Re: Cruising the Broads


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Posted by John Nichols on December 28, 2011 at 08:59:01 user Mcneacail.

In Reply to: Re: Cruising the Broads posted by Jock on December 28, 2011 at 00:17:46:

Of course the problem facing the builders in 1385 was the limited ability of animals to haul a load up a steep slope and the limited workforce spread over a large country. The majority of the workforce would have been engaged in agriculture.

If we look at the later Pont y Prydd Bridge, one can see the soln worked out by the builder, who had lost two previous bridges, one to a storm. The PyP bridge gives great clearance, but limits the usefulness of the bridge as a road bridge.

The PyP bridge was the longest single span masonry bridge for a long time, if I have my history correct.

The visible holes in the PyP bridge are designed it is believed to reduce the mass of the haunches, which tend to rotate towards the centre of the bridge once the centring is removed. The very narrow central element of the first bridge failed on removal of the centring.

I understand the builder also used charcoal for the roadway under the cobbles.

So the limited headroom on the Potterham Bridge is the result of three constraints:

1. the limit of the arch span
2. road traffic steepness limit
3. boat traffic

I suspect that the people who wanted the bridge really did not care that much about boat traffic on the river as it would have been of limited size.

The Teasal's design clearly I would suggest, perhaps, shows the influence of the bridges. Then again maybe the boat designer was just odd.

JMN


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