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lands on the ground, and forms a stalagmite.
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It was built without any water proofing over the top
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so rainwater does percolate through.
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And it's very damp and humid in here.
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And over 180 years,
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the water trickling through has allowed those stalactites to form.
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It's basically lime being washed out of the lime mortar.
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Amazing. Beautiful effect isn't it?
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Yeah. I mean it's like... It really is.
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It's very cathedral-like in here, isn't it? Yeah. That's right.
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And of course the water drips off the ends of the stalactites
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Yeah. Water percolates through.
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Yeah...yeah. Amazing.
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So, there are more chambers like this down here? There's 12 chambers altogether.
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And they are all linked
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with various little passageways and tunnels and shafts.
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You'd have absolutely no idea walking across the bridge
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that this was all down here.
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That's correct.
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Come through and have a look through here. The maze continues, David.
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Here you go. So, this is vault number five of 12.
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It's about 11 metres high, it's got a span of six metres across,
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This arched chamber, built out of the steep limestone cliff,
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is one of a network of 12 interconnecting vaults
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that form the two-storey abutment.
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It was Brunel's ingenious way
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of distributing the weight of the bridge effectively,
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keeping it strong and stable,
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but at the same time, using less material,
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which crucially kept costs down.
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This is vault number four out of 12. David, this is incredible.
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This is one of the better vaults we've got.
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This is actually the largest vault of the lot. Amazing.
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and the length of this one is nearly 20 metres
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So quite impressive.
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And of course what you are looking at here is the natural rock
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going back up the slope of the gorge.
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As you can see, they just built around it.
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Over the decades, water has leaked through the limestone ceiling,
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forming these beautiful stalactites,
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some of which are up to four metres long.
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These stalactites give it quite an awesome effect in here, don't they?
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In October, 1831,
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Does this change your kind of feelings about the bridge at all?
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Or enhanced them in any way?
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Well, both of those things, yeah.
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The skill with which they built it...
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..it's beautiful.
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The intricate abutments
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are a testament to Brunel's incredible design.
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But, just four months after work began on the bridge,
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the entire project was brought to a dramatic halt
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by a decision made over 100 miles away in London.
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The more you learn about this bridge the more impressed you are, I think.
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a government U-turn on plans to give more people a right to vote,
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led to anger on the streets.
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Bristol was once again a city in crisis.
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Building didn't start for five years due to yet more rioting in Bristol
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as political unrest swept across the country.
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Brunel himself was enlisted as a Special Constable.
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While calm was eventually restored,
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investor confidence had been shaken to the core.
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When work on the bridge finally resumed in December, 1835,
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In the heart of the abutment here. Yeah.
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And we're right under the tower now.
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So, the Leigh Wood's tower, basically straddles across the road.
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The roadway runs along the top of the...of this chamber.
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And the two legs of the tower sit on top of these walls.
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These take the weight of the tower right down to the rock below us.
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It's extraordinary, isn't it?
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Right here, we are surrounded by the bridge.
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We are in a vault, vault there, vault there,
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vault there, vault there and a tower right above us.
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It's absolutely beautiful.
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This is the central vault.
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And four more at this level and another five down below.
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And the bricks are very... They're pretty rough, aren't they?
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Well, Brunel didn't expect anybody to come in here
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and admire the handicraft so...it's...
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I wonder, are you sure about that? It's just left very rough ..
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Look at the stonework around this little tunnel here. It's beautifully done..
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It's built to last but it's not built for appearance.
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You know, that little tunnel needed to last forever.
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But the bridge that stands here today,
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would be his greatest-ever challenge.
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And prove to be more than a lifetime's work.
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In June, 1831, groundwork began at the Avon Gorge
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in preparation to build Brunel's masterpiece.
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For the 24-year-old engineer,
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the Clifton Suspension Bridge
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would be his first major project in charge...
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..and ultimately the most challenging of his entire career.
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Of all the projects Isambard Kingdom Brunel was involved with,
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the Clifton Suspension Bridge is probably the most well recognised.
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But, little did Brunel know that completing the bridge,
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is very different to the one Brunel originally wanted to build.
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This early drawing clearly illustrates
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how Brunel intended the bridge to look
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when he first sketched out a design.
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The roadway suspended by chains attached to the top of the cliff,
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and accessed by tunnels carved out of the solid rock.
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But the 299-metre span exceeded the length
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deemed safe by suspension bridge expert Thomas Telford.
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Brunel's solution was to build two platforms called abutments
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Convinced, Gilbert conceded,
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But despite the judge's recommendations,
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he wasn't given the job, and so, returned to Birmingham
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where he went on to enjoy a career designing postboxes.
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So, what led to the committee's change of heart?
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Well, in what was nothing short of an audacious move
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by the young engineer,
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Brunel confronted Gilbert, the competition judge,
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discrediting the winning entry
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by revealing what he considered to be serious design flaws
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and insisting that his was the only workable design.
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out of the jagged cliff.
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and after agreeing to make a series of adjustments,
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Brunel was declared the winner.
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The young engineer had never built a bridge before,
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and perhaps it was Brunel's sheer confidence in his design
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that led to him winning the contract.
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So, was the cocky engineer right
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to have so much faith in his own design?
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Experts today, believe
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he got the all-important length of the chains spot on.
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Fantastic. It was a long way round, otherwise.
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It's a fantastic view.
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Today, we're heading deep into the very foundations
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of this incredible structure.
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Our guide is Bridge Master David Anderson.
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This little wall here, was that part of the transportation system
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during the construction?
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That's right. Yeah.
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That was the abutment for the iron bar that Brunel put across the gorge,
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for the transporting men and materials across the gorge
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when the two towers and abutments were being built.
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I've been on the bridge many times, but, never inside the vaults.
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Exactly.
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This steel door now covers the entrance to the vaults
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which were sealed off and forgotten about for more than 150 years.
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Oh, wow.. Look at this.
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What do you think of that, Isambard? It's quite stunning.
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It's quite a surprise. (CHUCKLES)
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It's sort of really not what I was expecting at all.
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It's actually quite like a bridge arch, isn't it? Indeed.
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It's just like a... In fact it is a bridge with water on the side of it.
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I've been given special permission
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These would form the foundations for two large towers,
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from which the chains would be draped,
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reducing the free suspended span of the bridge to 194 metres,
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much more in line with Telford's recommendations.
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Until recently, it was assumed
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the abutments at either end of the bridge, were solid.
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But, in 2002,
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the maintenance team discovered a hidden shaft,
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leading to a series of underground tunnels and vaults.
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a grand ceremony was held to mark the laying of the foundation stone,
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to explore the bridge's best kept secret,
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a secret which is key to the entire structure's success.
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Isambard, hi. Hi. How are you doing?
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And joining me is a man called Isambard Thomas,
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Brunel's great-great-great grandson
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How was the journey? Easy.
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So, we're going down in the vaults
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up here in the suspension bridge today.
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Have you been down there before? I've never been down.
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led to Hawkshaw and Barlow redesigning some parts of the bridge.
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Work on Brunel's "darling" began once more.
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Hawkshaw and Barlow may not be the names
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that most people associate with the Clifton Suspension Bridge,
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but they were absolutely key
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in masterminding the structure we see today.
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They acquired Brunel's initial plans, but times had changed
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in the 30 years since work had first started on the bridge.
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Engineers had learnt a great deal about bridge building
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and how dangerous strong winds can be to a suspension bridge like this one.
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These new discoveries
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of completing a new Clifton Suspension Bridge.
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Brunel had originally intended
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that the bridge be held up by two chains on each side,
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one on top of the other,
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but Hawkshaw and Barlow increased that to three on each side,
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making the bridge stronger.
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Brunel had also intended to use wooden struts
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to support the road deck,
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but again, these were deemed to be too weak.
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So Hawkshaw and Barlow changed the design,
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It was demolished to make way for a new railway bridge
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and on either side of that, a pair of pedestrian bridges,
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the Golden Jubilee Bridges.
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But there are actually remnants of a fourth bridge here too.
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The brick buttresses of what's now the railway bridge
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are actually the original foundations of another Brunel bridge,
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the original Hungerford Bridge,
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which stood here until 1862, when work began to knock it down.
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Brunel's footbridge only lasted 14 years
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and featured a pier for steamers to dock.
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It was the only suspension bridge that Brunel completed in his lifetime.
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swapping wood for the wrought iron lattice work structure we see today.
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into Charing Cross Station.
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The engineer in charge of building the new Thames Bridge
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was John Hawkshaw, an admirer of Brunel's,
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and together with his colleague, William Barlow,
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the pair came up with a radical idea.
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Why not use the chains and saddles from the old Hungerford Bridge,
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to finish off the Clifton Bridge as a fitting memorial to Brunel?
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The idea took off, and three years after Brunel's death,
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Hawkshaw and Barlow were put in charge
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Some people think so, they point out
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The Clifton Suspension Bridge Trust now oversees its day-to-day running,
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and the works program that ensures that the bridge remains
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in the condition that Brunel intended.
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For over 150 years, the Clifton Suspension bridge
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has swayed majestically high above the Avon Gorge.
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Yet, despite the passage of time,
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few other bridges on the planet have come close to rivalling it
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in terms of ambition and sheer engineering brilliance.
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So, is this really Hawkshaw and Barlow's bridge,
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just a monument to Brunel?
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to fund its upkeep.
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it's just the towers and some of the chains that were Brunel's.
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The rest of the structure,
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and the fact that it still stands today, are down to others.
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But had it not been for the genius,
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the vision and the dogged determination of one man,
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it simply wouldn't have been here at all.
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For me, Brunel deserves his credit,
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as the father of Clifton Suspension Bridge.
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Captions by Red Bee Media (c) SBS Australia 2019
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But after years of waiting, Bristol had its bridge across the gorge,
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Now, some engineers say these design changes have been crucial
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in keeping the bridge safe and stable over the last 150 years.
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And had it been built to Brunel's original design,
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it may have come crashing down into the gorge below long, long ago.
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On the 8th of December, 1864,
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Hawkshaw and Barlow's reworking of Brunel's original design, was complete.
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Almost 30 years after construction began,
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the Clifton Suspension Bridge was finally declared open.
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Tellingly, none of Brunel's family attended the ceremony.
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In the middle, the Charing Cross Bridge, the railway bridge,
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offering road access between Clifton Down and Leigh Woods
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for the first time.
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The bridge is Grade I listed
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and still has 99% of its original parts.
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They do take some looking after, though.
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You can see the tower at the far side,
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is currently undergoing a vital maintenance program.
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Since the day it opened,
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the bridge has relied upon the support of the people who use it
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And on her maiden voyage
251
00:33:09,570 --> 00:33:14,730
cutting the journey time by 13 hours to just four.
252
00:33:14,890 --> 00:33:18,410
Brunel would design every aspect of the railway,
253
00:33:18,570 --> 00:33:23,650
including three viaducts, seven tunnels and four major bridges.
254
00:33:25,250 --> 00:33:26,850
If this wasn't enough of a distraction
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00:33:27,010 --> 00:33:29,810
from his barely-started bridge at Clifton,
256
00:33:29,970 --> 00:33:33,890
Brunel had also developed an interest in ship building.
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00:33:36,690 --> 00:33:39,290
This is the SS Great Britain,
258
00:33:39,450 --> 00:33:42,570
the second of Brunel's massive liners,
259
00:33:42,730 --> 00:33:46,090
and the first iron ship ever to cross the Atlantic.
260
00:33:46,250 --> 00:33:50,050
She was built right here, in Bristol in the 1840s.
261
00:33:07,570 --> 00:33:09,410
between London and Bristol,
262
00:33:51,690 --> 00:33:55,730
she sailed right past the unfinished towers at Clifton.
263
00:33:55,890 --> 00:33:59,410
By 1843, the towers were finally finished
264
00:33:59,570 --> 00:34:02,690
and most of the iron work for the crossing had been delivered.
265
00:34:02,850 --> 00:34:06,370
But, money for the bridge had now completely dried up
266
00:34:06,530 --> 00:34:10,650
and construction work came to a halt.
267
00:34:10,810 --> 00:34:12,490
In a letter to the local paper
268
00:34:12,650 --> 00:34:16,810
one man referred to them as "unsightly piers"
269
00:34:16,970 --> 00:34:19,650
and suggested they be left uncompleted
270
00:34:19,810 --> 00:34:22,650
"as monuments to our folly".
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Sadly, all of this was considered too expensive.
272
00:31:36,410 --> 00:31:39,010
and reignite faded interest.
273
00:31:40,010 --> 00:31:43,690
But it wasn't long before the enormity of the project was realised.
274
00:31:45,450 --> 00:31:49,930
The huge abutments and two 26 metre-tall towers
275
00:31:50,090 --> 00:31:54,650
took six years to build, almost three years longer than planned,
276
00:31:54,810 --> 00:31:58,250
crippling the already-overstretched budget.
277
00:31:58,410 --> 00:32:03,050
A rethink to Brunel's flamboyant design was urgently needed.
278
00:32:04,370 --> 00:32:06,570
The stonework on the towers here
279
00:32:06,730 --> 00:32:10,650
was supposed to be covered with stylised iron panels,
280
00:32:10,810 --> 00:32:14,130
illustrating the story of the construction of the bridge.
281
00:32:14,290 --> 00:32:19,330
The plans even showed two sphinxes one atop each of the towers.
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00:34:24,210 --> 00:34:28,570
The future of the Clifton Suspension Bridge lay in tatters,
283
00:32:25,610 --> 00:32:29,690
As various cost-cutting solutions were offered, and rejected,
284
00:32:29,850 --> 00:32:34,250
doubts were raised as to whether the bridge would ever be finished,
285
00:32:34,410 --> 00:32:39,690
one local predicting a completion date of 1987.
286
00:32:41,050 --> 00:32:43,570
As progress on the bridge slowed to a crawl,
287
00:32:43,730 --> 00:32:47,010
Brunel turned his attention to other projects.
288
00:32:50,130 --> 00:32:54,530
By now, Brunel was not only in charge of the Clifton Suspension Bridge,
289
00:32:54,690 --> 00:32:59,210
he was also Chief Engineer on another massively ambitious build,
290
00:32:59,370 --> 00:33:01,450
The Great Western Railway.
291
00:33:02,650 --> 00:33:07,410
This 116-mile track would provide a high-speed link
292
00:37:01,700 --> 00:37:04,220
..the only part of the bridge that had been built
293
00:36:17,620 --> 00:36:22,140
the Clifton Suspension Bridge has dominated the Avon Gorge.
294
00:36:22,300 --> 00:36:24,140
Brunel's mesmerising design
295
00:36:24,300 --> 00:36:27,660
has become the symbol of the city of Bristol
296
00:36:27,820 --> 00:36:32,020
and there is no better place to appreciate it than from up here.
297
00:36:32,180 --> 00:36:34,700
What an amazing view.
298
00:36:34,860 --> 00:36:38,060
For many, this bridge, the Clifton Suspension Bridge,
299
00:36:38,220 --> 00:36:42,340
is the crowning glory of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's career.
300
00:36:48,620 --> 00:36:51,900
For 30 years, Brunel tried to get the bridge finished
301
00:36:52,060 --> 00:36:56,220
but the project was crippled by bad luck and lack of money.
302
00:36:57,340 --> 00:37:00,460
When he died, in 1859...
303
00:36:15,100 --> 00:36:17,460
For over a century and a half,
304
00:37:04,380 --> 00:37:09,540
were the so-called "monuments of failure", the towers.
305
00:37:11,060 --> 00:37:13,860
The road deck was nonexistent
306
00:37:14,020 --> 00:37:17,100
and the suspension chains had been sold off.
307
00:37:17,260 --> 00:37:21,580
But just when many thought that the bridge would never be finished...
308
00:37:22,700 --> 00:37:26,140
..another suspension bridge came to its rescue...
309
00:37:27,740 --> 00:37:32,340
..this one, the Hungerford Bridge across the River Thames
310
00:37:32,500 --> 00:37:35,500
where the Charing Cross Bridge now stands.
311
00:37:36,620 --> 00:37:37,940
If you look closely behind me,
312
00:37:38,100 --> 00:37:40,780
you'll see there are actually a number of bridges here.
313
00:35:00,170 --> 00:35:02,330
broken and frail.
314
00:34:28,730 --> 00:34:32,970
but Brunel's numerous other projects remained on track.
315
00:34:33,130 --> 00:34:36,130
In 1858, Brunel was photographed
316
00:34:36,290 --> 00:34:38,690
at the launch of the largest of his steamers,
317
00:34:38,850 --> 00:34:40,610
the SS Great Eastern.
318
00:34:41,610 --> 00:34:45,770
He looks every inch the powerful Victorian engineer.
319
00:34:45,930 --> 00:34:49,050
But the incredible workload of numerous projects
320
00:34:49,210 --> 00:34:51,370
was about to take its toll.
321
00:34:54,090 --> 00:34:57,690
This photo, taken less than two years later,
322
00:34:57,850 --> 00:35:00,010
shows a very different man -
323
00:21:22,010 --> 00:21:26,170
So, it was Mr Hawkes' design that was considered first class.
324
00:35:02,490 --> 00:35:08,730
And just minutes after this was taken, Brunel suffered a stroke.
325
00:35:09,810 --> 00:35:12,490
He died 10 days later
326
00:35:12,650 --> 00:35:15,330
at the age of just 53.
327
00:35:15,490 --> 00:35:20,850
Despite years of trying, Brunel never saw his bridge completed.
328
00:35:23,730 --> 00:35:28,290
At the time of his death, most of the bridge was still unfinished,
329
00:35:28,450 --> 00:35:30,290
the decks were missing,
330
00:35:30,450 --> 00:35:33,130
the chains and numerous other parts had been sold off.
331
00:35:34,370 --> 00:35:38,170
So, the question is who on earth would want to take up the challenge
332
00:35:38,330 --> 00:35:41,730
of completing Brunel's most iconic design?
333
00:08:05,260 --> 00:08:10,060
building the bridge across the gorge would take more than three decades
334
00:07:30,420 --> 00:07:34,340
incorporating factories, a chapel, granaries,
335
00:07:34,500 --> 00:07:39,020
two built-in windmills and even a naval school.
336
00:07:39,180 --> 00:07:42,180
But his stone design was dated
337
00:07:42,340 --> 00:07:46,260
and the cost of building it would have been well over £10,000,
338
00:07:46,420 --> 00:07:49,740
a figure William Vick's initial investment
339
00:07:49,900 --> 00:07:52,580
was still a long way from reaching.
340
00:07:52,740 --> 00:07:55,900
Sadly, nothing ever came of William Bridges' design
341
00:07:56,060 --> 00:07:58,180
and it would be another four decades
342
00:07:58,340 --> 00:08:02,140
before plans for a new bridge were seriously considered.
343
00:08:02,300 --> 00:08:05,100
But even when a design was chosen,
344
00:07:28,380 --> 00:07:30,260
that would have dominated the gorge,
345
00:08:10,220 --> 00:08:12,460
and prove to be THE greatest challenge
346
00:08:12,620 --> 00:08:16,780
for the most famous British engineer of all time.
347
00:08:39,090 --> 00:08:42,410
For many people, the Clifton Suspension Bridge
348
00:08:42,570 --> 00:08:46,570
spanning the vertigo-inducing Avon Gorge in Somerset
349
00:08:46,730 --> 00:08:50,010
is THE most beautiful bridge in the world...
350
00:08:55,490 --> 00:08:59,770
..a 214 metre-long engineering marvel
351
00:08:59,930 --> 00:09:03,450
that has dominated this incredible landscape
352
00:09:03,610 --> 00:09:06,410
for over a century and a half.
353
00:09:14,770 --> 00:09:16,810
Today, it is widely regarded
354
00:06:47,460 --> 00:06:50,780
where high-masted ships could easily sail below.
355
00:06:06,540 --> 00:06:09,020
The answer can be found here
356
00:06:09,180 --> 00:06:13,700
at Merchant Hall in Clifton Down just metres from the bridge.
357
00:06:13,860 --> 00:06:17,180
This copy of a will dated 1754,
358
00:06:17,340 --> 00:06:22,700
is that of one William Vick, a major wine merchant in Bristol.
359
00:06:22,860 --> 00:06:26,660
According to its terms, he left a sum of £1,000
360
00:06:26,820 --> 00:06:29,420
for a bridge over the River Avon
361
00:06:29,580 --> 00:06:33,380
from Clifton Town to the opposite side on Leigh Town
362
00:06:33,540 --> 00:06:37,420
which he hoped would be of great public utility.
363
00:06:41,220 --> 00:06:45,300
Vick requested that when that money had matured to £10,000
364
00:06:45,460 --> 00:06:47,300
a bridge was to be built at Clifton
365
00:09:16,970 --> 00:09:21,450
as the crowning glory of Isambard Kingdom Brunel,
366
00:06:52,660 --> 00:06:55,620
So, there was money on the table but there was a problem.
367
00:06:58,340 --> 00:07:02,340
The gorge at its narrowest was over 200 metres wide
368
00:07:02,500 --> 00:07:04,780
and nearly 100 metres high.
369
00:07:04,940 --> 00:07:10,460
No-one had built a bridge that long or that high before,
370
00:07:10,620 --> 00:07:12,940
but it didn't stop people from trying.
371
00:07:13,100 --> 00:07:16,940
In 1793, over 40 years after Vick's death
372
00:07:17,100 --> 00:07:20,860
the appropriately named William Bridges, a local Bristol engineer,
373
00:07:21,020 --> 00:07:23,900
submitted this extraordinary design.
374
00:07:25,220 --> 00:07:28,220
Bridges' vision was for a five-storey arch
375
00:11:26,450 --> 00:11:30,170
At almost 400 metres in length,
376
00:10:49,890 --> 00:10:52,970
pivotal to the city's economy.
377
00:10:53,130 --> 00:10:57,490
Brunel's solution was not a bridge but the Thames Tunnel,
378
00:10:57,650 --> 00:11:00,570
the so-called eighth wonder of the world.
379
00:11:03,370 --> 00:11:05,970
This was Brunel's grand entrance hall
380
00:11:06,130 --> 00:11:10,250
which led down to the first-ever tunnel beneath the Thames.
381
00:11:10,410 --> 00:11:12,050
In fact it was the first tunnel
382
00:11:12,210 --> 00:11:15,170
beneath any river anywhere in the world.
383
00:11:15,330 --> 00:11:18,570
It connected Rotherhithe here on the south side of the river
384
00:11:18,730 --> 00:11:20,570
across to Wapping on the north bank
385
00:11:20,730 --> 00:11:24,170
without blocking any shipping in and out of London.
386
00:10:45,490 --> 00:10:49,730
which sailed up the Thames every day laden with trade,
387
00:11:30,330 --> 00:11:32,650
20 metres below the surface of the river,
388
00:11:32,810 --> 00:11:37,050
the construction of the Thames Tunnel was a mammoth undertaking.
389
00:11:37,210 --> 00:11:41,330
At the time, it was THE most ambitious engineering project
390
00:11:41,490 --> 00:11:43,410
anywhere in the world.
391
00:11:48,610 --> 00:11:49,930
Perhaps even more amazing
392
00:11:50,090 --> 00:11:53,450
was that Mark Brunel entrusted most of the day-to-day work
393
00:11:53,610 --> 00:11:57,170
to his deputy engineer, his son Isambard,
394
00:11:57,330 --> 00:12:00,570
who was aged just 20 when he was appointed the role.
395
00:12:02,050 --> 00:12:06,650
The grand entrance, or sinking shaft as it became known,
396
00:09:55,410 --> 00:09:57,770
in a hole in the ground,
397
00:09:21,610 --> 00:09:25,610
one of the greatest engineers of the 19th century.
398
00:09:27,890 --> 00:09:33,370
Walking up here alongside the bridge, stood 250 feet above the river below,
399
00:09:33,530 --> 00:09:35,530
you can't help but feel a bit small,
400
00:09:35,690 --> 00:09:37,730
a bit insignificant maybe.
401
00:09:37,890 --> 00:09:41,050
And not just because of the enormity of the bridge itself,
402
00:09:41,210 --> 00:09:45,130
but because of the enormity of the man behind it.
403
00:09:45,290 --> 00:09:48,250
Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Clifton Suspension Bridge
404
00:09:48,410 --> 00:09:50,970
might never have happened, though...
405
00:09:52,170 --> 00:09:55,250
..were it not for an event that occurred here,
406
00:06:02,820 --> 00:06:06,380
but where was the money going to come from?
407
00:09:57,930 --> 00:10:01,650
over 100 miles from Bristol in south-east London.
408
00:10:04,450 --> 00:10:07,210
It was a disaster that killed six men,
409
00:10:07,370 --> 00:10:11,250
but that led directly to Brunel's involvement at Clifton.
410
00:10:20,890 --> 00:10:25,130
At this very spot, in February, 1825,
411
00:10:25,290 --> 00:10:28,290
50 metres from the banks of the River Thames
412
00:10:28,450 --> 00:10:32,890
an engineer by the name of Mark Brunel, Isambard's father,
413
00:10:33,050 --> 00:10:35,770
began a monumental endeavour.
414
00:10:35,930 --> 00:10:40,650
His challenge was to link the north and south banks of the River Thames
415
00:10:40,810 --> 00:10:45,330
without disrupting the flow of the 3,000 tall-masted ships
416
00:02:27,460 --> 00:02:29,820
was a monumental task...
417
00:01:42,260 --> 00:01:45,700
and they'll probably say Isambard Kingdom Brunel,
418
00:01:45,860 --> 00:01:49,060
ask them what he built and they'll probably say this.
419
00:01:56,900 --> 00:02:02,700
The Clifton Suspension Bridge was Brunel's lifelong passion,
420
00:02:02,860 --> 00:02:05,020
a work of art, that would make him
421
00:02:05,180 --> 00:02:08,220
one of the most famous engineers in history.
422
00:02:08,380 --> 00:02:12,180
Brunel called it his "darling", his first child.
423
00:02:12,340 --> 00:02:14,740
And you can see why he loved it so much.
424
00:02:14,900 --> 00:02:16,660
It seems to hang in the sky.
425
00:02:20,980 --> 00:02:23,020
But back in 1830,
426
00:02:23,180 --> 00:02:27,300
the challenge of designing a bridge to span this vast chasm
427
00:01:39,620 --> 00:01:42,100
Ask anyone in England to name a famous engineer
428
00:02:31,060 --> 00:02:33,740
..one that would result in great rivalries
429
00:02:33,900 --> 00:02:36,580
and push engineering to new heights.
430
00:02:39,260 --> 00:02:41,740
For over 150 years,
431
00:02:41,900 --> 00:02:44,820
this great bridge has stood as a testament
432
00:02:44,980 --> 00:02:47,660
to Brunel's engineering brilliance.
433
00:02:49,620 --> 00:02:53,660
But this bridge was almost never completed.
434
00:02:55,820 --> 00:02:57,420
And questions still remain
435
00:02:57,580 --> 00:03:02,020
as to whether Brunel was the true designer at all.
436
00:03:08,660 --> 00:03:11,300
The breathtaking Avon Gorge,
437
00:00:40,340 --> 00:00:42,220
Stopping traffic.
438
00:00:06,780 --> 00:00:10,300
have not only linked our island, but, made it great.
439
00:00:10,460 --> 00:00:13,340
These are the bridges that are known around the world,
440
00:00:13,500 --> 00:00:16,900
built by visionaries like Stevenson and Brunel
441
00:00:17,060 --> 00:00:19,300
who are famous even today.
442
00:00:20,700 --> 00:00:22,500
Look at this!
443
00:00:22,660 --> 00:00:25,540
From the banks of the Tyne to the mighty Thames,
444
00:00:25,700 --> 00:00:29,140
from the Firth of Forth to the Menai Strait...
445
00:00:31,100 --> 00:00:34,820
..I'm on a journey to discover how those great bridges were built...
446
00:00:34,980 --> 00:00:36,780
Here we go.
447
00:00:36,940 --> 00:00:40,180
..and the sweat and sacrifice that went into their constructions.
448
00:03:11,460 --> 00:03:15,020
which marks the boundary between north Somerset and Bristol
449
00:00:42,380 --> 00:00:46,340
I'll uncover the huge egos, flawed geniuses and jealous rivalries
450
00:00:46,500 --> 00:00:48,420
behind their creation.
451
00:00:48,580 --> 00:00:51,460
It's as if he'd been airbrushed from the whole story.
452
00:00:53,580 --> 00:00:56,860
These are Britain's greatest bridges.
453
00:01:13,620 --> 00:01:19,860
1,500 tons of wrought iron, 75 metres high,
454
00:01:20,020 --> 00:01:22,980
stretching gracefully for over 200 metres
455
00:01:23,140 --> 00:01:26,700
across the dramatic Avon Gorge in Somerset,
456
00:01:26,860 --> 00:01:28,380
the Clifton Suspension Bridge
457
00:01:28,540 --> 00:01:32,340
is nothing short of an engineering masterpiece.
458
00:05:20,340 --> 00:05:25,180
The new bridge was supposed to ease congestion, but it didn't.
459
00:04:32,580 --> 00:04:35,540
and these tides even made it as far as Bath.
460
00:04:35,700 --> 00:04:39,380
But at low tide, ships could find themselves grounded on the riverbed,
461
00:04:39,540 --> 00:04:43,060
and in the worst cases, that could cause them to break apart.
462
00:04:44,700 --> 00:04:48,580
The passage through the Avon Gorge was undoubtedly hazardous,
463
00:04:48,740 --> 00:04:52,500
but the profits made the journey a risk worth taking.
464
00:04:53,580 --> 00:04:57,980
As a result the city grew in both wealth and size.
465
00:04:59,820 --> 00:05:03,900
But, there was only one bridge across the river Avon in Bristol
466
00:05:04,060 --> 00:05:08,380
and by 1750 it had become massively congested.
467
00:05:09,740 --> 00:05:13,220
The first stone bridge which stood for over 500 years
468
00:05:13,380 --> 00:05:20,180
was covered in houses and even shops until it was replaced in 1768.
469
00:04:29,340 --> 00:04:32,420
The rising river could help the ships in towards Bristol
470
00:05:25,340 --> 00:05:27,820
And worse still for the people of Bristol,
471
00:05:27,980 --> 00:05:30,260
there was now a toll to use it.
472
00:05:31,300 --> 00:05:36,180
For years, the locals campaigned to have the hefty charges scrapped.
473
00:05:36,340 --> 00:05:39,500
For a while it looked like the protesters would win
474
00:05:39,660 --> 00:05:41,540
but the tolls were just too lucrative.
475
00:05:41,700 --> 00:05:46,660
And in 1793, the city decided to extend them instead.
476
00:05:48,900 --> 00:05:52,020
This resulted in a massive riot.
477
00:05:52,180 --> 00:05:57,300
At least 11 people were killed, and another 45 were injured.
478
00:05:59,580 --> 00:06:02,660
There was no doubt the city needed another bridge
479
00:03:47,460 --> 00:03:51,780
But back in the 18th century, one of the port's most profitable activities
480
00:03:15,180 --> 00:03:17,300
dates to the last ice age.
481
00:03:18,380 --> 00:03:22,660
It was formed when the original River Avon became blocked by ice
482
00:03:22,820 --> 00:03:27,140
and was diverted, cutting its way through the soft limestone.
483
00:03:28,900 --> 00:03:31,060
Looking at it now, it's hard to believe
484
00:03:31,220 --> 00:03:33,540
but this narrow stretch of the River Avon,
485
00:03:33,700 --> 00:03:37,740
was once one of the most important waterways in the whole of Britain.
486
00:03:37,900 --> 00:03:40,180
It linked the bustling city of Bristol,
487
00:03:40,340 --> 00:03:42,660
the second-largest port in England,
488
00:03:42,820 --> 00:03:45,980
with the Bristol Channel, that's six miles in that direction.
489
00:12:06,810 --> 00:12:10,090
was the elaborate way into the subterranean tunnel.
490
00:03:51,940 --> 00:03:53,780
was the trading of slaves...
491
00:03:56,820 --> 00:04:02,060
..its ships sailing to Africa to take on a human cargo bound for America,
492
00:04:02,220 --> 00:04:05,420
and returning with their holds full of sugar.
493
00:04:08,740 --> 00:04:10,660
It was an inhumane trade
494
00:04:10,820 --> 00:04:14,380
but nevertheless made Bristol one of the richest cities in the land.
495
00:04:16,420 --> 00:04:19,460
Navigating this stretch of the river wasn't easy.
496
00:04:19,620 --> 00:04:21,420
The tides at the mouth of the river Avon
497
00:04:21,580 --> 00:04:24,740
can vary the water levels by up to 12 metres,
498
00:04:24,900 --> 00:04:29,180
that's the second-largest tidal range of anywhere in the world.
499
00:18:22,970 --> 00:18:25,050
proved for the first time
500
00:17:44,250 --> 00:17:45,970
Have it too loose,
501
00:17:46,130 --> 00:17:50,850
and the bridge can easily sway back and forth.
502
00:17:51,010 --> 00:17:55,170
And that's not what you want when you're 75 metres up in the air.
503
00:18:01,490 --> 00:18:06,050
The fact that Brunel's, and so many of the other 22 designs submitted
504
00:18:06,210 --> 00:18:07,890
were for suspension bridges,
505
00:18:08,050 --> 00:18:10,010
had a lot to do with this,
506
00:18:10,170 --> 00:18:12,650
the Menai Bridge across the Menai Strait
507
00:18:12,810 --> 00:18:15,730
from the Welsh mainland to Anglesey.
508
00:18:15,890 --> 00:18:18,210
This revolutionary bridge,
509
00:18:18,370 --> 00:18:22,810
with a record-breaking single span of 177 metres,
510
00:17:42,610 --> 00:17:44,090
But you'd be wrong.
511
00:18:25,210 --> 00:18:28,650
that it was possible for the heavy-duty suspension bridge
512
00:18:28,810 --> 00:18:31,370
to cover vast distances.
513
00:18:33,090 --> 00:18:34,890
And, importantly,
514
00:18:35,050 --> 00:18:38,730
given the limited budget available to span the Avon Gorge,
515
00:18:38,890 --> 00:18:43,170
the suspension bridge used far less materials than other bridge designs,
516
00:18:43,330 --> 00:18:45,250
so they were cheaper to build.
517
00:18:46,490 --> 00:18:49,890
The Menai Suspension Bridge, completed in 1826,
518
00:18:50,050 --> 00:18:51,370
was built by Thomas Telford,
519
00:18:51,530 --> 00:18:53,770
one of the greatest engineers in the country.
520
00:17:10,970 --> 00:17:12,810
Now, if I shorten the chain,
521
00:16:46,730 --> 00:16:48,330
that the chain supports.
522
00:16:48,490 --> 00:16:52,410
And on either end I've got my anchor points holding the chain in place.
523
00:16:52,570 --> 00:16:53,890
And finally, here,
524
00:16:54,050 --> 00:16:55,410
built into my piece of string
525
00:16:55,570 --> 00:16:57,250
I've got a little device
526
00:16:57,410 --> 00:17:01,170
which tells me how tight the chain is being pulled.
527
00:17:01,330 --> 00:17:02,930
It's kind of like the device you use
528
00:17:03,090 --> 00:17:04,410
when you weigh your luggage
529
00:17:04,570 --> 00:17:05,930
when you go on holiday.
530
00:17:06,090 --> 00:17:10,810
The pull on the cables is currently only about half a kilogram.
531
00:18:53,930 --> 00:18:57,810
And the man the city of Bristol turned to to judge their competition.
532
00:17:12,970 --> 00:17:16,770
immediately you see the dip in the middle is much smaller,
533
00:17:16,930 --> 00:17:22,010
and my device here is giving me a reading of 1.5 kilograms.
534
00:17:22,170 --> 00:17:24,330
So this is now quite tight.
535
00:17:24,490 --> 00:17:27,010
You can see that's not giving very much at all.
536
00:17:27,170 --> 00:17:28,770
Have it too tight
537
00:17:28,930 --> 00:17:32,330
and you risk that the anchors get pulled clean out of the ground,
538
00:17:32,490 --> 00:17:34,890
and the whole bridge just comes crashing down.
539
00:17:35,050 --> 00:17:38,810
You might think that a loose chain is the way to go -
540
00:17:38,970 --> 00:17:42,450
less risk of the chains pulling themselves out from the ground.
541
00:20:49,810 --> 00:20:51,570
After scrutinising designs
542
00:20:11,770 --> 00:20:15,530
Eventually, the committee decided a second competition was needed,
543
00:20:15,690 --> 00:20:18,210
with both Telford and Brunel entering.
544
00:20:18,370 --> 00:20:22,130
Brunel sketched out four new designs,
545
00:20:22,290 --> 00:20:26,890
this time, for a bridge with a span of 194 metres.
546
00:20:27,050 --> 00:20:31,730
Better still, he added a price tag of just £42,000,
547
00:20:31,890 --> 00:20:34,410
10,000 less than Telford's,
548
00:20:34,570 --> 00:20:36,810
and yet neither of them won.
549
00:20:36,970 --> 00:20:42,810
The new judge brought in to replace Telford was Davies Gilbert,
550
00:20:42,970 --> 00:20:45,130
a mathematician and theorist
551
00:20:45,290 --> 00:20:48,450
who'd helped mastermind the record-breaking Menai Bridge.
552
00:20:08,890 --> 00:20:11,610
would ruin the natural beauty of the gorge.
553
00:20:51,730 --> 00:20:55,330
by entrants including Brunel and Telford,
554
00:20:55,490 --> 00:20:58,650
along with engineers Samuel Brown, and William Hawkes
555
00:20:58,810 --> 00:21:00,970
from the Eagle Foundry in Birmingham,
556
00:21:01,130 --> 00:21:04,490
Gilbert recorded his conclusions.
557
00:21:04,650 --> 00:21:07,130
"I would place them in the following order,
558
00:21:07,290 --> 00:21:12,490
"first, Mr Hawkes, second, Mr Brunel.
559
00:21:12,650 --> 00:21:15,330
"Third, Mr Brown."
560
00:21:15,490 --> 00:21:19,250
Unfortunately, Telford's design was placed to one side
561
00:21:19,410 --> 00:21:21,850
on the grounds of being too expensive.
562
00:19:27,450 --> 00:19:33,170
a three-span suspension bridge supported by two huge gothic towers.
563
00:18:57,970 --> 00:19:01,330
Unfortunately, Telford rejected all the designs,
564
00:19:01,490 --> 00:19:03,170
saying of Brunel's bridges
565
00:19:03,330 --> 00:19:06,130
that they would certainly tumble down in a strong wind.
566
00:19:06,290 --> 00:19:08,330
His key point was that it was impossible
567
00:19:08,490 --> 00:19:14,210
for anyone to build a suspension bridge longer than 183 metres,
568
00:19:14,370 --> 00:19:17,530
roughly the length of his own bridge across the Menai Strait.
569
00:19:17,690 --> 00:19:21,210
But, Telford kindly offered to save the day.
570
00:19:22,210 --> 00:19:24,930
In what some felt was a cunning move,
571
00:19:25,090 --> 00:19:27,290
Telford submitted his own design,
572
00:16:44,530 --> 00:16:46,570
is the weight of the bridge decks
573
00:19:33,330 --> 00:19:37,970
These helped reduce the central span to just 110 metres,
574
00:19:38,130 --> 00:19:42,770
almost a third of the length of Brunel's first design.
575
00:19:42,930 --> 00:19:47,210
To the bemusement of many, Telford was awarded the contract.
576
00:19:48,490 --> 00:19:52,490
After losing, it's said Brunel lit up one of his famous cigars,
577
00:19:52,650 --> 00:19:54,570
and smoked away his anger.
578
00:19:54,730 --> 00:19:59,290
But Brunel's disappointment was short lived.
579
00:19:59,450 --> 00:20:03,570
Telford's bridge would cost £52,000 to build,
580
00:20:03,730 --> 00:20:06,290
over six times the budget,
581
00:20:06,450 --> 00:20:08,730
and many thought the monstrous pillars
582
00:13:57,050 --> 00:14:01,810
to design and build the long-awaited bridge across the gorge.
583
00:13:27,490 --> 00:13:30,650
Needing to convalesce, Brunel was sent to Bristol
584
00:13:30,810 --> 00:13:32,730
and it was this that led to his involvement
585
00:13:32,890 --> 00:13:35,170
in the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
586
00:13:35,330 --> 00:13:38,970
By now, William Vick's initial investments
587
00:13:39,130 --> 00:13:41,130
for a new bridge across the gorge
588
00:13:41,290 --> 00:13:45,130
had risen from £1,000 to £8,000.
589
00:13:45,290 --> 00:13:48,290
And the city was keen to spend it.
590
00:13:48,450 --> 00:13:50,250
Additional funding was still needed
591
00:13:50,410 --> 00:13:53,410
but Bristol just couldn't wait any longer
592
00:13:53,570 --> 00:13:56,890
so the city announced a competition to find an engineer
593
00:13:24,970 --> 00:13:27,330
before he'd finished his first project.
594
00:14:03,450 --> 00:14:05,730
Never one to doubt his own abilities,
595
00:14:05,890 --> 00:14:09,410
the 23-year-old Brunel leapt at the chance.
596
00:14:09,570 --> 00:14:11,610
In seven weeks, he produced
597
00:14:11,770 --> 00:14:15,930
not one but four separate designs for the bridge.
598
00:14:16,090 --> 00:14:18,170
These weren't just plans for any old bridge,
599
00:14:18,330 --> 00:14:21,570
they were plans for THE highest and THE longest bridge
600
00:14:21,730 --> 00:14:23,570
that had ever been built.
601
00:14:23,730 --> 00:14:26,450
Now, plans are one thing, but if he won,
602
00:14:26,610 --> 00:14:30,410
Brunel would also have the mammoth task of actually building it.
603
00:12:43,730 --> 00:12:47,290
carrying thousands of commuters beneath the Thames every day.
604
00:12:11,570 --> 00:12:14,370
The tunnel itself runs right beneath my feet,
605
00:12:14,530 --> 00:12:15,930
and you can see up on the walls here
606
00:12:16,090 --> 00:12:19,010
where the old stairways would run all the way down.
607
00:12:20,970 --> 00:12:25,130
When the tunnel was opened to the public in 1843,
608
00:12:25,290 --> 00:12:30,850
on the first day alone, 50,000 people passed through these walls.
609
00:12:31,010 --> 00:12:34,450
After three months, one million people had visited
610
00:12:34,610 --> 00:12:39,370
all desperate to experience the world's first river tunnel.
611
00:12:39,530 --> 00:12:42,010
These days, the tunnel is used by trains
612
00:12:42,170 --> 00:12:43,570
on the London Overground network
613
00:14:30,570 --> 00:14:34,850
Brunel, though, was not fazed and submitted his drawings.
614
00:12:49,130 --> 00:12:51,170
But while 21st century commuters
615
00:12:51,330 --> 00:12:53,930
might well take the tunnel for granted,
616
00:12:54,090 --> 00:12:59,570
back in the 1820s, the construction process was a Herculean challenge
617
00:12:59,730 --> 00:13:02,370
that was fraught with danger.
618
00:13:04,450 --> 00:13:07,170
On the 12th of January, 1828,
619
00:13:07,330 --> 00:13:12,650
the roof gave way and the freezing water burst through.
620
00:13:12,810 --> 00:13:14,570
Six workers were killed,
621
00:13:14,730 --> 00:13:20,450
and Isambard himself was carried out unconscious but alive.
622
00:13:20,610 --> 00:13:24,810
Britain had almost lost one of its greatest-ever engineers
623
00:16:22,090 --> 00:16:24,890
In every suspension bridge ever built,
624
00:15:52,090 --> 00:15:55,090
Now, you might think that when those chains reach here,
625
00:15:55,250 --> 00:15:59,490
that weight they're holding is transferred down through the towers
626
00:15:59,650 --> 00:16:01,250
and into the cliffs below.
627
00:16:01,410 --> 00:16:03,050
Well, some of it is.
628
00:16:03,210 --> 00:16:06,290
But a lot of the weight is actually taken by the anchor points
629
00:16:06,450 --> 00:16:10,490
at the very ends of the chains, buried deep down into the cliffside.
630
00:16:10,650 --> 00:16:12,450
And one of the key decisions
631
00:16:12,610 --> 00:16:14,650
anyone designing a suspension bridge has to make
632
00:16:14,810 --> 00:16:17,410
is how long these chains should be,
633
00:16:17,570 --> 00:16:21,930
ie, how much of a dip you get between the two towers.
634
00:15:48,530 --> 00:15:51,930
that run the whole length from one side to the other.
635
00:16:25,050 --> 00:16:27,770
the engineers have had to find a compromise
636
00:16:27,930 --> 00:16:30,690
between the tightness of the cables,
637
00:16:30,850 --> 00:16:32,850
and the stiffness of the bridge.
638
00:16:33,010 --> 00:16:34,770
So, here is my model
639
00:16:34,930 --> 00:16:36,370
of a suspension bridge.
640
00:16:36,530 --> 00:16:38,170
I've got the towers here
641
00:16:38,330 --> 00:16:39,970
on either end,
642
00:16:40,130 --> 00:16:42,570
the string represents the chain,
643
00:16:42,730 --> 00:16:44,370
the weight hanging off of the string
644
00:15:10,050 --> 00:15:13,330
primitive suspension bridges have been used to cross rivers.
645
00:14:36,370 --> 00:14:38,930
The city of Bristol would now have to decide
646
00:14:39,090 --> 00:14:41,130
which of a total of 22 designs
647
00:14:41,290 --> 00:14:45,450
received from well-established and budding engineers
648
00:14:45,610 --> 00:14:47,570
would be the winner.
649
00:14:47,730 --> 00:14:51,450
And it was clear that one type of structure was considered the key
650
00:14:51,610 --> 00:14:55,450
to spanning the 200 metre-wide gorge,
651
00:14:55,610 --> 00:15:00,050
the suspension bridge, which by 1828,
652
00:15:00,210 --> 00:15:05,770
had successfully been used to span rivers up to 175 metres wide.
653
00:15:07,970 --> 00:15:09,890
For thousands of years,
654
00:00:02,620 --> 00:00:04,820
Britain's iconic bridges, spanning our most dramatic landscapes,
655
00:15:14,650 --> 00:15:18,370
The genius of their design lies in their simplicity -
656
00:15:18,530 --> 00:15:22,730
a single span supported entirely from anchors at each end.
657
00:15:22,890 --> 00:15:26,530
The result is a strong yet flexible structure
658
00:15:26,690 --> 00:15:29,130
that requires no central supports
659
00:15:29,290 --> 00:15:32,610
built into the often-treacherous rivers below.
660
00:15:34,210 --> 00:15:36,170
(CHUCKLES) Alright.
661
00:15:37,290 --> 00:15:41,250
Now, this is a great place to see how a suspension bridge really works.
662
00:15:41,410 --> 00:15:45,370
The entire weight of the bridge, all 1,500 tons of it,
663
00:15:45,530 --> 00:15:48,370
is supported by these huge, big chains
56375
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