The Britannia Bridge: The Generation and Diffusion of Technological Knowledge

This book reconstructs the problem solving process involved in the building of the Britannia Bridge over the Menai Straits in northwest Wales. The bridge completed the London to Dublin rail connection, and is a tubular structure of rectangular section large enough for a train to pass through, constructed of riveted wrought iron plate. It was the first encounter of engineers with thin-walled structures subject to buckling. The book traces the flow of this technology to other industries such as shipbuilding and crane construction, machine tools, commercial buildings, and structural engineering generally.