13/11/2017
Work starts to save the Iron Bridge
- Major Conservation Supported by €1m German Donation
- English Heritage Launches First Ever Crowd-Funding Campaign to support Project Iron Bridge
Work starts this week on vital repairs to the world’s first iron bridge, English Heritage announced today (Monday 13 November) as the charity revealed a €1m donation towards the £3.6m conservation project and launched a crowd-funding campaign to help save one of the wonders of the modern world.
Erected in 1779 over the River Severn in Shropshire, the Iron Bridge was the first single span arch bridge in the world to be made of cast iron and was a turning point in British engineering – it is the great-great grandfather of today’s railways and skyscrapers.
However English Heritage’s extensive surveys and investigations have shown that the Iron Bridge is under threat from cracking due to stresses in the ironwork dating from the original construction, ground movement over the centuries, and an earthquake in the 19th century which pushed the sides of the gorge closer together, putting even more pressure on Abraham Darby’s 378 ton masterpiece.
With an enormous scaffold in place around the bridge, English Heritage will now start to clean and conserve, repair and – where necessary – reinforce the different elements of the bridge: the iron radials and braces holding the bridge together, the deck plates and wedges, as well as the main iron arch itself. The bridge will also be repainted to protect it for the future.
At £3.6m, Project Iron Bridge is English Heritage’s single largest conservation project since it became a charity in 2015. The site is free to visit and today English Heritage is launching its first ever crowd-funding campaign and asking the public to help save the Iron Bridge. A €1m donation from the German Hermann Reemtsma Foundation means that £25,000 is all that is required to ensure that this industrial icon will continue to inspire generations to come.
Kate Mavor, English Heritage’s Chief Executive, said: “The Iron Bridge is one of the most important – if not the most important – bridges ever built. It sits in the cradle of the Industrial Revolution and is open to everyone to visit, for free, every day of the year. But after two centuries, its cast iron is cracking and if it is to survive, the bridge needs our support. Today we are asking the public to help save the Iron Bridge so that it can continue to inspire generations to come.”
Jochen Muennich of the Hermann Reemtsma Foundation said: “We immediately recognised the value of English Heritage´s project to conserve the Iron Bridge, an outstanding example of the late eighteenth century engineering skills pioneered in Great Britain and subsequently adopted and developed throughout Europe. Not only do we admire the Iron Bridge as an important technical landmark, but we also see it as a potent reminder of our continent´s common cultural roots and values.
“This is the foundation´s first funding venture in the UK, a signal of our strong attachment to Great Britain in general, and to the mission of English Heritage in particular. In the current climate it seems more important than ever to raise awareness of the links in our industrial heritage and our broader cultural bonds.”
To donate to Project Iron Bridge, visit www.crowdfunder.co.uk/project-iron-bridge/.
In return, donors to English Heritage’s first ever crowd-funding campaign can receive special ‘conservation-in-action’ tours of the Iron Bridge or get their hands on a limited edition print of the Iron Bridge by renowned designer Paul Catherall.
Keep up to date with #ProjectIronBridge on Facebook and Twitter.