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Ok, so I'm a civil engineer and i'm interested in engineering structure, be it dams/bridges/buildings, apart from the major ones, what interesting landmarks are there?
I have often been very impressed by various features found along the canal network for e.g the Anderton Lift on the Trent & Mersey Canal is a very impressive sight...
Fabulously vague!
Here's a few for me which may or may not be obvious.
Millenium dome
London eye
gherkin
gchq building
st pauls cathedral
that barge lift in Scotland
Newcastle to Gateshead footbridge
internationally - millau bridge, taipei 101, all of Dubai!
The large elusive ivory tower some live in.
Standedge tunnels,
the woodhead tunnels,
St Pancaras station,
Stwlan dam in north wales,
the dams of wales,
Brunel's atmospheric engine tower at Starcross
Welsh gold mines at Dolgellau
the Bude canal
I ride over & under this on the North edge of Dartmoor regularly - its right by the main A30 yet most people have never heard of it.
http://www.meldonviaduct.co.uk/
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Inverkip Power Station
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catesby viadict:
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and catesby tunnel:
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The railway viaduct in Stockport that the M60 passes under:
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/dr_raj/2238336811/ ]Mersey viaduct[/url]
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Brunel's bridge at Saltash
[url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causey_Arch ]The Causey Arch[/url]
Maybe not a marvel, but
[url= http://www.basingstoke.me.uk/lglutyens.html ]Lutyen's building in Basingstoke[/url]
For a start...
Not so much a landmark as it's inside a hill, but Cruachan Power Station is a feat of engineering.
The Falkirk Wheel is pretty outrageous.
Was just going to say the Falkirk Wheel, amazing to watch.
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The Harecastle Tunnel,great bit of problem solving by James Brindley.
something Pssst-koff... going on at Crofton Beam Engine I think...
The Williamson tunnels under most of Edgehill (which is also the oldest operational railway station in the world ) and liverpool city centre, not particularly interesting technically, but interesting none the less for sheer bloody quirkiness.
Courtyard of the British Museum.
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How have i never heard of the Falkirk Wheel?, i've just watched it on You Tube 😛
Amazing.
Various Brunel structures between London and Bristol, there's a stunning railway bridge over the Thames up near Reading, Box Tunnel, and Clifton Suspension Bridge. There's a canal tunnel up near Cirencester, on the Thames and Severn canal at Sapperton, which is two miles long. It's not fully navigable at the moment, due to a collapse in the middle, but when it was in use boats were walked through by men who'd lie on a plank and walk along the tunnel wall propelling the narrow boat. Each journey took eight hours in the dark, and the men would overnight at a pub at either end, The Tunnel House Inn at Tarlton, and The Daneway at Sapperton. Both pubs are still there, and the canal and tunnel are undergoing restoration. An amazing feat of civil engineering, it was, I believe, the longest tunnel in the country at the time.
Caen Hill locks on the Kennet and Avon Canal near Devizes.
Built by a Scotsman naturally
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the transporter bridge in Boro, still confuses me to this day
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A brilliant site
Hasn't had any real updates in years though there are some amazing threads on the forum i.e.
http://www.hiddenglasgow.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=135&start=0
The rocket test site on the isle of white.
The Colsham bunker complex.
Ooooh and don't forget the pagodas at Orford Ness, they are very dramatic if you can book and get near enough
[url= http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-orfordness-history-awre.htm ]clicky[/url]
Pontcysyllte Aqueduct near Llangollen - a great use of cast iron sections to hold the canal.
Runcorn Widnes Bridge - I go over this every day and it still fascinates me....
Should have thought of Caen Hill Locks. Not far from me, fantastic sight, I always enjoy going there. Another I've just thought of; the Thames Barrage.
I never knew about these until the commencement of work ceremony [url= http://www.twotunnels.org.uk/ ]Linky[/url]. Probably a good, I'd have got bored and forgotten about it waiting for planning, funding, etc to be sorted!
Post office tower, london and Birmingham.
Winter hill tv transmitter,
Highgate cemetry,london,
Mersey railway tunnel,
Severn tunnel,
manchester ship canal,
M60 motorway,around manchester,
Another one for Middlesbrough, required by the same rules requiring the river to be navigable to large traffic as far as Stockton that brought the Transporter Bridge. This one's the Newport Bridge and I used to watch it going up and down from my classroom window at school.
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The water pumping substation in Conyers Road, Streatham, a masterpiece!
this aqueduct near Bristol. Spotted while on a cx ride but it's fairly well hidden unless you're close.
[url] http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=34032 [/url]
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The A66 Keswick by-pass over the Greta gorge is an unusual winner of engineering awards:
In 1977 the bridge was awarded a Highly Commendation by the Concrete Society.
Readers of Concrete magazine however voted it Best Civil Engineering Structure of the Century in 1999.[b]
Beverley Hughes MP, Minister for the Environment, unveiled a plaque, which is positioned beneath the bridge.
The Plaque reads:- ‘GRETA BRIDGE Voted Best Concrete Engineering Structure Of The Century September 1999 / Consulting Engineer : Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick & Partners / Contractor : Tarmac Construction / Maintained by The Highways Agency.
http://www.heritageandhistory.com/contents1a/2009/09/greta-bridge-keswick/
Skolt - you just beat me to it! Was going to mention the very same bridge. You would never know from driving across the top on the A66, but from below its a remarkably graceful stucture for a concrete bridge!
Cheers guys, planning a little trip, the brit museum courtyard is good, but my maths lecturer designed the roof, so I've heard of that one, some nice unknown bits there, the bridge on dartmoor, i lived near there and have never seen it. Would be interested in those tunnels in bath, thats where i went to uni.
keep them coming the more wierd and wonderfull the better.
The mersey tunnels are quite impressive. I like the way the vent towers, especially the queensway tunnel, are disguised as architecture.
This is the kingsway vents
[url= http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2357/2174595557_d02bafcf85.jp g" target="_blank">
And yes, stockport viaduct is seriously impressive.
I think some of the london underground is quite impresive. But then there are parts that are gash.
http://www.nlb.org.uk/ourlights/history/bellrock.htm
Possibly not unknown, but dad was a lightkeeper
If you're looking for less well known landmarks, there's two only a short walk from my house.
Victoria Bridge on the Severn Valley Railway.
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Probably one of the most photographed bridges in the country, but only accessible by footpath, so there's not that many people have seen it for real from that angle..
A couple of miles further down stream, and far less well known, is the pipeline bridge carrying water from the Elan Valley to Birmingham.
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The water falls by gravity, there are no pumps, so, as this is the lowest point, it is also the point of highest pressure.
Again, it's only accessible by footpath or a tiny dead end lane.
Kylesku Bridge, Sutherland.
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In amongst the stunning West Coast scenery, this modern structure should look completely incongruous, but somehow it just [i]works.[/i]
Kylesku Bridge, Sutherland.
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In amongst the stunning West Coast scenery, this modern structure should look completely incongruous, but somehow it just [i]works.[/i]
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The sound mirrors have always impressed me. They pre-date radar and were desgined to litsen out for enemy aircraft and were built in 1928-30 see [url= http://www.greatstone.net/history/sound_mirrors.htm ]here[/url] for more details.
* added post to remove the STW invisibility filter *
Edit: ach - never mind
Thirlmere Aquaduct. Amazing bit of Victorian Engineering. Water is never pumped. Gravity all the way from Thirlmere to Lostock. Takes 4 days.
Dinowyg power station near Llanberis.