Bridging The UK Rivers and Estuaries
Forth Road Bridge
1964
During the 1950s, Freeman Fox was engaged to act as consulting engineers for the proposed Forth Road Bridge crossing in Scotland. Bill redesigned original plans for the bridge’s towers to incorporate Freeman Fox’s most recent research into new techniques for welded plate construction. His designs meant that the towers ended up weighing around 30% less than those of a more traditional design, which saved costs through reducing the amount of steel required.
The Forth Road Bridge was a 1,006-metre span, trussed-deck suspension bridge – the first major example outside America to be constructed after the Second World War. Freeman Fox worked jointly as consulting engineers with another British consulting engineering firm, Mott, Hay and Anderson (now known as Mott Macdonald). Freeman Fox oversaw the bridge’s superstructure, while the other firm concentrated on the foundations and anchorages.
Severn Bridge
1966
Dr William (Bill) Brown was the principal designer working with Sir Gilbert Roberts and the Freeman Fox & Partners team on the Severn Bridge. He is credited with designing the innovative aerodynamic box girder deck, which superseded the complex trusses used on earlier major suspension bridges in the UK (Forth Road Bridge) and the USA.
Bridges all over the world are descended from the design and engineering of the Severn Bridge.
Erskine Bridge
1971
The development of the box girder suspension bridge had proved an undoubted success at the Severn Bridge. Many more bridge projects followed for Bill and the partners and engineers at Freeman Fox, including the Erskine Bridge, a multi-span, cable-stayed box girder bridge, spanning the River Clyde in west central Scotland.
The Erskine Bridge was a success for the firm, opened in 1971 by HRH Princess Anne. Its main span is 305 metres with a total length of 1,320 metres. Once again, its design was based on pioneering box-girder design and engineering concepts. It eased traffic flow for the surrounding areas and quickly became a vital part of Scotland’s transport network.
Humber Bridge
1981
NEED COPY Perhaps the world’s most famous bridge is the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California. There is a narrow strait where San Francisco Bay meets the Pacific Ocean and in 1937 this was bridged to became the longest main span bridge in the world. It is estimated that 10 million people visit the bridge each year to marvel at its scale and engineering.
There was a growing desire at the start of the 20th century to connect the expanding city of San Francisco to its neighbours across the bay. The chief engineer tasked with constructing a bridge was Joseph Strauss, and he had a talented team who designed and engineered the structure. Leon Moisseiff presented the suspension bridge design, Irving Morrow the art deco towers and Charles Ellis was the structural engineer.
Severn Bridge II
1996
NEED COPY Dr William (Bill) Brown was the principal designer working with Sir Gilbert Roberts and the Freeman Fox & Partners team on the Severn Bridge. He is credited with designing the innovative aerodynamic box girder deck, which superseded the complex trusses used on earlier major suspension bridges in the UK (Forth Road Bridge) and the USA.
Bridges all over the world are descended from the design and engineering of the Severn Bridge.
Dartford Crossing
19XX
NEED COPY Bill Brown’s career in bridge design and engineering reached a fitting conclusion when he became head designer for the proposed Messina Strait Bridge from Italy to Sicily. He devised an ultra-long 3,300m single-span suspension bridge with an innovative multi-box deck to carry two rail tracks and six lanes for traffic.
He had been seriously considering the span for over 10 years and had made thousands of sketches and calculations and wind tunnel tests. In 1989 he committed all of his creative energy and engineering knowledge to producing 54 master design drawings for the bridge span.
Channel Crossing
Proposed
In 1981 Bill Brown presented a proposed 30km Link into Europe: a planned crossing of the English Channel with 12 suspended spans each 2,500m long. Bill and his colleagues at Freeman Fox had been developing a new deck design able to withstand the long spans required for this vast crossing. Although the tunnel was constructed and opened in 1994, the bridge was presented as a feasible option. The deck would carry six lanes of traffic and a central rail line.
Bill revisited this design between 1996 and 1998 and incorporated his multi-box deck designs and wind deflectors in a new proposal. He also designed new pier protection for the 310m-high towers that would be sited in the Channel.