Tech Directions - December 2007 - (Page 11)

At right, a reproduction of the Rocket locomotive and its carriages Below, the High Level Bridge that crosses the River Tyne 30 miles between Liverpool and Manchester. The Stephensons constructed at least eight locomotives similar to the Rocket. The father-son team was a good match, and the Stephensons worked well together making other types of locomotives and stationary steam engines. Stephenson’s next major effort was to design and supervise the construction of a rail line that ran about 112 miles between London and Birmingham. He surveyed the route in 1830, then waited three years for the British Parliament to approve the project. It proved a massive undertaking, with, on average, 12,000 people always at work on it. The line required many bridges, as well as hand-dug gaps through low hills. Several tunnels were hand dug—two were over a mile long. The rail line—the first into London—opened in 1838. Stephenson soon found himself involved with railway work all over the world. He built the first railway in Norway, as well as the first on the African continent, the Alexandria and Cairo Railway constructed in the 1850s. The works for which Stephenson may be best known are his major bridges. The High Level Bridge at Newcastle ranks among his most architecturally pleasing. Both a railway and road bridge, it still connects traffic with Gateshead on the other side of the River Tyne. It is a bowstring girder design 120' over the river. The bows are cast-iron arches and the strings are wrought-iron straight members. Queen Victoria officially opened the High Level Bridge in 1849. Stephenson’s other bridges include the Royal Border Bridge at Berwick and the Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait in Wales. He also constructed the Victoria Bridge in Montreal, Canada. Stephenson had a yacht that he used to travel to other countries, and he was the first civil engineer to become a millionaire through his professional work. He lost his young wife to illness and never had children. A cousin inherited the family business after Stephenson died in 1859. He is one of very few technologists interred in London’s Westminster Abbey. References Day, Lance, & McNeil, Ian. (1996). Biographical dictionary of the history of technology. Routledge Publishers. Smith, Donald J. (1973). Robert Stephenson. Shire Publications. Stephen, Leslie, & Lee, Sidney. (1917, with updates). Dictionary of national biography (British). Oxford University Press. www.techdirections.com TECHNOLOGY’S PAST 11 http://www.devry2.com http://www.devry2.com http://www.techdirections.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Tech Directions - December 2007

Tech Directions - December 2007 Technically Speaking Contents Direct from Washington The News Report Technology Today Technology's Past Mastering Computers Is This Op-Amp Any Good? Lab-Built Checker Removes All Doubt Here Comes the Sun! Residential Solar Systems Add Up to Savings Pinhole Cameras—For Science, Art, and Fun! Poster Project Maps Out Design Process Gifts for Geeks E-gallery More than Fun

Tech Directions - December 2007

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