.gif)
William Brown (bridge designer)
Encyclopedia
William Brown
was a structural engineer
and bridge
designer who specialised in suspension bridge
s. He is credited with the idea of designing bridge decks with an aerofoil-shaped cross section (in effect an upside-down wing
) for stability in a wide variety of wind conditions.
He was one of the principal designers at Freeman Fox & Partners (now Hyder Consulting
) from 1956 to 1985.
In 1987 he set up the Brown Beech & Associates.
was a structural engineer
Structural engineer
Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants...
and bridge
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...
designer who specialised in 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. He is credited with the idea of designing bridge decks with an aerofoil-shaped cross section (in effect an upside-down wing
Wing
A wing is an appendage with a surface that produces lift for flight or propulsion through the atmosphere, or through another gaseous or liquid fluid...
) for stability in a wide variety of wind conditions.
He was one of the principal designers at Freeman Fox & Partners (now Hyder Consulting
Hyder Consulting
Hyder Consulting is a multi-national advisory and design consultancy with particular specialisation in the transport, property, utilities and environmental sectors. The firm employs approximately 4,200 people across the UK, Europe, Germany, Middle East, Asia and Australia and has been listed on the...
) from 1956 to 1985.
In 1987 he set up the Brown Beech & Associates.
List of Bridges
- 1957. Adome Bridge on the Volta RiverVolta RiverThe Volta is a river in western Africa that drains into the Gulf of Guinea. It has three main tributaries—the Black Volta, White Volta and Red Volta...
, GhanaGhanaGhana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, length 334m/1095 ft, arch span 245m/803 ft (Consulting Engineer: Freeman Fox & Partners) - 1959-1971. Auckland Harbour BridgeAuckland Harbour BridgeThe Auckland Harbour Bridge is an eight-lane box truss motorway bridge over the Waitemata Harbour, joining St Marys Bay in Auckland with Northcote in North Shore City, New Zealand. The bridge is part of State Highway 1 and the Auckland Northern Motorway...
, New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, length 1020m/3346 ft, main span 243m/797 ft (designed by Sir Gilbert RobertsGilbert RobertsSir Gilbert Roberts was a British civil engineer.He was born in Hampstead, London to Henry William Roberts, a pharmacist and educated at Bromley High School. He then went to Gresham College to study engineering but on the outbreak of war he joined the Royal Flying Corps...
and William Brown) - 1964. Forth Road BridgeForth Road BridgeThe Forth Road Bridge is a suspension bridge in east central Scotland. The bridge, opened in 1964, spans the Firth of Forth, connecting the capital city Edinburgh, at South Queensferry, to Fife, at North Queensferry...
, ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, length 1824m, main span 1006m/3300 ft (designed by Mot, Hay, Anderson, Sir Gilbert RobertsGilbert RobertsSir Gilbert Roberts was a British civil engineer.He was born in Hampstead, London to Henry William Roberts, a pharmacist and educated at Bromley High School. He then went to Gresham College to study engineering but on the outbreak of war he joined the Royal Flying Corps...
and William Brown at Freeman Fox & Partners) - 1966. Wye Bridge, link South WalesSouth WalesSouth Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
-EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, length 1153m/3184 ft, main span 235m/1000 ft (Consulting Engineer: Freeman Fox) - 1966. Severn BridgeSevern BridgeThe Severn Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the River Severn between South Gloucestershire, just north of Bristol, England, and Monmouthshire in South Wales, via Beachley, a peninsula between the River Severn and River Wye estuary. It is the original Severn road crossing between England and...
, EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, length 1839m/6033 ft, main span 988m/3240 ft (designed by Mot, Hay, Anderson, Sir Gilbert RobertsGilbert RobertsSir Gilbert Roberts was a British civil engineer.He was born in Hampstead, London to Henry William Roberts, a pharmacist and educated at Bromley High School. He then went to Gresham College to study engineering but on the outbreak of war he joined the Royal Flying Corps...
and William Brown at the Freeman Fox & Partners) - 1971. Erskine BridgeErskine BridgeThe Erskine Bridge is a cable-stayed box girder bridge spanning the River Clyde in west central Scotland, connecting West Dunbartonshire with Renfrewshire....
, ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, length 524m/1719, main span 305m/1000 ft (designed by William Brown) - 1973. Bosporus Bridge, TurkeyTurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, length 1560m/5118 ft, main span 1074m/3523 ft (William Brown was the partner responsible for design at Freeman Fox) - 1981. Humber BridgeHumber BridgeThe Humber Bridge, near Kingston upon Hull, England, is a 2,220 m single-span suspension bridge, which opened to traffic on 24 June 1981. It is the fifth-largest of its type in the world...
, EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, length 2220m/7283 ft,main span 1410m/4264 ft (designed at the Freeman Fox & Partners) - 1988. Bosporus II BridgeFatih Sultan Mehmet BridgeThe Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, also known as the Second Bosphorus Bridge , is a bridge in Istanbul, Turkey spanning the Bosphorus strait...
, TurkeyTurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, length 1090m/3576 ft, main span 1090m/3576 ft (William Brown was the bridge designer and engineer for construction) - 1993. Vidyasagar Setu (Hooghly II Bridge)Vidyasagar SetuVidyasagar Setu, also known as the Second Hooghly Bridge, is a bridge over the Hooghly River in West Bengal, India. It links the city of Kolkata to Howrah. The bridge is a toll bridge for all vehicles. At a total length of 822.96 m, it is the longest cable-stayed bridge in India and one of the...
, IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, length 823m/2700 ft, main span 457.5m/1500 ft (Consulting Engineer: Freeman Fox & Partners) - 1998. Storebaelt Bridge, DenmarkDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, length 6800m/4.2 miles, main span 1624m/5328 ft (Major development in cable spinning using William Brown's controlled tension method) - 2001. Triangle Link, NorwayNorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, length max 1077m/3533 ft, main span 677m/2221 ft (Brown Beech carried out erection engineering for the superstructure which included further development in cable spinning)
Bridges proposed or not yet built
- 1993. (yet to be built) Strait of Messina BridgeStrait of Messina BridgeThe Strait of Messina Bridge is a long-planned suspension bridge across the Strait of Messina, a narrow section of water between the eastern tip of Sicily and the southern tip of mainland Italy. In 2006, under Prime Minister Romano Prodi the project was cancelled...
, ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, length 3666m/12028 ft,main span 3300m/10827 ft (William Brown and "Brown Beech & Associates" were engaged by Stretto di Messina SPA to lead the innovative bridge design) - 1995. proposed Dardanelles Bridge, TurkeyTurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, length 2150m/7053 ft, main span 1450m/4757 ft (based on the designs, specifications and calculations of William Brown and W.W.Frishmann) - 1997. proposed Java-Bali Bridge, IndonesiaIndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, length, main span 2100m/6889 ft (designed by William Brown at Brown Beech) - 1997. proposed Izmit Bay BridgeIzmit Bay BridgeThe İzmit Bay Bridge is a planned suspension bridge located at the eastern end of the Sea of Marmara, close to İzmit and approximately 50 kilometers from Istanbul, Turkey. It will be one of the largest suspension bridges in the world by length of central span...
, TurkeyTurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, length 3.3 km/2 miles, main span 1688m/5538 ft (designed by William Brown at Brown Beech) - 2003. (yet to be built) Tsing Lung Bridge, length, main span 1418m/4652 ft (Consulting Engineers: Brown Beech Associates)
External links
- Times Obituary
- Freeman Fox & Partners information at Structurae
- Brown Beech Associates information at Structurae
- Brown Beech Associates
- List of the "Bridge Awards" by the International Bridge Conference