This film from the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) shows the structural behaviour of different deck designs in Bill Brown’s own wind tunnel. Bill played a key role in the progression of bridge design and innovative features were introduced by him from the 1960s to the 1990s to overcome the challenges of very long-span bridges.

He was always looking for new solutions and his breakthrough designs of the aerodynamic box deck for the Severn Bridge, the multi-box deck for the proposed Messina Crossing and the twin-box deck for the Canakkale Dardanelles Bridge are all shown in action.

The film is introduced by Nathan Baker, the former ICE Director Engineering Knowledge, and presented by two of Bill Brown’s former colleagues, Dr Stafford Craig and Harvey Binnie.

Excerpts from the film show Bill Brown’s aerodynamically-stable deck designs for the Severn Bridge (1966), proposed Messina Crossing (presented in 1996) and the Canakkale Dardanelles Crossing (designed in 1994) being tested in the wind tunnel that Bill used to help develop his innovative solutions.

An excerpt from the ICE film Bill Brown’s Wind Tunnel shows Bill’s aerodynamically-stable deck design for the Severn Bridge (1966). Prior to his design long-span bridge decks were complex trusses and attempts by American designers to use a flat plate resulted in the Tacoma Narrows bridge collapse.

Bill Brown developed an efficient box girder deck that was fully tested in wind tunnels to ensure stability and used for the first time on the Severn Bridge. It enabled the construction of a sleek form for the 988m main span bridge connecting England and Wales. This type was subsequently adopted worldwide for long-span bridge decks.

An excerpt from the ICE film, Bill Brown’s Wind Tunnel, shows Bill’s revolutionary design for the deck of the proposed Messina Crossing, that would connect Italy and Sicily.

Bill Brown dedicated many years leading the design of the bridge over the Messina Straits for the state-owned company Stretto di Messina. The Straits are wide, subject to high winds, have dangerous currents and an earthquake fault. Bill established that a single span of 3,300m was feasible using a revolutionary multi-box deck. He tested many options in his wind tunnel and concluded that a three-part deck connected by diaphragms provided an ideal solution. The decks would have curved underbellies and would be aerodynamically-stable with air flow between the box girder sections.

His designs were later modelled at larger scales and tested in industrial wind tunnels in Italy with comparable results to his own wind tunnel. He introduced his ‘3300m Messina Crossing Deck Design’ to world engineers at the IABSE conference in Copenhagen in 1996 and gained global acclaim. It was a truly impressive engineering breakthough forged in his creative engineering mind and inventive wind tunnel which has opened up opportunities for spans by engineers who follow in his footsteps.

An excerpt from the ICE film, Bill Brown’s Wind Tunnel, shows Bill’s innovative design for the proposed Canakkale Dardanelles crossing.

He first visited Canakkale in north-west Turkey in 1971 to survey the possible bridge site. He considered the challenge of a single span approaching 1750m for many years and he developed designs to be tested in his wind tunnel for a twin-box deck that would be aerodynamically stable and efficient in construction. He tested many configurations and found the ideal solution with a world’s first. This is shown to be stable in high winds when the speed of the tunnel fans is increased. This bridge deck design was presented as his preferred option to the Turkish Ministry of Works, Highways Division (KGM), in 1994.

He would be delighted that the innovative design concept crafted in his own wind tunnel has been used on the world-record 1915Canakkale Dardanelles Crossing main span of 2,023m and opened in January 2022.