The Life of Robert Stephenson – a Timeline
Railways and Bridges
1845 Britain experienced railway mania again, with Robert acting as witness for or against some 60 parliamentary bills. He took over as Engineer-in-Chief of the Londonderry & Enniskillen Railway and saved the company £209,000. Robert produced drawings for a tubular girder bridge to span the Conway (400ft [122m]) for the Chester & Holyhead Railway. A parliamentary select committee investigated the case for the atmospheric system. Robert was still against it. Time proved it to be a technical failure. He started the design of a box-girder bridge to cross the Menai Strait (two spans of 460ft [140m]; and two of 230ft [70m]).On the 31st July the Newcastle & Berwick Railway Bill was approved and Robert was appointed in charge. He was responsible for all structures including Dean Street viaduct, the High Level Bridge over the Tyne, Central Station in Newcastle and the Royal Border Bridge over the Tweed at Berwick. The high level bow-string iron girder design is exceptional in having a top level for trains and a lower level for other traffic. On the 6th August the Gauge Commission started to examine whether Britain should adopt George Stephenson’s 4ft 8½in [1.435m] width between rails or Brunel’s favoured 7ft 0¼in [2.140m]. Robert gave evidence in favour of the narrower gauge. This was eventually adopted as standard.