Royal Suspension Chain Pier
The Royal Suspension Chain Pier (Also popularly Chain Pier or Brighton Chain Pier was called) a pier (Engl. Pier ) in the southern English town of Brighton in the county of East Sussex . With a length of around 309.06 meters (1014 feet), the Royal Suspension Chain Pier was considered the longest guyed structure of its time and the longest (sea) bridge in the United Kingdom.
The structure was on the beach promenade below the Max Miller Walk. The former Brighton Aquarium was also in the immediate vicinity. The bridge was built from 1822 to 1823 under the planning and direction of the British civil engineer Samuel Brown in the form of a chain bridge .
In its early years, the pier mainly served as a landing stage for cargo ships, and later also for passenger ships. From the 1840s the pier became a popular destination for many residents of Brighton and the surrounding towns. From the 1860s, the building became increasingly less important and was left to decay. Repeated attempts to sell the pier to wealthy investors failed as a result. After the unsuccessful auctions, the city council ordered the demolition of the pier, which, however, never happened. In 1896 the structure was almost completely destroyed by a heavy storm in December. The remains of the structure were removed in the days that followed.
prehistory
The city of Brighton is located in the south of England in the county of East Sussex on the English Channel . As a result of the location, at the beginning of the 19th century, all goods that could not be produced on site or on site had to be transported by carts or small ships; the opening of the first railway line from Brighton to London did not take place until 1841. In addition, there were no moorings for larger cargo or passenger ships. Simply built wooden walkways were built for the smaller boats and ships. The boats pulled the fishermen ashore, where they dumped them for maintenance and when not in use. At that time, boats and cargo were often stored outdoors on the beach. To protect against environmental influences, the boxes were covered with canvas or simple tarpaulin.
Great trade in goods between Great Britain and other countries such as France and Ireland began in the second half of the 19th century. With the advent of the first rail connection from London to Brighton, it was possible to transport goods to the surrounding counties and cities within a short period of time. This was intensified with the first connections of larger steamships between the countries, since it now seemed conceivable to transport goods by ship to regions further away.
Planning and construction
Efforts to build a pier already existed in 1806. A concept for the construction of the pier received both public and political attention. In 1821 the Brightelmston Suspension Pier Company , founded at the same time, planned to build the pier. The city council then set up a commission to examine a possible technical implementation and to find a suitable location. The British civil engineer Samuel Brown was commissioned for the planning and construction . He planned and had numerous suspension bridge structures built in the United Kingdom at the beginning of the 19th century.
Samuel Brown's construction envisaged a chain bridge as a pier with an unreinforced bridge deck. The boom was to be supported by a total of eight large main chains that ran over four large pyramid-like pillars. Several small vertical iron chains connected the main chains and the bridge corner. Brown placed the pylons evenly spaced apart. The conclusion was a terrace-like viewing platform with a T-shaped floor plan. The foundations of the pylons should have an octagonal floor plan. The foundations consisted of massive oak planks, which were driven halfway into the ground.
The pier was a chain bridge anchored on one side, starting with a bridge base through which the main carrying chains were anchored on the land side and a mooring pontoon with an anchor block, in which the towing ropes were attached at the other end. The actual bridge consisted of a single segment and was only interrupted by the bridge piers. The length of the footbridge, beginning at the boardwalk, was 309.06 m (1014 feet) and the full length from the bridge base was 346.25 m (1136 feet). The width of the pier was set at 3.96 m (13 feet).
Building history
After the groundbreaking ceremony at the beginning of 1822, work on the foundations began. For this purpose, oak piles up to 22 feet (7 m) long were driven into the stony, sometimes muddy bed of the English Channel. This construction work took several days, as the planks could only be brought in at low tide. Brown placed the planks in groups of up to 20 per pillar according to his designs. The platform that formed the end of the bridge rested on 150 vertical piles. In addition, diagonal piles and horizontal cross braces were attached to increase stability. The platform was 80 feet (24.38 m) long and 40 feet (12.19 m) wide. The total area was 297.29 m². The floor was to be covered with 30.48 cm (12 in.) Thick granite paving stones supplied from the Isle of Purbeck peninsula . The paving stones used made up the largest proportion of the total weight of the platform; In total, it weighed around 200 tons after it was built.
After completing the work on the lower part of the foundations, construction of the pillars above the bridge bridge began. Brown designed the basic structure of the pylons as a pure cast iron frame construction that was to be faced with steel panels. Rivets were used as connecting means , which were inserted into the pre-drilled openings using a special hydraulic process. Brown based the designs of the pylons on the pyramids of Giza , which served as a model. Each of these pillars consisted of two identical trapezoidal structures with a rectangular floor plan and a height of 25 feet (7.62 m) each. In the middle they were separated by a 10 foot (3,048 m) wide passage and connected above with an arched cross beam crowned by a small triangular gable. Each of these gables had a small flagpole on the top. A lantern was also installed under the arch to illuminate the bridge and also to guide ships during the dark. At the rearmost pillar, a bell was placed under the arch to give a signal to incoming ships. In addition, each pillar housed one or two smaller shops. These offered u. a. Confectionery, refreshments, jewelry, prints, postcards, books and polished stones from Brighton Beach. The British artist John Gapp had a studio in the third rear pylon.
As with many other chain suspension bridges, Samuel Brown's company Newbridge Chain & Anchor Works was commissioned to attach the eight main carrying chains and 362 hangers . Particularly high requirements were placed on these chains, as they had to carry the entire weight of the bridge deck. The main chains were grouped into a pair of two pieces on top of each other and next to each other. All four pairs of chains were made of hardened iron bars. From the rearmost pillar on the lake side, the upper pair of chains merged into flat eye sticks . At each end there was a round head with a hole in the middle. These were 61 inches (15.24 cm) in circumference, 2 inches (5.08 cm) in diameter, and 10 feet (3.04 m) long. The weight of a chain link was approximately 112 pounds (50.80 kg). Brown connected the links together with bolts 2 in. (5.08 cm) thick. These bolts were already used on some of his earlier structures. The bolts were more robust than conventional screws, as these were specially hardened at high temperatures and thus had a higher strength. The lower chain group consisted of hardened wrought iron rods, the ends of which were bent into a loop. The bolts inserted in the loops connected the individual support elements with one another.
The assembly of the suspension chains began on the land side. For this purpose, two tunnel-shaped recesses up to 40 feet (12.19 m) were dug into the sea wall in parallel. At the far end of the two tunnels, a block was erected to anchor the chains, consisting of bricks that were grouted with cement. In this there was a second square block of granite into which the anchoring links were inserted. Two stone blocks in the shape of a cube were used at both tunnel openings, each of which was provided with a cast iron plate. The chains should then be guided through these blocks and the stability additionally increased. Both plates were square in shape and weighed around two tons. After anchoring in the sea wall, the suspension chains were placed over the chain saddles on the pylon tips to the rear end. Brown then anchored this in a second anchor block. However, the makeshift scaffolding that was specially erected on both sides of the bridge was damaged twice by severe storms, so that the installation of the load-bearing chains was delayed for several days. One worker lost his life in a fall and three others were seriously injured during construction. After installation, the chains were given a green protective coating against corrosion.
The assembly of the bridge deck also began on the land side and ended at the rear of the pier. Brown used specially hardened round iron bars to connect the carrying chains to the boom. Hardened T-shaped lifting locks were used as connecting elements for the main chains with the vertically running pairs of hangers. Such a lock encircled two suspension chains and connected them to the vertical iron bars. The bridge was secured with 7 inch (17 cm) thick cross locks with the vertically arranged struts that Brown himself designed.
After the bridge deck had been assembled and fastened, the last step was to install the bridge railing. The railing was a simple design made of wrought iron. The construction of this bridge parapet began at the fore end of the pier and ended at the rear part on the platform. The construction work was completed in October 1823.
Importance and use
The pier as a landing stage
After about a year of construction, the Royal Suspension Chain Pier was officially opened on November 25, 1823. The total cost, as later calculations showed, was around £ 30,000. Most of these related to the construction.
After its opening, the bridge served mainly as a landing stage for cargo ships. In the first few years only smaller ships docked and cast off, in the following years also larger freighters. When traveling on ships became popular from the middle of the 19th century, numerous passenger steamers of different sizes and capacities also took the pier as their destination. In the early years, the movement of people and goods was only restricted between Great Britain, France and the Netherlands and a few smaller islands, including the Isle of Man . The main routes led to London , Dover and Dieppe in the north of France.
The first serious incidents occurred in the early years after the bridge was opened. A storm damaged part of the superstructure on one of the pillars in 1824. In an autumn storm in 1833, a 311-foot-long section of the bridge deck between the third and fourth pillars fell into the sea. This happened repeatedly in the same place in 1836, so that stronger load-bearing elements were used on this bridge section after repairs were necessary.
The bridge as a tourist attraction
From 1830 the pier gradually attracted tourists and visitors from the nearby region. With the opening of smaller attractions and rides, tourist traffic increased. From the mid-1850s in particular, the popularity of the pier increased with the establishment of two small shelters, outdoor seating and a camera obscura . Many operators of the attractions and rides, which were located in the immediate vicinity of the bridge, advertised the structure. However, the pier continued to serve as a landing stage for boats and ships.
With the opening of the West Pier in 1866, the pier's popularity and former popularity gradually waned. The building was then hardly cared for and repaired. The wooden planks of the footbridge showed increasing defects and soon became victims of the wood rot , the chains and the paneling, which had lost their protective coating due to neglected maintenance work, showed traces of corrosion. In addition, the foundations of the pylons and those of the platform were out of alignment. However, as the city of Brighton lacked financial resources at that time, a complete renovation of the structure seemed hopeless. The neglect of the repair work finally led to the fact that the bridge could no longer be accessed from the early 1880s and had to be closed to the public.
In 1891 the city council approved a publicly presented demolition plan for the bridge, as a complete renovation seemed impossible. That approval was largely reinforced by the construction of the larger and more modern Brighton Palace Pier, which was under construction at the time. However, since the demolition would have incurred too high costs, various attempts were made to auction the pier to a shareholder. A British company was initially interested, but after a certain period of time it changed its mind. Further attempts to sell the pier failed. There was also no future utilization concept, so that the now badly dilapidated bridge was left to decay for five more years.
Destruction and demolition in 1896
On the evening of December 4, 1896, strong winds came up from the south of France. As a result, high waves formed on the English Channel. The emerging winds caused the bridge deck to vibrate strongly, after which torsional vibrations also occurred. The now twisting boom offered the wind an optimal attack surface. In addition, impacting waves increasingly weakened the bridge's construction. After only a short time, the already heavily corroded steel cables could no longer withstand the loads and broke, so that the bridge deck then plunged into the waters of the English Channel. The upper areas of the three rear pylons collapsed due to the wind and the successive waves. People were neither injured nor killed during the collapse, as the pier was closed several years earlier due to its dilapidation.
The following day the extent of the destruction became visible; the storm had destroyed eighty percent of the pier. Only the foremost area was largely spared from the destruction. Only the foremost pillar, the two pavilions and the building of the bridge base were preserved. The demolition of the remaining superstructures began in the following days and was completed by the end of 1896. A British steel construction company bought the chains and frames of the preserved foremost pillar as scrap metal. The oak piles of the foundations, which were used as support pillars, were removed at low tide and later sold as firewood.
After the collapse, the causes of the destruction were investigated. At that time, the fatal effects of wind on such bridge structures were not yet understood.
After the remaining remains were dismantled, the stumps of the foremost pillar still indicate the former location of the bridge.
Trivia
Before the planned demolition began in the early 1890s, the two kiosks at the front of the bridge were relocated to the Brighton Palace Pier, which was currently under construction .
One of the eight main stretcher chains that held the bridge deck is said not to have been sold to a scrap dealer after it was destroyed by the storm in 1896, but to have been used in January 1897 in a section of the street around Trafalgar Square in London. It was believed that this measure would make the road surface more stable and less prone to possible subsidence of the pavement.
The pier also had a small cannon. However, this was only used on festive occasions or more rarely for the arrival and departure of passenger ships. After the devastating storm in 1896, the cannon was recovered from the seabed. It was then fully restored and is now also on Brighton Palace Pier.
On September 5, 2010, the then incumbent Mayor Geoff Wells inaugurated a plaque in memory of the pier. The board is on the sea wall below the Max Miller Walk directly opposite the former location of the old pier.
The Royal Suspension Chain Pier was next to the Trinity Chain Pier in Scotland and the Seaview Pier on the Isle of Man, the only form of a pier as a chain bridge. These two bridges were very similar in construction and appearance. The designs by Samuel Brown, who designed both piers, all included an unreinforced bridge, preferably as a pedestrian path. It was only later recognized that this design was unsuitable for wind forces and that it was too unstable under high loads.
See also
Individual evidence
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