Captain Samuel Brown

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Captain Samuel Brown (1774 - 1852) was an early pioneer of suspension bridge design and construction. He is best known for the Union Bridge of 1820, the first vehicular suspension bridge in Britain.

During service in the Royal Navy, Brown had introduced the use of wrought iron chain cables to hold ships' anchors. He was a partner in a chain-making business, Samuel Brown & Co, with his cousin Samuel Lenox, based at Millwall from 1813 and Pontypridd from 1818 [1]. He patented wrought iron chain links suitable for a suspension bridge in 1817.

Brown's contribution to early suspension bridge development was considerable, following the successful Union Bridge with several others in the period from 1820 to 1835. Most of his designs used an unstiffened bridge deck, before it became clear that this form was vulnerable to wind forces and unstable under concentrated loads. His designs were reviewed by eminent engineers including John Rennie and Thomas Telford, and generally approved. However, Brown's designs were significantly less conservative than his contemporaries, adopting a higher tensile strength for his iron chains.

He designed and built the Chain Pier at Brighton, which opened in 1823 and was ultimately destroyed in a storm in 1896. His home was close by at 48 Marine Parade, now known as Chain Pier House.

[edit] Major Bridges

[edit] Bibliography

  • 'Samuel Brown in North-East Scotland', Thomas Day, Industrial Archaeology Review, 1985
  • 'The 19th-Century Iron Bridges of Northeast Scotland', Thomas Day, Industrial Archaeology, 1998
  • 'Civil Engineering Heritage: Northern England', R.W. Rennison, Thomas Telford Publishing, 1996
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