contract was placed with [[Dowlais Ironworks]] to supply 600&nbsp;tons of bar iron, which was to be transported to the [[Copperhouse]] foundry to be forged into bar chains.{{sfn|Andrews|Pascoe|2008|p=32}} By 1843 funds were exhausted and another £30,000 was needed. As the work had exceeded the time limit stated in the act, all work stopped.{{sfn|McIlwain|1996|p=13}} Brunel suggested building a deep water pier at [[Portbury]], which would make the bridge an essential road link, but funds for this scheme were not forthcoming.{{sfn|Andrews|Pascoe|2008|p=32}} In 1851, the ironwork was sold and used to build the Brunel-designed [[Royal Albert Bridge]] on the railway between [[Plymouth]] and [[Saltash]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Royal Albert Bridge, Saltash |url=http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=210 |publisher=Engineering Timelines |access-date=3 July 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120404195353/http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=210 |archive-date= 4 April 2012 }}</ref> The towers remained and during the 1850s intrepid passengers could cross the gorge in a basket slung from the iron bar.{{sfn|McIlwain|1996|p=13}}

[[File:Commemorative plaque on the Clifton Suspension Bridge.jpg|right|thumb|The plaque on the bridge]]
Brunel died in 1859, without seeing the completion of the bridge. His colleagues in the [[Institution of Civil Engineers]] felt that completion of the Bridge would be a fitting memorial, and started to raise new funds.{{sfn|McIlwain|1996|p=16}} In 1860, Brunel's [[Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges|Hungerford suspension bridge]] over the [[River Thames|Thames]] in London was demolished to make way for a new railway bridge to [[Charing Cross railway station]]. Its chains were purchased for use at Clifton.{{sfn|Andrews|Pascoe|2008|p=34}}

A revised design was made by [[William Henry Barlow]] and Sir [[John Hawkshaw]], with a wider, higher and sturdier deck than Brunel intended, with triple chains instead of double.{{sfn|McIlwain|1996|p=16}}
[[File:Clifton Suspension bridge under construction 1.jpg|thumb|Construction of the Bridge c.1862]]
[[File:Clifton Suspension Bridge under construction c.1861.jpg|thumb|Further stages in construction of the bridge, c. 1862]]
It has been argued that the size and technology of these revisions was so great that the credit for its design should go to Barlow and Hawkshaw.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Elton |first1=Julia |title=Great Lives |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/greatlives |access-date=28 September 2014 |work=BBC Radio 4 |publisher=BBC |date=13 May 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140531103027/http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/greatlives |archive-date=31 May 2014 }}</ref> The towers remained in rough stone, rather than being finished in the Egyptian style.
[[File:Clifton Suspension Bridge under construction 3.jpg|thumb|Bridge construction, nearly completed]]
[[File:Suspension bridge at Clifton.jpg|thumb|left|An 1878 drawing of the Clifton Suspension Bridge]]

Work on the bridge was restarted in 1862. Initially a temporary bridge was created by pulling ropes across the gorge and making a footway of wire ropes with wood planks held together with iron hoops. This was used by the workers to move a "traveller", consisting of a light frame on wheels, to transport each link individually, which would eventually make up the chains supporting the bridge.{{sfn|Andrews|Pascoe|2008|p=36}} The chains are anchored in tapering tunnels, {{convert|25|m}} long,{{sfn|Richards|2010}} on both sides<!--better "both" than "either"--> of the bridge and plugs of [[Staffordshire blue brick]] infilled to prevent the chains being pulled out of the narrower tunnel mouth.

After completion of the chains, vertical suspension rods were hung from the links in the chains and large girders hung from these. The girders on either side then support the deck, which is {{convert|3|ft}} higher at the Clifton end than at Leigh Woods so that it gives the impression of being horizontal. The strength of the structure was tested by spreading 500&nbsp;tons of stone over the bridge. This caused it to sag by {{convert|7|in}}, but within the expected tolerances.{{sfn|McIlwain|1996|p=14-19}} During this time a tunnel was driven through the rocks on the Leigh Woods side beneath the bridge to carry the [[Bristol Port Railway and Pier|Bristol Port Railway]] to [[Avonmouth]].{{sfn|Andrews|Pascoe|2008|p=36}} The construction work was completed in 1864–111 years after a bridge at the site was first planned.<ref>{{cite web|title=Clifton Suspension Bridge |url=http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=58 |publisher=Engineering Timelines |access-date=3 July 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322113922/http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=58 |archive-date=22 March 2012 }}</ref>