Skip to main content

Primary sourceArtifact1864 (completed)

Clifton Suspension Bridge

William Henry Barlow and John Hawkshaw, after a design by Isambard Kingdom Brunel · 1864 (completed)

A suspension bridge over the Avon Gorge in Bristol, based on Brunel's winning 1831 design but completed, after his death, in 1864.

Brunel won the original 1831 design competition for this bridge, which was finished only after his death.

Ask Isambard Kingdom Brunel about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
View of the Clifton Suspension Bridge spanning a gorge over a muddy river, with brick towers, suspension cables and a deck, wooded cliffs on the left and terraced houses on the right, under a cloudy sky.
Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol, completed 1864, based on a design by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

About this source

What it is

The Clifton Suspension Bridge spans the Avon Gorge, linking Clifton in Bristol to Leigh Woods. Its final design, by William Henry Barlow and John Hawkshaw, was based on an earlier design submitted by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who won the original 1831 design competition. Building was halted by riots and funding problems, and the bridge was only completed in 1864, five years after Brunel's death.

Why it matters

The bridge marks both the start and the posthumous end of Brunel's career: he won the competition at 24, long before his famous railways and ships, yet never saw it finished. It shows how large infrastructure projects could take decades, outlasting the people who designed them, and it remains a lasting symbol of Bristol.

Look closer

  • Why might a design competition from 1831 still be followed decades later, even after changes by other engineers?
  • What does the long gap between design and completion tell you about funding and politics in Victorian engineering?
  • What might the bridge's continued use today suggest about the quality of the original design?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Isambard Kingdom Brunel on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Isambard Kingdom Brunel sources

Meet the AI Isambard Kingdom Brunel →
Sepia photograph of a man in a tall top hat, dark frock coat, waistcoat and trousers, with a cigar in his mouth and hands in his pockets, standing full length in front of large rusted iron chain links. He looks off to the side. A wooden block is at the lower right.Photograph

Primary source

Isambard Kingdom Brunel Standing Before the Launching Chains of the Great Eastern

Robert Howlett · November 1857

The iron steamship SS Great Britain, black hull and tall masts with flags, moored in a dry dock in Bristol beside industrial buildings, with a sign reading SS GREAT BRITAIN on the dock edge. Blue sky above.Artifact

Primary source

SS Great Britain

Isambard Kingdom Brunel · 1843 (launched)

Interior of a long brick-lined tunnel with a curved arched ceiling, narrowing into the distance. Two railway tracks run along a central walkway, with pipes along the right wall and wall lamps on the left. Two people walk down the tunnel, and a third person in a bright vest stands farther away.Artifact

Primary source

Thames Tunnel

Marc Brunel, with Isambard Kingdom Brunel as resident engineer · 1825-1843

Sepia photograph of several ships moored together in a harbor with hills behind. Masts and rigging rise above the hulls. A paddle steamer with a large paddle wheel is at right, and a sailing vessel is at left.Artifact

Primary source

SS Great Eastern

Isambard Kingdom Brunel · 1858 (launched)

Interior of London Paddington station seen from an overbridge: a long curved iron and glass roof with lattice ribs, two GWR intercity trains at platforms with passengers and signage for Platform 4 and Underground.Artifact

Primary source

London Paddington station

Isambard Kingdom Brunel · 1854

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Isambard Kingdom Brunel now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions