Comment by kitd | Hacker News Reader

Comment by kitd | Hacker News Reader

Brunel is one of my heroes.

I was born in Bristol and he was a large part of the city's heritage and featured in the school curriculum. I have an early memory of standing on the edge of the Avon watching the SS Great Britain come under the suspension bridge into the Cumberland Basin in around 1970.

Funnily enough, I visited the ship again just the other weekend for the first time in about 30 years. It is only apparent to me now just how advanced the ship was at the time. This was the very first iron-only ocean-going liner and even the use of a propeller was bleeding-edge when it was built, and yet some the techniques used were similar to what you might see now. If you're ever in the area, I really recommend a visit.

Also worth mentioning is Maidenhead Railway Bridge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maidenhead_Railway_Bridge

built in 1838, which held the record for the longest flattest brick arches in the world up until only quite recently I believe. It appears in Turner's famous painting "Rain, Steam, Speed" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rain_Steam_and_Speed_the_...

and also has a fantastic sounding echo underneath.

Maidenhead Railway Bridge -- such a handsome construction. I distinctly recall attempting to ride a bicycle under it back in 2008, but was stopped in my tracks by the sight of it. I was a recent arrival to the UK so didn't know who Brunel was. I saw his name for the first time on that bridge's plaque. Fan ever since.

(The story goes the bridge was opened but its extreme flatness disturbed the locals, whom forced him to put the wooden supporting arches used during construction back under it, fearing it would surely collapse. He did so and the supports remained there for some time. It wasn't until he was he was allowed to take them down again that he revealed that they were put back without touching the bridge; it had been freestanding since being opened. What a champion!)

I can see the SS Great Britain out of my window as I type this very reply :)

Such an utterly wonderful piece of engineering, the combination of so many advances from it's iron construction to its rotary screw propeller.

I love the Clifton Suspension bridge - its a thing of beauty. I like this combo of engineering feats - Concorde's last flight included a flyby over the bridge:

http://www.justmomentsintime.com.au/BaileySite/Terrys%20Page...

For added interest - the white building is one of only two working camera obscuras in the country and the bridge is over Avon Gorge. If you hear of "Silicon Gorge", now you know what it looks like!

Lovely shot. Concorde is a thing of beauty too, all done with pen/paper/slide-rules of course.

At about the time the SS Great Britain was being repatriated, Concorde was undergoing its initial test flights. We saw an early one take off from Filton from across the Bristol Channel in Wales. In those days, it was allowed to do sonic booms as it flew along the Welsh coast. Bloody hell it was loud!

Thanks - "Rain, Steam and Speed – The Great Western Railway" makes a superb screen background!

Portsmouth has a major "thing" for him too.

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