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A Description of Westminster Bridge

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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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Detail Information

Series Title

Cambridge Library Collection - Technology

Call Number

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Publisher

: Cambridge University Press., 2014

Collation

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Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

9781107297074

Classification

NONE

Content Type

text

Media Type

computer

Carrier Type

online resource

Edition

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Subject(s)

Civil and Geotechnical Engineering
History of Science and Technology

Specific Detail Info

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Statement of Responsibility

Charles Labelye

Other Information

Cataloger

Arin

Source

-

Validator

-

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107297074

Journal Volume

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Journal Issue

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Subtitle

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Parallel Title

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