Ordish–Lefeuvre Principle
Encyclopedia
Cable-stayed bridge
A cable-stayed bridge is a bridge that consists of one or more columns , with cables supporting the bridge deck....
design, patented by Rowland Mason Ordish
Rowland Mason Ordish
Rowland Mason Ordish was an English engineer. He is most noted for his design of the Winter Garden, Dublin 1865 Albert Bridge, a crossing of the River Thames in London, completed in 1873, and for his detailed work on the single-span roof of London's St Pancras railway station.William Henry Le...
and William Henry Le Feuvre in 1858.
The Ordish–Lefeuvre Principle differs from conventional suspension bridge
Suspension bridge
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. Outside Tibet and Bhutan, where the first examples of this type of bridge were built in the 15th century, this type of bridge dates from the early 19th century...
s in that, while as with a conventional suspension bridge a parabolic
Parabola
In mathematics, the parabola is a conic section, the intersection of a right circular conical surface and a plane parallel to a generating straight line of that surface...
cable supports the centre of the bridge, inclined stays
Guy-wire
A guy-wire or guy-rope, also known as simply a guy, is a tensioned cable designed to add stability to structures . One end of the cable is attached to the structure, and the other is anchored to the ground at a distance from the structure's base...
support the remainder of the bridge's load. Each stay consists of a flat wrought iron
Wrought iron
thumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...
bar attached to the bridge deck, and a wire rope
Wire rope
thumb|Steel wire rope Wire rope is a type of rope which consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a helix. Initially wrought iron wires were used, but today steel is the main material used for wire ropes....
connects the wrought iron bar to one of four octagonal support columns.
Only two major bridges were built using the Ordish–Lefeuvre Principle. Ordish was commissioned to build Albert Bridge
Albert Bridge, London
Albert Bridge is a Grade II* listed road bridge over the River Thames in West London, connecting Chelsea on the north bank to Battersea on the south bank...
in Chelsea, London
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
using the design in 1864, but the start of work on the bridge was delayed due to negotiations regarding the proposed Chelsea Embankment
Chelsea Embankment
Chelsea Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and walkway along the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England.The western end of Chelsea Embankment, including a stretch of Cheyne Walk, is in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea; the eastern end, including...
at the northern end of the proposed bridge. While plans for the Chelsea Embankment were debated, Ordish built the Franz Joseph Bridge over the Vltava
Vltava
The Vltava is the longest river in the Czech Republic, running north from its source in Šumava through Český Krumlov, České Budějovice, and Prague, merging with the Elbe at Mělník...
in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
to the same design as that intended for Albert Bridge.
In 1870 work finally began on Albert Bridge, with construction expected to take roughly a year. In the event, construction took over three years, and the bridge opened with no formal ceremony on 23 August 1873, almost ten years after it had been authorised.
Albert Bridge was inspected in 1884 by Sir Joseph Bazalgette
Joseph Bazalgette
Sir Joseph William Bazalgette, CB was an English civil engineer of the 19th century. As chief engineer of London's Metropolitan Board of Works his major achievement was the creation of a sewer network for central London which was instrumental in relieving the city from cholera epidemics, while...
, Chief Engineer of the Metropolitan Board of Works
Metropolitan Board of Works
The Metropolitan Board of Works was the principal instrument of London-wide government from 1855 until the establishment of the London County Council in 1889. Its principal responsibility was to provide infrastructure to cope with London's rapid growth, which it successfully accomplished. The MBW...
, who found that the steel rods were already showing serious signs of corrosion. Over the next three years the steel staying rods were augmented with steel chains, giving it an appearance more closely resembling a conventional suspension bridge, and a new timber deck was laid. Albert Bridge continued to suffer serious structural weakness and in 1972 the Greater London Council
Greater London Council
The Greater London Council was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council which had covered a much smaller area...
added two concrete piers in the middle of the river, supporting the central span and turning the central section of the bridge into a beam bridge
Beam bridge
Beam bridges are the most simple of structural forms being supported by an abutment at each end of the deck. No moments are transferred through the support hence their structural type is known as simply supported....
.
Damaged through overuse during the Second World War the Franz Joseph Bridge was demolished in the 1950s and replaced with a conventional bridge, leaving Albert Bridge the only surviving example of a significant bridge built using the Ordish–Lefeuvre Principle.